Celebrities and fans paid tribute to Hollywood great Gene Hackman early Thursday morning after the iconic actor — along with his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa — was found dead at his New Mexico home a day earlier.
He was 95, and Arakawa was 63.
Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner, held down a decades-long film career that saw him in classic pictures such as “The French Connection,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “I Never Sang for My Father,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Hoosiers,” “The Royal Tenenbaums” and director Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation.”
Coppola, in a social media post, paid tribute to the late actor alongside a picture of the two from the set of 1974 thriller, which took home the Palme d’Or at that year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“The 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,” the legendary director wrote.
“I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.”
George Takei also reflected on the loss of “one of the true giants of the screen.”
“Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it,” wrote the iconic “Star Trek” actor in a social media post.
“He could be everyone and no one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe. That’s how powerful an actor he was. He will be missed, but his work will live on forever.”
Edgar Wright, the director behind films such as “Shaun of the Dead” and “Baby Driver,” shared a brief tribute to the actor, writing, “The greatest….”
Others remarked on the breadth of Hackman’s filmography, including his performance in “Crimson Tide,” director Tony Scott’s 1995 thriller co-starring Denzel Washington.
“Hackman is immortalized through many incredible performances probably more iconic than CRIMSON TIDE, but nobody could’ve brought the same shit-eating bravado to a role with such richly delivered relish,” wrote X user @metaplexmovies.
“His was always big screen acting. Rest in peace to a forever legend.”
Another X user asked if Hackman was “maybe the greatest actor we’ve ever had” as he shared a clip of him “being the best” in David Mamet’s 2001 film “Heist.”
Hackman “didn’t look like your typical Hollywood star,” according to one social media user, but he “owned every scene he was in and nailed almost all the roles.”
“He’s undoubtedly one of the greatest to ever grace the medium. The World will miss him. As Arthur Penn rightly put it, ‘American movies have always had certain kinds of self-styled actors who shouldn’t be stars but are and Gene Hackman is in the company of Bogart, Tracy, and Cagney,’” wrote the user, who included a clip of the actor from Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film, “Unforgiven.”