Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Others Mourn Gene Hackman
Tributes for the actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead on Wednesday at the age of 95 at his home in Santa Fe, N.M., with his wife and one of their dogs, streamed in from collaborators and co-stars as the news spread.
Hackman, who played flawed Everymen, inflexible patriarchs and inspirational mentors, had decades of notable roles, prompting generations of mourners to remember their time working with the actor.
Francis Ford Coppola
Coppola, who directed Hackman in the 1974 neo-noir āThe Conversation,ā in which the actor played a wiretapping expert enmeshed in paranoia, posted a photo of them on the set together.
āThe loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,ā Coppola wrote in the caption. āI mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.ā
Morgan Freeman
Freeman, who co-starred with Hackman in the 1992 neo-western āUnforgiven,ā which won best picture and best supporting actor for Hackman at the Academy Awards, posted a picture of them from a later collaboration with Monica Bellucci. In the caption, he said working with Hackman on that movie, āUnder Suspicion,ā from 2000, was āone of the personal highlights of my career.ā
Gwyneth Paltrow
Paltrow, who played the daughter to Hackmanās eccentric patriarch in Wes Andersonās 2001 dramedy āThe Royal Tenenbaums,ā posted a cropped image of that movieās cast that centered her, Luke Wilson and Hackman. She captioned it only with an emoji of a broken heart.
Barry Sonnenfeld
Sonnenfeld posted a still from āGet Shorty,ā the 1995 gangster comedy he directed in which Hackman played a B-movie director with a large gambling debt who was chased down by a mobbed-up loan shark played by John Travolta.
āHe was brilliant, hilarious and always real,ā Sonnenfeld wrote in the caption. āAnd always knew his lines. Couldnāt ask for more from an actor.ā
Nathan Lane
Lane, one of Hackmanās co-stars in the 1996 queer farce comedy āThe Birdcage,ā said in a statement that he thought he told Hackman he was his favorite actor every day during filming. He also praised Hackmanās range in both comedy and drama, saying it was a privilege to share the screen with him.
āGetting to watch him up close, it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest,ā Lane said in the statement, reported by Variety and People magazine. āYou could never catch him acting. Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger.ā
Hank Azaria
Azaria, who played the Guatemalan housekeeper and aspiring drag queen Agador Spartacus in āThe Birdcage,ā posted stills from that movie with him and Hackman, who played an ultraconservative Republican senator meeting the gay parents of his future son-in-law.
āIt was an honor and an education working with Gene Hackman,ā Azaria wrote. āMike Nichols said of his genius character acting: āHe always brought just enough of a different part of the real gene to each role he played.āā