Absolutely bonkers that Hackman quit acting more than 20 years ago [0] — "Welcome to Mooseport (2004)" was his last film. But his body of work in my mind feels as timelessly relevant and fresh as Clint Eastwood's and Bill Murray's. Maybe because I love rewatching Unforgiven and Crimson Tide. I haven't even seen French Connection, which earned him his first Oscar. RIP to this legend.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/" rel="nofollow">https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/</a>
Why Gene Hackman stopped acting.<p>from <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/27/entertainment/gene-hackman-revealed-what-forced-him-to-retire-from-acting-before-death-at-new-mexico-home/" rel="nofollow">https://nypost.com/2025/02/27/entertainment/gene-hackman-rev...</a><p><pre><code> “The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York,” Hackman told Empire in a 2009 interview.
“The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress,” he added.
He maintained his love for acting and missed it but the business had become too stressful for him.</code></pre>
Drop your favourite Hackman movies!<p>Heres mine:<p>--= The Conversation (1979) =--<p>"Schizo surveillance guy gets a contract that starts to derail things" is the basic premise, but there is more going on - "it has layers".<p>Francis Ford Coppola filmed this in between Godfather I & II.
I believe it is less famous only because the target audience is smaller, not due to its quality.<p>The editing is perfect, the pacing just right and the acting mostly top notch. Gene Hackman absolutely nails it.<p>I found the whole thing to be mesmerising and gripping until the very end. Underrated masterpiece.<p>May he rest in peace.
Sometimes I randomly think of a famous person and ask myself "Are they still alive?". I remember doing it for Burt Bacharach and Dick Van Dyke (who's still alive!). This happened last month with Gene Hackman. I had just rewatched "The Conversation" and "The Firm" (so maybe not so random). So I googled him, and apparently he'd basically quit acting 20 years ago.<p>It was weird to see recent pictures of him. I guess our memory of a retired actor is often skewed since we constantly see them at a younger age in their movies, but rarely (or never) in a recent context. And considering his impact in cinema history, it didn't feel like he'd left the industry at all.<p>I hope he went away without pain. R.I.P.
R.I.P. Just watched Mississippi Burning the other day again, what a terrific actor. One of the all time greats, so many memorable roles.<p>I even thought man he's really old now, but this seems to be a tragedy. What a shame.
He was a great actor and seemed like such a great human as well.<p>Never realized until today, reading his bio that he is a former marine.<p>Semper Fi.
Rest in peace Marine!
It is strange that I thought he was dead long ago and was surprised to know that he was still alive. Sorry to know that now he passed away for real. Great actor. My favorite Lex Luthor.
As of this morning, the death is now considered "suspicious." Per local fire and police departments, there was no sign of a gas leak and only 1 of their 3 dogs died. The front door was found ajar, but there were no signs of forced entry.<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-investigation-santa-fe-sheriffs-rcna193960" rel="nofollow">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gene-hackman-wife-found...</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman</a><p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/" rel="nofollow">https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/</a><p>Related:<p><i>Gene Hackman has died</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194778">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194778</a><p><i>Sheriff: Gene Hackman, wife found dead in Santa Fe home; no foul play suspected</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194324">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194324</a><p><i>Gene Hackman and his wife found dead at their home</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43192605">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43192605</a>
** IF YOU DON'T HAVE A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE **<p>Apologies for impolite formating.<p><a href="https://www.target.com/p/first-alert-2pk-co400cn2-battery-powered-carbon-monoxide-detector/-/A-13794432" rel="nofollow">https://www.target.com/p/first-alert-2pk-co400cn2-battery-po...</a><p>This is a 2 pack. There are better ones, too. If you don't have one already, don't wait another day. Hundreds of people die preventable deaths each year in the US because of this.
There's more information here: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/27/gene-hackman-cause-of-death-investigation" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/27/gene-hackman-ca...</a>
Gene Hackman is one of my favorite actors of all time. There’s very few that can match his gravitas - as the young people say, his “aura”.<p>One of the few that can is Denzel, of course…
Local massage therapists called him Gene “Whackman.” Having grown up in Santa Fe amongst a large group of massage therapists (my mother taught massage to many decades ago), many knew about his behavior from their personal experiences but somehow never reported it. Sort of interesting.
Mississippi Burning is one my favorite films <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Burning" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Burning</a>
A couple of days ago, Michelle Trachtenberg (of Buffy fame) died. Seems the liver issues she'd been clearly undergoing since over a year ago finally caught up with her. She was just 39.