February 2025

Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – c. February 17, 2025) was an American actor. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he received two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.

Hackman won two Academy Awards: Best Actor for his role as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection (1971) and Best Supporting Actor for his role as a sheriff in Unforgiven (1992). He also received Oscar nominations for his roles in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), I Never Sang for My Father (1970), and Mississippi Burning (1988).

Hackman gained fame for portraying Lex Luthor in three Superman films from 1978 to 1987. He also acted in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Scarecrow (1973), The Conversation (1974), Night Moves (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Under Fire (1983), Hoosiers (1986), Power (1986), Another Woman (1988), The Firm (1993), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Get Shorty (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Enemy of the State (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and Runaway Jury (2003). He also acted in Crimson Tide with Denzel Washington. He mostly retired from acting after his final film role in Welcome to Mooseport (2004), occasionally providing narration for television documentaries until 2017. Hackman was found dead alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, at their home on February 26, 2025.