Eugene Allen Hackman, his birth name, is an actor of incomparable status during the span of his almost 60-year career. I caught on to him at an early age because of his Oscar winning performance as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection. Also the fact that he was a dead ringer for my father, and they shared the first two names of Eugene Allen. What a coincidence that was. Which was uncanny to me and my twin brother, David. As little kids, we fell in love with his campy and over the top performance as Superman’s arch enemy Lex Luther, in Superman: The Movie. From that moment on, I loved him no matter how good or bad the films he was in. Mostly though he was in good films. 

Hackman’s 60s and 70s work showed me what kind of actor he truly was, though. As Buck Barrow, the brother of Clyde Barrow, played by Warren Beatty, he was a wild man. He was having fun with guns and playing his character with gusts and craziness. His role as Harry Caul was a bit different, though. He was cool and collected.  He knew something was wrong, and it took him a little while to figure things out. Just in time before he went crazy. I still think Hackman’s character of Brill in Enemy of the State is the same character. Just watch The Conversation and that film together and tell me it doesn’t make sense. This may be the same guy in both movies. One more jaded and skeptical than the other. Hackman got back to his comedy stylings, though in Mel Brooks satire Young Frankenstein,  as the blind man who befriends the monster. You can tell he’s having a blast in the role. His first  decade of acting showed me he was already going to be a great actor. The next four proved that to me undeniably. 

Hackman’s 80s work was very awards friendly to some extent.  Roles as Notman Dale in Hoosiers made me cry and love him even more than I had already. He was a father figure, coach, and everything wrapped into one as the coach looking for redemption and a place to belong. The score by Jerry Goldsmith was so inspiring as well. Now, his performance in Mississippi Burning was a different story. It made me mad because of the subject matter. He worked Fantastically opposite Willem Dafoe in this film.  The subject matter still ruffles my feathers to this day. These two roles showed me the type of actor he was going to be, but his work in the 90s changed all that with him going back to comedy and branching out into Westerns. 

Hackman developed a relationship with Clint Eastwood while working opposite him on Unforgiven . His role of “Little” Bill Daggett gave me chills. He was the good guy sheriff building a house and making sure nobody came into his small town with a pistol as English Bob (Richard Harris) found out first hand. He was tough until he found his match in William Money (Clint Eastwood). I gained a whole new respect for him after this. He also worked with Eastwood on Absolute Power and teamed up with Denzel Washington in Crimson Tide and Tom Cruise in The Firm, not his first John Grisholm film adaptation, though. Roles in The Replacements, The Birdcage, and Get Shorty told me he still wanted to dab his toes back into comed to break up the monotony of all the heavy roles he was playing. 

The 2000s was a mixed bag for this two-time Academy Award winner. He gave a darkly comedic performance working with Wes Anderson for the first time in The Royal Tenenbaums. His banter with Danny Glover was hilarious. The Runaway Jury, the third Grisholm adaptation role, would finally give Hackman the first chance to work opposite his longtime friend Dustin Joffman. They knew each other from working on the stage together and both having the role of Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols’ The Graduate, until Hackman got fired for being too young for the role.  They would remain friends for years afterward. Hackman took some pretty bad roles, like Welcome to Mooseport,  in the mid-2000s before retiring from film and the limelight of Hollywood later in the decade.

As a film aficionado, I was drawn to the tough characters Hackman played throughout his career. The fact he looked and had the same name as my father didn’t hurt matters any. He just owned the screen no matter what kind of movie he was in, Westerns, political thrillers, or slapstick comedies. He knew the right tone to give each performance.  He will always be remembered for his iconic roles in The French Connection, The Conversation, Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning, and Unforgiven, but he had great range as an actor. He is one of the greatest actors of his generation. I feel very strongly saying that. For me, he’s on the level of Rebert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Denzel Washington, Robert Redford, and Jack Nicholson.  That’s the pedestal I put him on, and I’m sure others will as well. He will be measured by all of his performances, though, and those were great!

By Dan Skip Allen