Veteran Hollywood actor Gene Hackman turns 82 tomorrow. Gene who met with a minor accident in Miami a few days back had a Hollywood career that spanned over five decades
Veteran Hollywood actor Gene Hackman turns 82 tomorrow. Gene who met with a minor accident in Miami a few days back had a Hollywood career that spanned over five decades. CS gives you some trivia on this grand old man:u00a0
>>u00a0Gene was born in 1930 in San Bernardino, California to Lyda and Eugene Ezra Hackman. His parents divorced in 1943, and his father later left the family. At 16, he joined the US Marine Corps, where he worked for four years as a field radio operator.u00a0
>>u00a0His first role was in Lilith with Warren Beatty. In 1967, he appeared in the TV series The Invaders. His roles in Bonnie and Clyde and I Never Sang for My Father won him Oscar Best Supporting Actor nominations. He won his first Oscar for Best Actor in The French Connection.
>>u00a0In the 1980s he did some memorable roles in films like Mississippi Burning, No Way Out, Hoosiers, Power, etc. Hoosiers went down in history as one of the best sports films ever. Hackman also got recognition for his role of a criminal mastermind Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie.
>>u00a0In the 1990s, he underwent angioplasty, which kept him out of work for a while. In 1992, he played the sadistic sheriff 'Little' Bill Daggett in Unforgiven. He won his second Oscar, this time for Best Supporting Actor.
>>u00a0Along with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan, Hackman has written four novels, Wake of the Perdido Star, Justice for None, Escape from Andersonville and Payback at Morning Peak.
>>u00a0Gene's first wife was Faye Maltese and the couple had three children. He is now married to Betsy Arakawa and lives in New Mexico.
>>u00a0Hackman competed in Sports Car Club of America races driving an open wheeled Formula Ford in the late
seventies. In 1983, Hackman drove a Dan Gurney Team Toyota in the 24 Hours of Daytona Endurance Race. He also won the Long Beach Grand Prix Celebrity Race.
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