I spend part of each year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and on every visit, I secretly hoped to see Gene Hackman, who had a home there. Locals told me they would sometimes spot Hackman at a bookstore near the town plaza, which I frequent, but I never did see him.
The deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife have become a major story — not just for the mystery surrounding them, but because of who Hackman was: one of America’s greatest actors, an iconic celebrity whose career spanned decades. Hackman mastered what is arguably America’s greatest art form, film.
Today, fame can be instant and superficial. Reality TV personalities, like the “Property Brothers” or stars of the “Real Housewives” franchise, gain recognition for remodeling homes or engaging in performative drama. They may be entertaining, but their contributions differ vastly from those of a true artist like Hackman. He didn’t just act — he transformed into his characters, immersing audiences in stories that felt personal and real. The first time I saw Hackman on film was in his iconic role of police detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in the 1971 movie “The French Connection.” Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for that role. He was so believable I forgot I was watching a movie. Hackman could also switch to comedy. Who can forget his over-the-top performance as supervillain Lex Luthor in the 1978 “Superman” movie? You almost wanted to root for Lex Luthor over Superman. But being a movie star and being an actor are not the same thing, and Hackman was undoubtedly the latter.
This story will continue to captivate the public. We may never fully understand what led to the deaths of Hackman and his wife, but America will remain fixated on the loss of a man whose presence on screen made us believe in the characters he portrayed. That is the mark of an extraordinary talent.
Philip Wasserman
Stevenson Ranch
