RIP Gene Hackman

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

So, farewell then to a fine detective, a great basketball coach, a submarine commander, rogue film producer…

 

…and, of course, the ruler of Australia and greatest criminal mind of our time.

 

 

 

Not to mention by all accounts a thoroughly nice bloke in person with a phenomenal memory for everyone he'd work with, from crew and craft services up...

...well, unless you hacked him off by not learning your lines. 

 

One person who gave him an awesome writeup was Mel Brooks. Gene was mates with Gene Wilder, found out about Young Frankenstein while they were playing tennis, and asked if there was any way he could sneak in a cameo. With Gene being pretty much the biggest star of the time, there's no way they could pay him more than scale. But he just wanted to do it.

 

And this is the scene Mel gave him, alongside Peter Boyle... though the last line is Gene's ad-lib.

And if it's a slightly abrupt cut to static on the sound, it's because that broke Mel and the rest of the crew.

 

Edited Thursday at 07:35 PM by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Techwright]

What a tragic turn of events.  Hackman was one of those I'd have wished to see live beyond 100. 

 

There's two iconic Hackman films I've long been meaning to see:  The French Connection, and Hoosiers.  The latter is ironic as I lived in Indianapolis for 3 years in the 1990s, heard about the film constantly from friends and neighbors, yet to this day, I've never seen it.  I guess I should set up a watching schedule.

 

His wife, Betsy Arakawa passed away as well.  The reports say she was a classical pianist.  I went to YouTube to see if there was anything of her works, but I've yet to find any. 

[PeregrineFalcon]

Gene Hackman, great actor and US Marine (46 - 51).

 

[merrypessimist]

Hell of a loss.  What details I've heard makes the circumstances extremely skeezy.

[Techwright]

23 hours ago, merrypessimist said:

Hell of a loss.  What details I've heard makes the circumstances extremely skeezy.

 

Mom and I both read mystery novels.  Based on what info has been put out so far, I turned to her today and stated that this is the kind of mystery that writers would love to have thought up for their next novel.  Sadly, it is real.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

On 3/1/2025 at 11:35 PM, Techwright said:

 

Mom and I both read mystery novels.  Based on what info has been put out so far, I turned to her today and stated that this is the kind of mystery that writers would love to have thought up for their next novel.  Sadly, it is real.

I await with mild dread the first podcast series (or several) based on zero evidence and 90% hearsay, in a bitesize 8-minute format with 20 minutes of ads tacked on the end.