Biography
Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – c. February 17, 2025) was an American actor. In a career that spanned six decades, he received two Academy Awards, two British Academy Films Awards and four Golden Globes. Hackman's two Academy Award wins were for Best Actor for his role as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in William Friedkin's action thriller The French Connection (1971) and for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a villainous Sheriff in Clint Eastwood's Western film Unforgiven (1992). He was Osc...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Last Days of Gene Hackman: ABC News Special
2025
as Self (Archival Footage)
A look at the mysterious, final weeks of Gene Hackman's life and their aftermath. How did the Hollywood icon die, alongside his wife and dog, far from...

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Christopher Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor, ...
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Who has ever compared Reservoir Dogs? What are “Open Road” and “New World Disorder”? Why is Harvey Keitel a fairy and how did we all almost become die...

Sacheen: Breaking the Silence
2019
as Self (archive footage)
Revisiting the achievements of Sacheen Littlefeather, the first woman of color to utilize the Academy Awards to make a political statement.

Pattern Recognition
2017
as Self (archive footage)
To celebrate the BFI's Thriller season, filmmaker Daniel Cockburn explores the power of sound to terrify and unsettle. Using sounds from Hollywood's b...

We, The Marines
2017
as Self - Narrator (voice)
We, The Marines takes viewers on an action-packed adventure into the unparalleled experience of becoming and serving as a member of the U.S. Marine Co...

The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima
2016
as Self - Narrator
In February 1945, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the image of five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy Corpsman hoisting the American...

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2014
as Lex Luthor (archive footage) (uncredited)
A documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon Film Group, the legendary independent film company helmed by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yor...

And the Oscar Goes To...
2014
as Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy ...

Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story
2013
as Self
With a focus on Clint Eastwood's career as a director, this documentary features movie clips, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with people with w...

I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale
2009
as Self
John Cazale was in only five films – The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter – each was nominat...

Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'
2008
as Self
The making-of documentary of Bonnie and Clyde.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
2006
as Lex Luthor
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are ...

Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman
2006
as Self (archive footage)
The history of the comic book superhero, Superman, in his various media incarnations.

Shipibo Konibo: A Rite of Passage
2005
as Narrator (voice)
In Peruvian Amazonia, for the first time in many years, a Shipibo–Konibo community prepare to perform the Aneshiati ceremony: a time of dance, song, f...

Welcome to Mooseport
2004
as Monroe Cole
A US president who has retired after two terms in office returns to his hometown of Mooseport, Maine and decides to run for Mayor against another loca...

Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust
2004
as Narrator
Daniel Anker’s 90-minute documentary takes on over 60 years of a very complex subject: Hollywood’s complicated, often contradictory relationship with ...

Runaway Jury
2003
as Rankin Fitch
After a workplace shooting in New Orleans, a trial against the gun manufacturer pits lawyer Wendell Rohr against shady jury consultant Rankin Fitch, w...

Page to Screen: 'The Silence of the Lambs'
2002
as Self
Documentary about the adaptation of the 1988 novel by Thomas Harris into the 1991 film directed by Jonathan Demme. Originally presented in two parts o...

Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'
2002
as Self
Behind the scenes of Unforgiven (1992)

All on Accounta Pullin' a Trigger
2002
as Self
10th Anniversary documentary looking back at Unforgiven (1992)

Once Upon a Time: The Super Heroes
2001
as Lex Luthor (archive footage)
The historical saga of American superheroes. Born in the period between the Great Depression and the World War II to combat the hobgoblins of the mode...

With the Filmmaker: Wes Anderson
2001
as Self
TV documentary about American film director Wes Anderson.

Behind Enemy Lines
2001
as Admiral Leslie Reigart, Commander Adriatic Battle Group
While flying a routine reconnaissance mission over Bosnia, fighter pilot Lt. Chris Burnett photographs something he wasn't supposed to see and gets sh...

Heist
2001
as Joe Moore
Joe Moore has a job he loves. He's a thief. His job goes sour when he gets caught on security camera tape. His fence, Bergman, reneges on the money he...

The Royal Tenenbaums
2001
as Royal Tenenbaum
Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all...

Making the Connection: Untold Stories of The French Connection
2001
as Self
The exciting story of the making of William Friedkin's The French Connection (1971), hosted by former NYPD detective Sony Grosso, who inspired the cha...

Will Shuster's Zozobra™ de Santa Fe
2001
as Himself/Narrator
This hour-long program, presented by the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe and Santa Fe Downtown Kiwanis Foundation, features the Will Shuster's Zozobra™ de Sa...

Heroes of Iwo Jima
2001
as Self - Host/Narrator
This heartrending documentary tells the story behind the most famous war photograph ever taken.

Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman'
2001
as Self
Marc McClure presents a documentary on the making of 'Superman' (1978).

Heartbreakers
2001
as William B. Tensy
Max and Page are a brilliant mother/daughter con team who have their grift down to a fine science. Max targets wealthy, willing men and marries them. ...

The Mexican
2001
as Arnold Margolese
Jerry Welbach, a reluctant bagman, has been given two ultimatums: The first is from his mob boss to travel to Mexico and retrieve a priceless antique ...

Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend
2001
as Self
Documentary on the making of the 1978 film 'Superman.'

Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
2000
as Self
Hollywood careers are full of make-or-break moments. For Clint Eastwood, one such moment came when studio powers agreed to let him make his directing ...

Under Suspicion
2000
as Henry Hearst
A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. "This will only take ten minutes"...

Under Suspicion
2000
Executive Producer
A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. "This will only take ten minutes"...

The Replacements
2000
as Jimmy McGinty
Maverick old-guard coach Jimmy McGinty is hired in the wake of a players' strike to help the Washington Sentinels advance to the playoffs. But that im...

The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection'
2000
as Self
A documentary on the production of The French Connection (1971).
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
1999
as Narrator (voice)
Paying homage to two of Hollywood's central icons, the film creates an unparalleled portrait of two very different personalities amidst the demise of ...

Enemy of the State
1998
as Brill
The life of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert 'Bobby' Dean is turned upside down after a chance meeting with a college buddy while holiday ...

Antz
1998
as General Mandible (voice)
A neurotic worker ant in love with a rebellious princess rises to unlikely stardom when he switches places with a soldier. Signing up to march in a pa...

Twilight
1998
as Jack Ames
A retired detective accepts a simple task, unaware that it will tear open old, forgotten, but deadly wounds.
Sports on the Silver Screen
1997
as Self (archive footage)
HBO (in association with the American Film Institute) presents this 1997 anthology, narrated by Liev Schreiber, which looks at sports in cinema from t...

Absolute Power
1997
as President Richmond
A master thief coincidentally is robbing a house where a murder—in which the President of the United States is involved—occurs in front of his eyes. H...

The Chamber
1996
as Sam Cayhall
Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has n...

Extreme Measures
1996
as Dr. Lawrence Myrick
Guy Luthan, a British doctor working at a hospital in New York, starts making unwelcome enquiries when the body of a man who died in his emergency roo...

The Birdcage
1996
as Senator Kevin Keeley
Middle-aged gay life partners, Armand Goldman, a Jewish drag club owner, and Albert, the club's flamboyant star attraction, live in the eclectic commu...

Making Frankensense of Young Frankenstein
1996
as Blind Man (archive footage)
Via reminiscences from writer/actor Gene Wilder and others, this documentary recalls the making of the 1974 film Young Frankenstein.

Get Shorty
1995
as Harry Zimm
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror fil...

Crimson Tide
1995
as Captain Franklin "Frank" Ramsey
After the Cold War, a breakaway Russian republic with nuclear warheads becomes a possible worldwide threat. U.S. submarine Capt. Frank Ramsey signs on...

The Quick and the Dead
1995
as John Herod
A mysterious woman comes to compete in a quick-draw elimination tournament, in a town taken over by a notorious gunman.

The Making of 'Crimson Tide'
1995
as Self
This documentary provides viewers with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this high-tension thriller about the decisions faced by a submarine c...

Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
1994
as Self
A look at the life and career of actor/director Clint Eastwood, including scenes from his past film and television work and interviews with friends, f...

Shurtleff on Acting
1994
as Self
A feature length documentary on legendary acting guru, casting agent and author, Michael Shurtleff. Interviews with actors such as Gene Hackman, Ellio...

Wyatt Earp
1994
as Nicholas Earp
From Wichita to Dodge City, to the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Wyatt Earp is taught that nothing matters more than family and the law. Joined by his bro...

Geronimo: An American Legend
1993
as Brig. Gen. George Crook
The Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of cor...

The Firm
1993
as Avery Tolar
Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't re...

Earth and the American Dream
1992
as Reader (voice)
A beautiful and disturbing film recounts America’s story from the environment’s point of view. From the arrival of Columbus to the simple wilderness l...

Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'
1992
as Self
Behind the scenes of the 1992 film Unforgiven.

Unforgiven
1992
as 'Little' Bill Daggett
William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one las...

Company Business
1991
as Sam Boyd
An aging agent is called back by "the Company" to run a hostage trade of a Soviet spy for an American agent.

Class Action
1991
as Jedediah Tucker Ward
A liberal activist lawyer alienated his daughter Maggie years ago when she discovered his many affairs. Now a conservative corporate lawyer, Maggie ag...

Narrow Margin
1990
as Robert Caulfield
An L.A. District Attorney attempts to take an unwilling murder witness back to the United States to testify against a top-level mob boss. Frantically ...

Postcards from the Edge
1990
as Lowell Kolchek
Substance-addicted Hollywood actress, Suzanne Vale is on the skids. After a spell at a detox centre her film company insists as a condition of continu...

Miami Blues
1990
Thanks
After Junior is released from prison, he plans on starting a new life in Miami. But when he kills a man in the airport, he flees the scene and finds S...

Loose Cannons
1990
as MacArthur Stern
Mac, the two-fisted, savvy cop finds that he's being saddled with a new partner, a known burnout, to work with him on a new and difficult case. The ne...

The Package
1989
as Sgt. Johnny Gallagher
Experienced Green Beret sergeant Johnny Gallagher is escorting a prisoner, Airborne Ranger Thomas Boyette, back to the US, but Boyette escapes and Gal...

Mississippi Burning
1988
as Agent Rupert Anderson
Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where...

Full Moon in Blue Water
1988
as Floyd
Floyd, the owner of a bar on the Texas coast, has been depressed for a year after his wife disappeared in a swimming accident. He lives with his senil...

Another Woman
1988
as Larry
Marion is a woman who has learned to shield herself from her emotions. She rents an apartment to work undisturbed on her new book, but by some acousti...

Bat★21
1988
as Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton
Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to...

Split Decisions
1988
as Dan McGuinn
When a boxer is killed because he wouldn't take a dive, his brother tries to find a way to avenge him even if only symbolically.

No Way Out
1987
as Defense Secretary David Brice
Navy Lt. Tom Farrell meets a young woman, Susan Atwell , and they share a passionate fling. Farrell then finds out that his superior, Defense Secretar...

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
1987
as Lex Luthor
With global superpowers engaged in an increasingly hostile arms race, Superman leads a crusade to rid the world of nuclear weapons. But Lex Luthor, re...

Hoosiers
1986
as Coach Norman Dale
Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a t...

Power
1986
as Wilfred Buckley
Pete St. John is a powerful and successful political consultant, with clients spread around the country. When his long-time friend and client Ohio sen...

Target
1985
as Walter Lloyd
A Texan with a secret past searches Europe with his son after the KGB kidnaps his wife.

Twice in a Lifetime
1985
as Harry MacKenzie
A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in a...

Night of 100 Stars II
1985
as Self
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was t...

Uncommon Valor
1983
as Col. Cal Rhodes
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.

Two of a Kind
1983
as God (voice) (uncredited)
God has had enough of the bad behavior and attitude of humankind, and has decided to start it all over. It is up to a struggling inventor and a bank t...

Misunderstood
1983
as Ned Rawley
A workaholic father becomes sole parent to his two young sons, and finds it hard to relate to them, consumed as he is with his own grief.

Under Fire
1983
as Alex Grazier
Three U.S. journalists get too close to one another and their work in 1979 Nicaragua.

The Making of 'Superman II'
1983
as Self
Documentary about the making of the sequel to Superman.

Eureka
1983
as Jack McCann
After striking it rich on a large gold strike, a prospector retires to the quiet life on a Caribbean island but ends up coping with an alcoholic wife,...

The Making of 'Superman: The Movie'
1982
as Self
Ernie Anderson narrates this look at the making of Richard Donner's blockbuster 1978 film. Behind-the-scenes footage, as well as scenes from the film,...

Reds
1981
as Pete van Wherry
An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed, who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical co...

All Night Long
1981
as George Dupler
Executive George Dupler loses his temper and is demoted to the night manager at a 24 hour drugstore. After he suggests to his teenage son Freddie that...

Superman II
1980
as Lex Luthor
Three Kryptonian criminals led by General Zod team up with Lex Luthor to conquer Earth, forcing a depowered Superman to regain his strength and stop t...

Superman
1978
as Lex Luthor
Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the ne...

Formula 1 - Speed fever
1978
as Self
Interspersed with interviews that the actress Sydne Rome gives to some of the most famous "Formula 1" champions - from Lauda to Regazzoni, from Andret...

March or Die
1977
as Major William Sherman Foster
Just after World War I, Major Foster is incorporating new recruits into his French Foreign Legion platoon when he is sent to his former remote outpost...

A Bridge Too Far
1977
as Maj. Gen. Stanislaw F. Sosabowski
The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in H...

The Domino Principle
1977
as Tucker
Roy Tucker, a Vietnam war veteran with excellent shooting skills, is serving a long prison sentence when a mysterious visitor promises him that he wil...

Lucky Lady
1975
as Kibby
When an American booze smuggler gets murdered in Prohibition-era Mexico, his widow, a nightclub singer, joins forces with her lover and a desperate lo...

Bite the Bullet
1975
as Sam Clayton
At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes an endurance horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days. 9 adventurers are competing, amo...

Night Moves
1975
as Harry Moseby
Private detective and former football player Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case - a former Hollywood actress want...

French Connection II
1975
as "Popeye" Doyle
"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York.

Young Frankenstein
1974
as Blindman
A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a prett...

Zandy's Bride
1974
as Zandy Allen
Zandy Allan purchases a mail-order bride, Hannah Lund. He treats her as a possession, without respect or humanity, until their shared ordeal as they s...

The Conversation
1974
as Harry Caul
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Scarecrow
1973
as Max Millan
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.

On the Road with: Scarecrow
1973
as Himself
Short featurette on the making of Scarecrow (1973).

The Poseidon Adventure
1972
as Reverend Scott
When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.

Prime Cut
1972
as Mary Ann
A group of ruthless Chicago mob enforcers are sent to Kansas City to settle things with the owner of a slaughterhouse who has taken money that is not ...

Cisco Pike
1971
as Officer Leo Holland
A down on his luck former drug dealer is forced by a corrupt LAPD policeman to sell 100 kilos of confiscated marijuana in one weekend.

The French Connection
1971
as Jimmy Doyle
Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

The Hunting Party
1971
as Brandt Ruger
A ruthless rancher, and his gang, use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his wife.

Doctors' Wives
1971
as Dave Randolph
The wives of several high-powered doctors feel neglected due to their husbands' focus on their careers, so they embark on a regimen of sex, drugs and ...

I Never Sang for My Father
1970
as Gene Garrison
Hackman plays a New York professor who wants a change in his life, and plans to get married to his girlfriend and move to California. His mother under...

Marooned
1969
as Buzz Lloyd
After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to Earth only to find their de-orbit thrusters won't activate. Af...

Downhill Racer
1969
as Eugene Claire
An ambitious young skier, determined to break all existing records, is contemptuous of the teamwork advocated by the US coach when they go to Europe f...

The Gypsy Moths
1969
as Joe Browdy
Three skydivers and their travelling thrill show barnstorm through a small midwestern town one Fourth of July weekend.

Riot
1969
as Red Fraker
A riot in a state prison is staged to cover up an escape attempt, during which many inmates and guards are killed. Shot on location at Arizona State P...
The Sky Divers
1969
as Self
A behind-the-scenes, promotional short about the making of the feature film The Gypsy Moths (1969), which extensively features free fall skydiving.
How Fast?
1969
as Self (Archive Footage)
Promotional feature for Michael Ritchie's film 'Downhill Racer'.

Shadow on the Land
1968
as Rev. Thomas Davis
Patriotic freedom fighters struggle against a fascist dictatorship in a near-future USA.

The Split
1968
as Lt. Walter Brill
A group of thieves attempt a daring robbery of a football stadium.

Banning
1967
as Tommy Del Gaddo
A playboy golf pro, kicked off the circuit for alleged cheating, is forced to hustle for a living.

Bonnie and Clyde
1967
as Buck Barrow
In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the c...

A Covenant with Death
1967
as Harmsworth
An innocent man is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but as he's about to be hanged he accidentally kills his executioner. He now faces a...

First to Fight
1967
as Sergeant Tweed
Jack is the sole survivor of a Japanese attack on his squad at Guadalcanal. Because of his heroism and the fact that he is still alive, he becomes a M...

Hawaii
1966
as John Whipple
Abner Hale, a rigid and humorless New England missionary, marries the beautiful Jerusha Bromley and takes her to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, ...

Lilith
1964
as Norman
Vincent Bruce, a war veteran, begins working as an occupational therapist at Poplar Lodge, a private psychiatric facility for wealthy people where he ...

Mad Dog Coll
1961
as Cop (uncredited)
Killer Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll moves in on gangster Dutch Schultz in 1920s New York.