Longtime star Gene Hackman, 95, was found dead at his Santa Fe home on Feb. 26, along with his second wife (since 1991), Betsy Arakawa, and one of their three dogs. No cause has been announced, but I am hoping for “carbon monoxide leak” and not “murder-suicide.” Hackman was one of the most talented actors of his generation, appearing in such films as Bonnie and Clyde, Downhill Racer, Marooned, I never Sang for My Father, The French Connection (his star-making role), The Poseidon Adventure, Scarecrow, The Conversation, A Bridge Too Far, Superman, Reds, Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning, Unforgiven, The Firm, Crimson Tide, The Royal Tenenbaums, and, most recently, 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport. Hackman was already 30 when he began acting, and was always a character actor rather than a matinee idol, which served him well. “I was trained to be an actor, not a star,” he said. “I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press. If I start to become a ‘star,’ I'll lose contact with the normal guys I play best. I'd always been convinced that actors had to be handsome. That came from the days when Errol Flynn was my idol. I'd come out of a theater and be startled when I looked in a mirror because I didn't look like Flynn. I felt like him.”
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