Speaker 1 (00:00):
This morning, Hollywood is remembering one of the greats.
Gene Hackman (00:03):
All right, Popeye's here! Get your hands on your heads. Get off the bar and get on the wall!
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Gene Hackman never fit the mold of a typical star but blazed his own path into movie history. Often called an everyman, Hackman, in fact, played every different type of character, from a cop to a convict, a senator to a spy-
Gene Hackman (00:22):
[inaudible 00:00:23].
Speaker 1 (00:23):
… and Lex Luthor to the president. As a young man, Hackman lied about his age so he could join the Marines then took a shot at fame, working odd jobs to finance auditions.
Gene Hackman (00:34):
Every day was like a new challenge. It was going out and trying to get that job and doing those auditions, and I loved it.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It wasn't until he appeared in Bonnie and Clyde at age 36 that Hollywood took notice, but the true breakout moment came with a car chase for the ages. Hackman earned his first Oscar for his role as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. Then came the action from the Poseidon Adventure to Superman with Hackman's indelible Lex Luthor.
Gene Hackman (01:07):
Mind over muscle.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
In between, he worked on comedies and critically acclaimed films, even the iconic sports drama Hoosiers. He gained an Oscar nomination for the searing Mississippi Burning and a second win for his role as a sheriff in 1992's Unforgiven-
Gene Hackman (01:24):
[inaudible 00:01:24]. I don't deserve this.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
… following it up opposite Tom Cruise in The Firm and a run of hits. He kept working through the early 2000s, winning over new audiences with The Royal Tenenbaums. In 2004, he reflected on his prolific career with Al around the release of Welcome to Mooseport.
Al (01:43):
And now here we are, the new millennium and you're still working as much as ever.
Gene Hackman (01:47):
Yeah, it's a funny… it's very seductive, you know? It's a narcotic in a way because you come to work and there's 90 people standing around waiting for you to do something, to do… you know? And that's attractive in a… I think I can give it up now.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
That would be his last movie in a career that delighted audiences for decades.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
One of Hackman's most critically acclaimed performances was in 1974's The Conversation which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This morning, the legendary director, filmmaker posted a picture of the two working together back then, writing in part, "Gene Hackman was a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss and celebrate his existence and contribution." When you consider the incredible list of actors who Gene Hackman worked with, we're going to see all kinds of tributes today.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Was that your favorite?
Speaker 4 (02:38):
You know, I loved him. I mean, he could do anything and work against anybody and hold his own. You know, in the same year that he did The Conversation, which is considered one of his best, he had a cameo in Young Frankenstein in 1974, and then played kind of the same character in The Conversation up against Will Smith in Enemy of the State.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
That's right.
Speaker 5 (02:59):
It's so interesting because he was so prolific-
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
… worked so much. And then didn't.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
And that was one of his last interviews about one of his last projects.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Yeah. That's right. It was his last movies.
Speaker 6 (03:07):
He never made a bad movie, number one.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
No.
Speaker 6 (03:09):
He had almost 90 movies. None of them are bad. And you think of the best actor you could think of, Gene Hackman was as good as that actor.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
And oh, by the way, wrote five books!
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
He did. He wrote of them.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
[inaudible 00:03:19]. Five novels.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Joe, thank you.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah.