Gene Hackman Highlights

  • 2004: Played a former president who runs for Mayor of a small town against a local candidate in "Welcome to Mooseport"
  • 2003: Played a ruthless jury consultant in the thriller feature "Runaway Jury"
  • 2001: Appeared opposite Owen Wilson in the war drama "Behind Enemy Lines"
  • 2001: Appeared in "The Mexican" in an uncredited cameo
  • 2001: Played the rascally patriarch of a dysfunctional family of geniuses in "The Royal Tenenbaums"; Owen Wilson co-wrote script with director Wes Anderson and co-starred as a family friend
  • 2001: Had featured role in "Heartbreakers", a comedy about a mother-daughter con artist team
  • 2000: Starred as a football coach in "The Replacements"
  • 1999: Published first novel, "Wake of the Perdido Star" written with Daniel Lenihan
  • 1998: Voiced the character of the fascistic General Mandible in the animated feature "Antz"
  • 1998: In a nod to "The Conversation", played a surveillance expert who assists Will Smith in "Enemy of the State"
  • 1998: Was a dignified movie star married to Susan Sarandon in "Twilight", starring Paul Newman as a retired detective
  • 1997: Portrayed the US President possibly caught up in murder in "Absolute Power"
  • 1996: Second appearance in a film based on a John Grisham novel, "The Chamber"; played a white supremacist defended by his grandson (played by Chris O'Donnell)
  • 1996: Was the straight man as a conservative US senator in "The Birdcage", directed by Mike Nichols
  • 1995: Showed comic side as a hack director in "Get Shorty"
  • 1995: Provided formidable opposition to Denzel Washington as the captain of a submarine in the taut thriller "Crimson Tide"
  • 1994: Cast as the patriarch of the family in "Wyatt Earp"
  • 1993: Portrayed a burnt-out lawyer in "The Firm", based on the John Grisham novel
  • 1992: Returned to Broadway in "Death and the Maiden" alongside Richard Dreyfuss and Glenn Close
  • 1992: Delivered fine villainous turn as a corrupt sheriff in Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven"; received Best Supporting Actor Oscar
  • 1990: Had surgery for angina provoking a two-year hiatus from acting (date approximate)
  • 1990: Played a film director in Mike Nichols' "Postcards From the Edge", adapted from Carrie Fisher's roman-a-clef
  • 1989: Starred opposite Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as father-daughter lawyers on opposite sides of a case in "Class Action"
  • 1988: Acted opposite Gena Rowlands in Woody Allen's "Another Woman"
  • 1988: Earned Best Actor Academy Award nomination as an FBI agent investigating the murders of civil rights workers in "Mississippi Burning"
  • 1987: Reprised role of Lex Luthor in the disappointing "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace"
  • 1985: Played a middle-aged man going through a midlife crisis resulting in an affair in the underrated "Twice in a Lifetime"
  • 1983: Delivered fine turn as a news anchorman in "Under Fire"
  • 1981: Returned to features after "retirement" in supporting role of editor Peter Van Wherry in Beatty's epic "Reds"
  • 1981: Had misfire as comic lead opposite Barbra Streisand in "All Night Long"
  • 1978: Offered deliciously sly turn as the villainous Lex Luthor in "Superman"; reprised role in 1980's "Superman II" (shot simultaneously with the first)
  • 1977: Appeared as part of the all-star cast of Richard Attenborough's WWII epic "A Bridge Too Far"
  • 1977: "Retired" from acting for four years
  • 1975: Reprised role of Popeye Doyle in "French Connection II"
  • 1975: Reteamed with director Arthur Penn for "Night Moves"
  • 1974: Portrayed a specialist in planting bugging devices in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation"
  • 1974: Offered hilarious cameo as the blind hermit in Mel Brooks' horror spoof "Young Frankenstein"
  • 1972: Headed the all-star cast of "The Poseidon Adventure" as a defrocked minister who becomes the de facto leader of those who survived the underwater disaster
  • 1971: Breakthrough screen role, NYC detective Popeye Doyle in "The French Connection"; reportedly almost quit film over its violent content; earned Best Actor Oscar
  • 1970: Earned second Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for "I Never Sang for My Father"
  • 1969: Appeared as one of the astronauts trapped in space in "Marooned"
  • 1968: TV-movie debut, "Shadow on the Land" (ABC)
  • 1967: Hired by Beatty to play Buck Barrow in "Bonnie and Clyde"; received first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor; also initial collaboration with Arthur Penn
  • 1964: First major film role, "Lilith"; also first screen collaboration with Warren Beatty
  • 1964: Rose to prominence in Broadway production of "Any Wednesday", opposite Sandy Dennis
  • 1963: Broadway debut, "Children at Their Games"
  • 1961: Made impression with guest appearance in the debut episode of the CBS series "The Defenders"
  • 1961: Appeared with the improvisational troupe The Premise in Greenwich Village
  • 1961: Feature film acting debut, small role as a cop in "Mad Dog Coll"
  • 1959: TV acting debut in "Little Tin God" on "U.S. Steel Hour"; later appeared in several other installments of the show
  • 1958: New York stage debut in "Chaparral"
  • 1958: Made stage debut opposite ZaSu Pitts in "The Curious Miss Caraway" at the Pasadena Playhouse
  • 1950: Broke both legs in a motorcycle accident
  • 1946: Joined the Marines at age 16 after quitting school
  • Family moved frequently in his early childhood
  • While serving in China, worked as a disc jockey for US Armed Forces Radio
  • Moved to California to attend the Pasadena Playhouse acting school
  • Settled in Danville, Illinois; raised by maternal grandmother
  • Asked to leave Playhouse school; returned to NYC
  • In the 1950s, worked throughout the Midwest as a radio announcer and in NYC at various jobs

Find Session Times

By Movie Title

Latest Galleries

Latest Galleries »

Top 5 Movies

Show Top 10 Movies ยป

Latest Trailer

View All Trailers »