Hackman

Gene Hackman has passed.

Gene Hackman, who never fit the mold of a Hollywood movie star, but who became one all the same, playing seemingly ordinary characters with deceptive subtlety, intensity and often charm in some of the most noted films of the 1970s and ’80s, has died, the authorities in New Mexico said on Thursday. He was 95.

Mr. Hackman and his wife were found dead on Wednesday afternoon at a home in Santa Fe., N.M., where they had been living, according to a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies of Mr. Hackman; his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64; and a dog, according to the statement, which said that foul play was not suspected.

Ok. So, there are circumstances.

Hackman is, I think, my favorite actor of the 70s generation, which obviously is an extremely tough crowd to get ahead in. I listen to Smartless religiously, especially the eps that interview actors, and it’s fascinating to listen to how people in the business now have a combination of fear and reverence for that generation. Hackman carried an easy combination of wisdom and menace, which he could leverage from role to role. My favorites list is tough, but in no order:

1. The Conversation
2. Royal Tenenbaums
3. French Connection
4. Unforgiven
5. Get Shorty
6. The Quick and the Dead
7. The Firm
8. No Way Out
9. Superman I & II
10. Night Moves

I appreciate that’s an awfully idiosyncratic list but he had an idiosyncratic career.

Some clips:

Photo credit: By Christopher Michael Little, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10689828