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They don’t make movie stars like they used to, but they only made a movie star like Gene Hackman once.
Born in 1930, Hackman served as a marine and studied journalism in college before dropping out to work as an actor, earning acclaim on Broadway and in television roles but not breaking out in films until his late 30s, when he earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for playing Warren Beatty’s brother in the crime classic Bonnie and Clyde.
It proved to be the start of an eclectic big-screen career that would see him earn four more Oscar nominations (and two wins, for 1971’s The French Connection and 1992’s Unforgiven). With hangdog looks and an ability to project gravitas and heroism and weakness and villainy in equal measure, he gave one indelible performance after another, always bettering the films he appeared in.
To honor his recent death—and celebrate his truly remarkable career—here are 20 of his most iconic performances.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
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Bonnie and Clyde is best remembered today as a harbinger of the auteur era that would transform Hollywood in the 1970s. Filled with dark humor and visceral violence, and borrowing techniques from the French New Wave, Arthur Penn’s film overcame tepid early reviews to become a counter-cultural sensation and a major awards contender. Though Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are iconic as the title criminals, then-newcomer Gene Hackman made his mark (and earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination) playing Clyde Barrow’s ill-fated brother Buck. You can rent Bonnie and Clyde from Prime Video.
Downhill Racer (1969)
The first of a string of memorable movies in which Gene Hackman plays a coach, Downhill Racer is a quintessentially ’70s affair—a moody, heady sports drama led by one of Hollywood’s biggest stars (Robert Redford) that critic Roger Ebert called “the best movie ever made about sports—without really being about sports at all.” Redford commands the spotlight as a cocky, self-centered skiing champ, but it’s Hackman who grounds the film as the teamwork-minded coach hoping to lead his athletes to Olympic gold. You can stream Downhill Racer free with ads on Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video.
The French Connection (1971)
Watching The French Connection today, we recognize a certain formula: big-budget, well-choreographed shoot-outs, chases, and car crashes given gravitas by a complex and troubled lead, usually a cop. But it only became a formula because so many other films tried to copy what director William Friedkin accomplished here with Hackman in the lead. All of the action beats land because of his performance as antihero Popeye Doyle, one that landed him his single Best Actor Oscar. You can rent The French Connection from Prime Video.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Poseidon rests firmly in the very ‘70s disaster-movie style: an all-star cast faces doom and soapy drama, this time on a cruise ship turned upside down. These casts were always blends of older, more familiar faces and relatively younger stars, of which top-billed Hackman was representative. These movies aren’t really about the acting, but this one wasn’t received as a dumb action movie: it received multiple Academy Award nominations and earned Hackman a Best Actor BAFTA, a single award given for two performances in two very different movies. The first was his performance as earnest reverend Frank Scott in this one, and as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. Even way back in 1972 it was clear that Hackman had range. You can stream The Poseidon Adventure on Starz or rent it from Prime Video.
Scarecrow (1973)
A little-known entry in the filmographies of both Hackman and costar Al Pacino, this character drama is worth seeking out. Hackman plays a drifter and ex-con who hooks up with a simple-minded sailor (Pacino). The pair set off across the country with plans to open a business together, but get into trouble along the way and wind up doing a stint in prison—and experience that will have a profound effect on both their lives. Though it won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival, it is little discussed today, and that’s too bad—it’s not often you get to enjoy the likes of Hackman and Pacino playing opposite one another. You can rent Scarecrow from Prime Video.
The Conversation (1974)
Francis Ford Coppola’s film didn’t do much in the way of business on its initial release, but the critics and the years have been extremely kind to the film, no small accomplishment given that much of its plot hinges on 1970s-era technology. The movie’s themes about the dangers of the surveillance state and ambivalence about our need to know everything about everyone are as relevant now as ever. Hackman plays yet another iconic character in Harry Caul, brilliant at his job but also, himself, a deeply secretive and haunted man. His performance here is simply one of the finest in an era full of brilliant performances. You can stream The Conversation on The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.
Night Moves (1975)
An absolutely essential neo-noir, Hackman stars here as retired football player Harry Moseby, now a private investigator but with a personal life that’s crumbling around him. Like other noir films before it, the plot thread grow increasingly convoluted and dense, building toward an impressively unexpected ending, but Harry remains the glue that holds it all together. Even as a depressed and sullen character who you wouldn’t want to spend five minutes with in real life, he’s riveting. You can rent Night Moves from Prime Video.
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Though it received mixed reviews at the time, war film A Bridge Too Far was a box office hit, and stands today as the kind of epic adult drama Hollywood rarely makes anymore. With a screenplay by William Goldman, it depicts a doomed military operation in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in 1944. Hackman is part of a stacked cast that includes James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Elliott Gould, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O’Neal, and Robert Redford. You can stream A Bridge Too Far on MGM+ or rent it from Prime Video.
Superman (1978)
For at least a generation, Hackman was the definitive Lex Luthor in the definitive superhero movie. Director Richard Donner promised a level verisimilitude in his Super-saga, which Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder deliver. Hackman, though, is the third point on that triangle, alternately delivering comic relief and a sense of real menace—even with a full head of hair. Today’s movie supervillains are all about conquering the universe, which feels like a distraction from this movie’s more real and present threat: a ruthless real-estate mogul willing to watch millions die for a few extra bucks. You can stream Superman on Max or rent it from Prime Video.
Hoosiers (1986)
A sleeper hit at the box office that has come to be recognized as one of the most inspiring sports movies ever made, this 1986 drama gave Hackman one of his best-loved roles. He plays Norman Dale, a teacher at a poor high school in rural Indiana who leads a team of misfits to glory on the court. Though Hackman was overlooked, Dennis Hopper earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod for his turn as the town drunk who finds new purpose serving as Dale’s assistant coach. You can rent Hoosiers from Prime Video. Starting Feb. 28 you can also stream it free on Prime Video With Ads.
No Way Out (1987)
Simultaneously smart and trashy, No Way Out pays tribute to noir movies past while steering more firmly into erotic thriller territory—not that big a leap. Hackman here plays Secretary of Defense David Brice, the type of role that’s just window dressing in many other movies. Here, though, Hackman is having a grand time playing Brice as a thoroughly nasty bit of business—duplicitous, murderous, and sharing a mistress (Sean Young) with lead Kevin Costner. It’s not Hackman’s finest performance, but it’s definitely one of his juiciest. You can stream No Way Out with ads on Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video.
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Though its politics don’t seem quite as progressive 37 years on, there’s no arguing the fact that Gene Hackman commands the screen in this racially charged crime thriller, set amid the 1960s civil rights movement and inspired by true events. Hackman and Willem Dafoe play FBI agents investigating the murders of three civil rights workers in a southern town that is cozy with the KKK. Hackman was nominated for Best Actor for his turn as a former good-ol’-boy sheriff turned federal agent, who knows all too well how racism and prejudice operate in the town, and is willing to bend the rules to bring the killers to justice. You can stream Mississippi Burning free with ads on Pluto TV, catch it on Prime Video, or rent it from Apple TV.
Unforgiven (1992)
Unforgiven was seen as a valedictory for Clint Eastwood, but the movie’s sole acting Oscar went to Hackman. He plays Sheriff Little Bill Daggett, whose rejection of vigilantism puts him at odds with Eastwood’s William Munny, in town to avenge the disfiguring of a sex worker. Munny may be the movie’s center, but Little Bill provides all the conflict, and it offers a later-career return to the types of complicated, morally grey characters of his earlier days. You can stream or rent Unforgiven from Prime Video.
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Everyone says Unforgiven is a revisionist western, but it looks wildly traditional next to Sam Raimi’s deliberately over-the-top take on the genre. Hackman plays John Herod, the ruthless and endlessly greedy ruler of the Old West town of Redemption. Herod arranges a round-robin style contest of champions in town, in which gunfighters are to fight for cash, win, yield, or die. This isn’t a subtle or insightful performance, but a delightfully hammy one. Even when playing a very recognizable Gene Hackman type, the actor could still be awfully fun to watch. You can stream The Quick and the Dead on Hulu or rent it from Prime Video.
Crimson Tide (1995)
Though sometimes dismissed as a spin on The Hunt for Red October, this submarine thriller is impressively smart, pitting Hackman’s experienced sub commander against Denzel Washington as his first officer, both men in conflict over interpretation of an order to launch missiles, the outcome of which could have devastating consequences. You don’t necessarily come to a Tony Scott action thriller for the acting, but the movie is a real showcase for its leads, and a fascinating juxtaposition of two brilliant actors from different generations. You can rent Crimson Tide from Prime Video.
Get Shorty (1995)
Gene Hackman’s range encompassed all types of characters, but he rarely seemed to be having more fun than when playing a sleazeball—something he does with gusto in this satire of mid-’90s Hollywood excess, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and based on the novel by Elmore Leonard. He plays a B-movie director in debt with the mob who gets in way over his head when he get involved with a movie-obsessed loan shark (John Travolta) in an attempt to get out a tight spot. Unsurprisingly, things don’t go smoothly. You can stream Get Shorty free with ads on the Roku Channel or rent it from Prime Video.
The Birdcage (1996)
An indisputable crowd-pleaser, The Birdcage sees Hackman as a thoroughly conservative senator (in stark contrast to the actor’s real-life politics) who heads to South Beach to meet the EXTREMELY GAY family of his daughter’s fiancée. It’s a fun villain-esque role for Hackman, one that memorably sees him in full drag for the final act. You can rent The Birdcage from Prime Video.
Enemy of the State (1998)
This surveillance-state thriller isn’t nearly as smart as its 1970s influences, but it’s entirely entertaining in the way it approaches many of the same themes with a more action-heavy style. Opposite Will Smith, Hackman here plays Brill Lyle, a paranoid surveillance expert who has so much in common with The Conversation’s Harry Caul that you might consider Enemy of the State a blockbuster take on the earlier film. You can rent Enemy of the State from Prime Video.
Heist (2001)
The same year Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven pulled off a box office cash grab on the backs of (almost) a dozen of Hollywood hottest stars, David Mamet built his own crime caper around a band of aging thieves. Hackman plays the leader of a gang of professional smash-and-grabbers whose face is captured by security cameras during a job, forcing him to go on the run and attracting the ire of his partners in the “business.” Hackman handles Mamet’s mouthfuls of dialogue with practiced ease, elevating what Roger Ebert described as “the kind of caper movie that was made before special effects replaced wit, construction, and intelligence.” You can rent Heist from Prime Video.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Though he’d appear in a few more movies before retiring in 2004, Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums was Hackman’s last standout performance, and one of his very best. He’s hateable and irresistible in equal measure as the deeply flawed patriarch of a deeply neurotic, Salinger-inspired New York family who assembles his estranged wife (Anjelica Huston) and deeply resentful children (played by Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, and Gwyneth Paltrow) to tell them he only has weeks to live. You can rent The Royal Tenenbaums from Prime Video.