Gene Hackman tributes pour in from Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman and more
Hollywood is paying tribute to a cinematic icon.
Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was found dead in his New Mexico home Wednesday alongside his wife and dog, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office told Paste BN on Thursday. He was 95. His wife, Betsy Arakawa, was 64.
A cause of death was not immediately available, and foul play is not suspected, officials said. But in a search warrant released Thursday, police described the scene of Hackman and Arakawa's deaths as "suspicious."
Hackman was widely celebrated for movies like "The French Connection," which won him his first Oscar, and "Unforgiven," which won him his second. He was also Oscar nominated for his roles in "Bonnie and Clyde," "I Never Sang for My Father," and "Mississippi Burning," and he starred as Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve's Superman in "Superman."
Clint Eastwood, who directed and co-starred with Hackman in "Unforgiven," mourned the actor in a statement to Paste BN.
"There was no finer actor than Gene. Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much," Eastwood said.
Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, more co-stars and directors remember 'intense and instinctive' Gene Hackman
Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Hackman in the 1974 thriller "The Conversation," said on Instagram that the "loss of a great artist" is "always cause for both mourning and celebration."
"Gene Hackman (was) a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity," the director said. "I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution."
Morgan Freeman said on social media it was "one of the personal highlights of my career" to work with the "incredibly gifted" actor on "Under Suspicion," as well as "Unforgiven." "Rest in peace, my friend," Freeman wrote.
Valerie Perrine, who starred as Lex Luthor's girlfriend Eve Teschmacher opposite Hackman in "Superman," said on Instagram that her former co-star was a "genius" and one "of the greatest to grace the silver screen."
Nathan Lane, who starred alongside Hackman in "The Birdcage," called him his "favorite actor."
"Getting to watch him up close it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest. You could never catch him acting," Lane said in a statement shared with Paste BN Thursday. "Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger. He was as brilliant in comedy as he was in drama and thankfully his film legacy will live on forever. It was a tremendous privilege to get to share the screen with him and remains one of my fondest memories. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman."
Hank Azaria, who also starred in "The Birdcage," said working with Hackman "was an honor and an education." Azaria also sent "all my love to his family & friends."
Gwyneth Paltrow, Hackman's co-star in "The Royal Tenenbaums," shared a photo of the two of them together on Instagram alongside a broken heart emoji.
Another "Tenenbaums" co-star, Bill Murray, called Hackman a "tough nut" and said the actor was "rough" on director Wes Anderson.
"But he was really good. And he was really difficult," Murray told the Associated Press in an interview published Thursday. "Older, great actors do not give young directors much of a chance. They're really rough on them, and Gene was really rough on Wes."
Murray said he once watched Hackman do "25 takes" perfectly while another actor kept "blowing it."
"I was watching it going, 'No wonder this guy wants to throttle people,'" Murray added.
Dan Aykroyd reminisced about working with Hackman on the 1990 flop "Loose Cannons," saying they "laughed together through the whole fiasco."
James Woods, who appeared in Hackman's film "Night Moves," remembered on X that he invited his mother and stepfather to the set hoping they could meet the "French Connection" star, and he went above and beyond by spending "an hour chatting with them, genuinely interested in their lives."
"As an actor he was without equal, and as a man, he was one of a kind," Woods said.
Dustin Hoffman, a co-star in one of Hackman's last films, "Runaway Jury," and classmate at the Pasadena Playhouse, called the actor an "unprecedented" talent in the vein of Marlon Brando.
"He brought something unprecedented to our craft, something people didn't immediately understand as genius," he told Deadline in a statement Thursday. "He was expelled from our school after three months for 'not having talent.' It was the first time they ever did that. He was that good. Powerful, subtle, brilliant. A giant among actors. I miss him already."
Viola Davis, Tom Hanks mourn Gene Hackman's death
Tom Hanks, another Hollywood everyman, took to Instagram to mourn Hackman's loss, writing, "There has never been a 'Gene Hackman Type.' There has only been Gene Hackman."
John Cusack praised Hackman as "one of the most influential screen actors ever" and said his work was "searingly truthful and often brutally honest."
Julia Louis-Dreyfus said he "was my favorite actor of all time," adding, "He played imperfect people-perfectly. What a gift he had."
Viola Davis took to Instagram to call the late actor "one of the greats." "Loved you in everything," the actress wrote.
Hollywood reacts to Gene Hackman death
"Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright remembered Hackman as "the greatest," while "House of the Dragon" star Steve Toussaint described him as "one of the very, very best" and said that "everything you ever wanted to know and learn about the craft of screen acting could be found in any, ANY of his performances."
Josh Brolin said he was "crushed" by the deaths of Hackman and his wife and dog. "He was always one of my favorites," Brolin said. "Not many who beat to their own drums like he did. Rest in Peace."
On X, "Star Trek" star George Takei mourned the loss of "one of the true giants of the screen."
"Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it," Takei said. "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."
British actor John Simm also mourned the loss, writing in a post on Instagram, "You'd be hard pressed to name a better screen actor than this man. Because there isn't one."
Antonio Banderas called it "a very sad day for the cinema’s family," in a post on X, while "Severance" actor Adam Scott simply posted a still image of Hackman with no caption.
"We have lost a true legend," Cary Elwes, most famous for his role in "The Princess Bride," wrote on Instagram. "Growing up on his movies was an absolute thrill for me. To observe his remarkable facility and humanity in every role was something to behold."
Katie Couric, also chiming in, shared the details of Hackman's death and a snippet of his obituary in The New York Times on her Instagram.
Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor in the television series "Smallville," called Hackman his "favorite Lex Luthor" and "one of the all time greatest actors ever," in a tribute on Instagram.
James Gunn, director of the upcoming "Superman" reboot, also said that Hackman was "truly one of the greatest screen actors of all time" and "almost never hit a false note."
Contributing: Bryan Alexander, Anna Kaufman and Taijuan Moorman, Paste BN; Reuters