Paying Tribute To Film Icon Gene Hackman
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Hackman From The Big Screen To Forest Hills Stadium
By Michael Perlman | mperlman@queensledger.com
It was the end of an era when local to international audiences learned on February 26 about 95-year-old legendary actor and novelist Gene Hackman’s passing, in addition to his 65-year-old wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa at their Santa Fe, New Mexico home. The circumstances surrounding their death, along with one of their dogs, were deemed suspicious, and an investigation is ongoing.
Born Eugene Allen Hackman on January 30, 1930 in San Bernardino, California, he would engage audiences within an over six-decade career, where he appeared in approximately 80 films spanning a number of genres, including thrillers and dramas. He is remembered as one of the greatest actors of his generation. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, two BAFTA Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
A heartwarming tribute was delivered at the 97th Annual Academy Awards on March 2. “Like everybody who has ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer, whose gifts elevated everyone’s work,” said Morgan Freeman, who felt privileged to co-star with him in the dramas, “Unforgiven” (1992) and “Under Suspicion” (2000). “He received two Oscars, but more importantly, he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”
Gene Hackman as Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection, 1971, Photo by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation_Sunset Boulevard_Corbis via Getty Images
Freeman also quoted Hackman, who always said, “I don’t think about legacy. I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work.” He continued, “So I think I speak for us all when I say, ‘Gene, you’ll be remembered for that, and for so much more.’”
Gene Hackman served in the Marines in China, Japan, and Hawaii for four and a half years. A pivotal moment for Hackman transpired after attending the 1951 screening of “A Streetcar Named Desire” starring Marlon Brando. The believability of Brando’s performance struck a chord, and he told his father that his goal was to become an actor Hackman and Dustin Hoffman were once roommates, who dropped out of the Pasadena Playhouse and strived to cultivate their acting talents in New York City. Simultaneously, Hackman landed a position as a counterman at Howard Johnson’s in Times Square, polishing the Chrysler Building’s leather furnishings, and moving furniture. The duo would have to wait decades to finally share the big screen with “Runaway Jury,” a 2003 thriller and mystery.
In March 2004, Gene Hackman explained to Vanity Fair that movie theaters were his sanctuary, and his favorite actors were Jimmy Cagney, Errol Flynn, and Edward G. Robinson. He said, “I loved the idea that somebody could convince me that they were a sea captain without being phony. I’d grown up shy—not unusual for actors. They want to show they’re more than that—people of import, substance. I think because I was shy, I felt insecure, and acting seemed like a way of maybe getting around that. Getting to be somebody.”
Gene Hackman at 2nd Annual RFK Pro Celebrity Tennis Tournament August 25, 1973
In the 1970s, the iconic Forest Hills Stadium hosted a most fashionable annual event, the RFK Pro-Celebrity Tennis Tournament, where professional athletes teamed up with a diverse lineup of Hollywood celebrities and elected officials to compete in matches and benefit the RFK Memorial Foundation. Gene Hackman played at a number of tournaments on the storied courts. A celebrity entry cost $2,500, whereas the observer entry fee ranged from $5 to $100. The third annual event was held on August 24, 1974 from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM, and tickets were available at over 150 Ticketron outlets.
Locals picked up The Glendale Register, which read, “Sports fans for the time of your life, the Robert F. Kennedy Pro-Celebrity Tennis Tournament on Sat., Aug. 24th at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium is the place to be. Such Pros and celebrities as Dave DeBusschere, Jim Brown, Bill Bradley, Gene Hackman, Rod Laver, James Garner, Andy Williams, Stan Smith, Ethel and Senator Kennedy, Javits and Tunney, John Newcombe, George Segal, Sidney Poitier, Clint Eastwood, Julius Irving, Alan King, Arthur Ashe, Janet Leigh, Jennifer O’Neill, Dennis Weaver, Walter Cronkite, Frank Gifford, Merv Griffin, Roger Mudd, Fred Williamson, and dozens of other Pros and celebrities will be present.”
Gene Hackman starred alongside Melvyn Douglas, Dorothy Stickney, and Estelle Parsons in “I Never Sang For My Father,” which was screened at Interboro’s Trylon Theatre in Forest Hills. A January 8, 1971 ad referenced this film as “One of The Year’s Ten best!”
“A real look at a tough cop. Gene Hackman seems to me closer to the real thing than any other movie detective I’ve ever seen… Good as ‘Bullitt’ was, I think ‘The French Connection’ is even better,” stated Richard Schickel of Life Magazine in The French Connection movie ad from November 1971, titled “Everyone Is Calling It The Best American Thriller In Years!” The Midway Theatre in Forest Hills was among the local venues that screened this classic.
In July 1974, “The Conversation” appeared on the historic Trylon Theatre marquee, and was the winner of the foremost Golden Palm award for “Best Picture” at the Cannes Film Festival. In a July 12, 1974 New York Times ad, an endorsement from film critic Gene Shalit of WNBC’s “The Today Show” read, “Gene Hackman has become one of America’s most impressive actors… exceptional performance.” Loews Trylon also screened “No Way Out,” a thriller starring Gene Hackman, Kevin Costner, Sean Young, and Will Patton in August 1987.
Televised tribute to Gene Hackman at 97th Annual Academy Awards, Photo by Michael Perlman
The UA Midway Quad boasted “Bat*21” as of October 1988. A New York Times ad featured a testimonial from Guy Flatley of Cosmopolitan, which read, “Gene Hackman and Danny Glover give citation-worthy performances in this taut, beautifully written true story about an air force colonel who’s never before faced combat and the pilot assigned the impossible mission of rescuing him from behind enemy lines.”
Among the highlights at what became Loews Lefrak City Triplex in Rego Park were “The Split” featuring Gene Hackman, Jim Brown, Diahann Carroll, and Julie Harris in November 1968, and “Uncommon Valor” in December 1983, where Gene Hackman starred alongside Patrick Swayze, Fred Ward, and Harold Sylvester.
In 1993, “Unforgiven” was the winner of four Academy Awards and was deemed “Best Picture.” The best supporting actor was Gene Hackman, who starred alongside Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Richard Harris. On April 2, 1993, theatergoers made their way to United Artists Continental 3 in Forest Hills.
Gene Hackman would return to Forest Hills Stadium for the filming of “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001), and can be spotted within the arched colonnade. Bill Sullivan serves as Forest Hills Stadium’s creative director, and is a co-director and producer of the Stadium’s upcoming commemorative film, “Welcome To Forest Hills” (working title). “The iconic footage of Gene Hackman sitting under the eagle in ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ makes me smile every time I see it, and we’re hoping to use it in the film,” said Sullivan. Perhaps the epitome of his acting roles was Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in “The French Connection.” “It is right up there with one of the greatest New York City characters ever created. Gene just became whoever he played, and it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Dustin Hoffman & Gene Hackman at Forest Hills Stadium’s RFK Pro-Celebrity Tennis Tournament, August 25, 1973
Palm Beach, Florida resident Paul Noble, who called Forest Hills home from 1935 to 1957, is a television producer and a five-time Emmy award recipient. He recalled having the pleasure of meeting Gene Hackman on one occasion. “He appeared on ‘Midday Live’ on channel 5 on East 67th Street to promote a picture, ‘The Royal Tenenbaums.’ He was much more good looking in person than I had expected, and was very open and charming.”
Hal Wixon, the founder and director of The Gulf Coast Film & Video Festival, and his wife Karen Wixon, were meant for one another since their days at JHS 157. Now they reside in Houston, Texas. “Karen and I ran into him in a shop in Santa Fe years ago. I enjoyed speaking to him, and he was very down to earth. I never missed any of his films, since he was a great actor. I wish that I could have worked with him. He will be greatly missed.”
Upon seeing the crime and romance classic, “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967), Gene Hackman caught the attention of Patty Bugland, a retired Forest Hills High School teacher, and she became a fan. “He was cast perfectly opposite Estelle Parsons,” she recalled.
Based on his numerous classic roles, she feels that “The French Connection” was among his best. She reminisced, “I was at Lehman College when it was released. The features editor obtained four press passes, and came back raving about it. Of course, the iconic car chase sequence was the hot topic. My Lehman College classmates hoped that the car chase sequence had been shot under the Jerome Avenue #4 train. The Bronx was burning in those years, so any boost was welcome. A couple of those classmates were in a film class with Professor Frank J. Kahn (a cousin of Madeline Kahn), who was extremely knowledgeable about film editing. How the sequence was shot and edited was talked about for weeks, in and out of class. Decades and many film history classes (on the postgraduate level) later, that particular film sequence was probably the one that made me look for fine film editing, and appreciate how the editing process enhances a great performance.”
Gene Hackman in Royal Tenenbaums scene at Forest Hills Stadium
Bugland also praised Hackman’s later roles in films such as “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972), “The Royal Tenenbaums,” and “Unforgiven,” which demonstrate his range. She said, “I remember being stunned when he died in ‘The Poseidon Adventure.’”
“Twenty years ago, I was sorry to see his health declining, which led to retirement from films, but whether a lead, supporting or ensemble player, he was always believable and will be missed,” Bugland continued.
Fans are brainstorming about ways to remember Gene Hackman, in addition to their heart beating in his memory. Ideas consist of naming an award after him, building a statue, painting murals, naming a school, theater, and street after him, and hosting a movie series in collaboration with annual fundraisers.
Television talk show host, producer, and author Bill Boggs, who can be viewed on BillBoggsTV on YouTube, has interviewed everyone from Carol Channing to Frank Sinatra to Burt Bacharach, but never met Gene Hackman. However, he feels very well acquainted. “Gene can do anything – tragedy, comedy, good guy, bad guy. Put a label on it, and he was so authentic. He was an actor’s actor. It’s as much of a gift as anyone could ever be given. He will be most remembered for his unparalleled body of work for an actor. Part of his legacy will be what was written about him in obituaries. I read everything that I could about him.”
Boggs also shared his vision for a public tribute. “A list of every film that he made should be included, which would be outstanding in the test of time. Naming a theater after him is also a brilliant idea.”
Portraying the notorious villain, Lex Luthor in “Superman” (1978) featuring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman delivered a memorable quote. “Some people can read ‘War and Peace’ and come away thinking it’s a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper, and unlock the secrets of the universe.”
