Hollywood Greats Pay Tribute to Gene Hackman After His Death

Hollywood lost an icon today, after Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was found dead at his home along with his wife and one of their pet dogs. It didn’t take long for news of Hackman’s death to spread, and it didn’t take long for other Hollywood icons to post some emotional tributes and reactions to losing Hackman. The list of celebrities speaking up includes Hackman’s Unforgiven co-star Morgan Freeman; his The Birdcage co-star Nathan Lane, and his The Conversation director Francis Ford Coppola – just to name an esteemed few.

“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration,” Coppola said in an Instagram post. “Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.”

“One of the personal highlights of my career was bringing the French Film Gardé a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman,” Morgan wrote in his post, before getting to the more obvious legacy between them: “And of course… Unforgiven. Rest in peace, my friend.”

Hackman and Morgan’s Unforgiven co-star and director, Clint Eastwood echoed the sentiment, saying, “”There was no finer actor than Gene. Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much.”

Rounding out the Unforgiven tribute was actor Saul Rubinek, who offered a lengthy eulogy in his post, saying:

“I was lucky enough to spend a few days acting with Gene in Unforgiven. I remember this: the huge ‘Duck of Death’ jail scene with him and me and Richard Harris was an interior weather cover scene, I mean scheduled at the last minute because of rain. His Sheriff – Little Bill – had the lion’s share of the lines. And Clint liked to shoot the rehearsals. Man, when you were acting with Gene in a situation like that..and on the other side of me was the dangerous presence of the outrageous Richard Harris..? I had to BE THERE. I had to SHOW UP.

Gene set the bar SO high, without me noticing he was doing that at all,” Rubinek continued. “He made it … easy. The scene you see in the movie was that filmed rehearsal- the first time we did it. I’ll never forget the gift of breathing that shared air. We lost a great artist but we can visit him forever.”

Nathan Lane released a statement to the press about working with Gene Hackman and the late (great) Robin Williams in The Birdcage, stating, “Gene Hackman was my favorite actor, as I think I told him every day we worked together on The Birdcage. Getting to watch him up close, it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest. You could never catch him acting. Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger.”

Lane added that, “He was as brilliant in comedy as he was in drama and thankfully his film legacy will live on forever. It was a tremendous privilege to get to share the screen with him and remains one of my fondest memories. Rest in peace. Mr. Hackman.”

That last bit sums up the situation better than any probably can. RIP Gene Hackman.