Gene Hackman had a monumental career in Hollywood that included emotional Oscar acceptance speeches.
The legendary actor, who was found dead at age 95 inside his Santa Fe home alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and their dog on Wednesday, won Academy Awards in 1972 and 1993.
His first win, which was presented to him by Liza Minnelli, was for Best Actor for his role in the action thriller “The French Connection.”
“Thank you very much,” Hackman said onstage at the start of his speech. “I just want to start at the beginning just for a second and say, sitting out there next to Barbara Harris reminds me of my first acting scene ever.”
“It was in New York,” he continued, “and the gentlemen sitting in front of us when we were doing that scene was my acting teacher, and I just have to mention his name: George Morrison. I want to thank him.”
Hackman then shouted out William Friedkin, who won the Best Director Oscar earlier in the night. “I have to thank him because he really brought me through this when I wanted to quit,” he said.
The actor also thanked producer Philip D’Antoni and his co-star Roy Scheider, with his final shoutout going to his then-wife, Faye Maltese.
“And last, a young lady who I met in New York many years ago, Miss Felippa Maltese, and she brought me uptown,” he said. “Thank you.”
In “The French Connection,” Hackman played a detective based on Eddie Egan, the subject of Robin Moore’s nonfiction book. Hackman mentioned Egan in his speech.
The film won four other Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2000, Hackman said in an interview that he initially didn’t think he was the right fit for “The French Connection.”
“When we first started, I was pretty unsure of myself, because [his character] had to be pretty ruthless,” Hackman explained. “In the early parts of the filming, I just wasn’t up to it. When we shot a scene with the drug pusher that I chase down the street in the first scene of the movie, I wasn’t very good; it was just kind of weak.”
He continued, “I went to [director William Friedkin] and I said, ‘I don’t know if I can do this or not.’ This was like the first or second day of filming, and he would have been in big trouble if, after having gone to bat for me, I couldn’t have done the work. And he said, ‘We’ll put it aside for now and continue on and maybe we can reshoot the scene later.’ And that’s what happened.”
Hackman won his second Oscar in 1993 for Best Supporting Actor for the Western “Unforgiven.”
After Mercedes Ruehl presented the award to Hackman, he said onstage, “Thank you very much. Quick thanks to David Valdes, our producer, David Peoples, our writer.”
“Oh, boy. All the wonderful actors,” he added, naming his co-stars Richard Harris, Morgan Freeman, Frances Fisher and Clint Eastwood, who also directed the film.
Of Eastwood, 94, Hackman said, “Clint, who kind of made it all possible for me and for everyone else in the film. It was a wonderful experience.”
Hackman then dedicated his award to his “wonderful” uncle Orin Hackman, who died one day before the ceremony.
“Unforgiven” grossed nearly $160 million at the worldwide box office upon its 1992 release. The movie won three other Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing.
Hackman won two Oscars out of five nominations in his career. He snagged noms for his supporting roles in “Bonnie & Clyde” (1967) and “I Never Sang for My Father” (1971) and lead role in “Mississippi Burning” (1989).
He retired from Hollywood in 2004 for health reasons.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York,” Hackman told Empire in a 2009 interview.
“The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress,” he added.
Hackman and his wife’s deaths are under investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
According to TMZ, authorities discovered two other dogs alive inside the home. Hackman’s daughter, Elizabeth Jean Hackman, told the outlet that the family suspects they likely died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Hours after news broke, however, authorities called their deaths “suspicious.”
“The death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation because the reporting party found the front door of the residence unsecured and opened,” a new search warrant obtained by TMZ stated.
“Deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence and no obvious signs of a gas leak.”
The New Mexico Gas Co. is working with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation, spokesperson Tim Korte told the Associated Press.
