Gene Hackman’s daughters and granddaughter say they are “devastated” and will “miss him sorely”, as they led tributes to the movie star who has died aged 95.
Hackman was found dead along with his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog at his home in New Mexico, US. No cause of death was given, but police said the situation was “suspicious enough” to merit investigation.
In a statement, daughters Elizabeth and Leslie, and granddaughter Annie said: “He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just dad and grandpa.”
Morgan Freeman who co-starred with Hackman in the 1992 movie Unforgiven – for which Hackman won an Oscar – described the actor as “incredibly gifted” while the movie’s director Clint Eastwood said he was “extremely saddened” by the news.
Ralph Fiennes – nominated for an Oscar this year for Conclave – paid tribute to the late actor with a black and white portrait of a smiling Hackman, simply titled Gene Hackman 1930-2025.
Viola Davis called Hackman “one of the greats” while Tom Hanks posted on Instagram that: “There has never been a ‘Gene Hackman Type.’ There has only been Gene Hackman.”
The Prince of Wales also issued a statement saying he was “so sad to hear the news”.
“Hackman was a true genius of film who brought each and every character to life with power, authenticity and star quality,” added Prince William, who is also president of Bafta.
Hackman’s 1978 Superman co-star Valerie Perrine labelled him “a genius”, while the Guardian’s film critic said his death “marks the end” of the era of American new wave cinema.
The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, who worked with Hackman on the 1974 mystery thriller The Conversation, called Hackman “a great artist”.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Coppola said: “Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity.
“I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.”
Hackman, who won two Oscars for his work on The French Connection and Clint Eastwood’s Western Unforgiven, played more than 100 roles across his career.
They included supervillain Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman movies in the 1970s and 1980s.
Perrine, who acted opposite Hackman as his character’s on-screen girlfriend Eve Teschmacher, described the late actor as “a genius” and one of the “greatest to grace the silver screen”.
She posted on X: “His performances are legendary. His talent will be missed. Goodbye my sweet Lex Till we meet again.”
One of the true giants
Hackman appeared alongside Hollywood heavyweights including Al Pacino in 1973’s Scarecrow, Gene Wilder in 1974’s Young Frankenstein and Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton in 1981’s Reds.
He also starred in the hit movies Runaway Jury and Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.
The British Academy of Film and Television, said it was “saddened” to hear of Hackman’s death, describing him as a “much-celebrated” actor with an “illustrious” career.
Spanish actor Antonio Banderas described it as being “a very sad day for the cinema’s family”.
Hank Azaria, the actor best known for voicing characters in The Simpsons, said “it was an honour and an education working with Gene Hackman” on 1996’s The Birdcage.
“Mike Nichols said of his genius character acting: ‘He always brought just enough of a different part of the real gene to each role he played.’ Sending all my love to his family and friends.
Star Trek actor George Takei posted: “We have lost one of the true giants of the screen.
“Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it,” he wrote.
“He could be everyone and no-one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe. That’s how powerful an actor he was. He will be missed, but his work will live on forever.”
Slumdog Millionaire star Anil Kapoor also called Hackman a “genius” performer. “A true legend whose legacy will live on,” he wrote.
‘End of an era’
As well as his Oscar wins, Hackman also collected two Baftas, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
The Guardian’s film critic Pete Bradshaw wrote that Hackman’s death “marks the end of one of the greatest periods of US cinema: the American new wave.”
“Hackman was the gold standard for this era, ever since Warren Beatty gave him his big break with the role of Buck Barrow in Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967),” said Bradshaw.
“He was the character actor who was really a star; in fact the star of every scene he was in – that tough, wised-up, intelligent but unhandsome face perpetually on the verge of coolly unconcerned derision, or creased in a heartbreakingly fatherly, pained smile.”
Adding: “He wasn’t gorgeous like [Robert] Redford or dangerously sexy like [Jack] Nicholson, or even puckish like [Dustin] Hoffman; Hackman was normal, but his normality was steroidally supercharged.”
The critic branded his performance “as the reckless, racist cop”, ‘Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle, in William Friedkin’s 1971 film The French Connection as “unmissable”.
