Lex Luthor Actor Gene Hackman Passes Away Aged 95
Gene Hackman, best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the early ‘Superman’ movies has passed away aged 95.
His wife and classical pianist Betsy Arakawa also died aged 63. The pair married in 1991
Two maintenance workers found their bodies, with Arakawa found in the bathroom with an open prescription pill bottle on the countertop and Hackman found in the mud room adjacent to the kitchen, with his sunglasses by his side.
Their causes of death are currently unknown, however it is being treated as suspicious according to a search warrant affidavit released by Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
The office says that foul play at this early stage is “not currently suspected.”
Hackman had a long and storied career as an actor, with his breakout role being Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, a cop investigating a drugs deal in William Friedkin’s 1971 film ‘The French Connection’.
Hackman won the best actor Academy Award for this performance.
It wasn’t the first time the actor had been noticed by the Academy, as in 1967 he was nominated for best supporting actor in Arthur Penn’s 1967 film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, where Hackman played Clyde’s older brother Buck.
In 1972, Hackman played a minister in Ronald Neame’s ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ about an ill-fated ocean liner.
Later in 1974 he would play surveillance expert Harry Caul in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’ and then in 1975 played ex-professional football player turned Los Angeles private investigator Harry Moseby Arthur Penn’s ‘Night Moves’.
He would then join the Superman movies as villain Lex Luthor, a role he would play for three movies.
In 1986 Hackman would play Coach Norman Dale in David Anspaugh’s ‘Hoosiers’, which followed a small Indiana high school as they competed for the state championship.
Hackman showed no signs of stopping, and in 1988 portrayed F.B.I agent Rupert Anderson in Alan Parker’s ‘Mississippi Burning’.
In 1993 Hackman would win another Oscar, this time best supporting for Clint Eastwood’s 1992 movie ‘Unforgiven’, where Hackman played the sadistic sheriff “Little” Bill Daggett.
Hackman would lend his acting talent to Tony Scott’s 1995 film ‘Crimson Tide’ as submarine Captain Frank Ramsey, who encounters rogue Russians.
In 2001, Hackman would appear in two films, in Wes Anderson’s ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ as disbarred lawyer Royal O’Reilly Tenenbaum, and David Mamet’s ‘Heist’ as master thief Joe Moore.
The 2001 film “Heist” flopped in its original theatrical run. Still, David Mamet’s typically tricky little crime thriller is enormously entertaining, with outstanding character turns from Delroy Lindo, Danny DeVito, and Sam Rockwell. Hackman plays a smooth-talking master thief pulled out of retirement for one more caper.
