The son of Eugene Ezra Hackman and Lydia (nee Gray), Gene Hackman grew up in a broken home, which he left at the age of 16 for a hitch with the US Marines. Moving to New York after being discharged, he worked in a number of menial jobs before studying journalism and television production on the G.I. Bill at the University of Illinois. Hackman would be over 30 years old when he finally decided to take his chance at acting by enrolling at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Legend says that Hackman and friend Dustin Hoffman were voted "least likely to succeed."Hackman next moved back to New York, where he worked in summer stock and off-Broadway. In 1964 he was cast as the young suitor in the Broadway play "Any Wednesday." This role would lead to him being cast in the small role of Norman in Lilith, starring Warren Beatty. When Beatty was casting for Bonnie and Clyde, he cast Hackman as Buck Barrow, Clyde Barrow's brother. That role earned Hackman a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, an award for which he would again be nominated in I Never Sang for My Father. In 1972 he won the Oscar for his role as Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection. At 40 years old Hackman was a Hollywood star whose work would rise to new heights with Night Moves and Bite the Bullet, or fall to new depths with The Poseidon Adventure and Eureka. Hackman is a versatile actor who can play comedy (the blind man in Young Frankenstein) or villainy (the evil Lex Luthor in Superman). He is the doctor who puts his work above people in Extreme Measures and the captain on the edge of nuclear destruction in Crimson Tide. After initially turning down the role of Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, Hackman finally accepted it, as its different slant on the western interested him. For his performance he won the Oscar and Golden Globe and decided that he wasn't tired of westerns after all. He has since appeared in Geronimo: An American Legend, Wyatt Earp, and The Quick and the Dead. See full bio on IMDb »
Gene Hackman's injuries were life-threatening after a car struck the actor while he was riding his bicycle in Florida -- this according to the 911 tape, in which the dispatcher also calls the… READ MORE >
You're looking at the mangled remains of the bicycle Gene Hackman was riding when he was struck by a car last week ... remains that Hackman has decided to KEEP as a memento. TMZ has learned ...… READ MORE >
Gene Hackman spent the night at the Florida hospital where he was treated for injuries he received in a car vs. bike accident Friday ... but TMZ has learned he was treated like the VIP that he… READ MORE >
Gene Hackman was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Florida today .. after the actor was hit by a car while riding his bike in the Florida Keys ... TMZ has learned. The Florida Highway Patrol tells… READ MORE >
