Absolutely bonkers that Hackman quit acting more than 20 years ago [0] — "Welcome to Mooseport (2004)" was his last film. But his body of work in my mind feels as timelessly relevant and fresh as Clint Eastwood's and Bill Murray's. Maybe because I love rewatching Unforgiven and Crimson Tide. I haven't even seen French Connection, which earned him his first Oscar. RIP to this legend.
French connection was a great movie in its time. It feels a bit slow moving compared to today's contemporary films. But a must watch if you're a Hackman fan.
“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.
He maintained his love for acting and missed it but the business had become too stressful for him.
This is a take you'd only hear on a site like Hacker News.
Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
Looking over surveys of most stressful jobs, it looks like the common theme are those that deal directly with people like customer service, sales, nursing/health care, or working in physically demanding environments like cook, construction, fire fighter.
Software development is an incredibly stress-free job in the overwhelming majority of circumstances.
> Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
I've worked a number of different jobs. Software development isn't the most stressful job, but it can be very stressful.
It 100% depends upon who you work for, and what you're hired to do, and how that work is performed. I've worked jobs at both ends of the "stress scale" and most everywhere in-between, and it mostly comes down to the boss bein' the main decider if it's stressful or not to work there. A good boss can turn even the most stressful tasks into a fun challenge that everyone's on-board with solving. A bad boss can make even the simplest most routine tasks a daily nightmare that must be dealt with and tolerated for the sake of the paycheck.
I just wanted to bring up the stress caused by "passive" bosses, who attempt to be everyones buddy, avoiding even the faintest whiff of having to actually "manage" employees. Especially employees unable to integrate themselves, after months, into a workflow wothout causing an equal amount of work for others to decipher and clean up.
I've worked in physically demanding environments like cook and construction - there were lots of injuries in the construction job, and a few people died, of course this was when I was young and extremely physically fit, but it was not as stressful as programming can be. More stressful than programming generally is, but not anywhere near as stressful as it can be.
The difference between relatively difficult programming and a lot of jobs is that a lot of jobs have a pretty steady level of stress, whereas the programming stress level can vary incredibly.
Then consider yourself really lucky because I ended up in the hospital back in 2010 from the stress. Yes I hear there are lovely places with fat salaries, massages, and free lunches, but that's not the majority of software development or tech work.
The only part of washing dishes that was stressful was the amount of money washing dishes paid me. The job itself had great hours and I could zone out washing dishes and not worry about things except running out of dishes to wash.
I've done construction, masonry, retail sales, barista, deli, a line cook, aiding the mentally challenged and Software development. Id say all those jobs can be stressful.
I believe the most stressful part of IT is that the job itself is stressful at times. I believe that in most jobs, the job itself isn't stressful, it's the people and the stresses of life due to low pay.
I was the second developer at a startup, got a nice bundle of stock options that kept me highly motivated for 12 years but were ultimately worthless when the company sold
> Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
Most devs already came from enough privilege to afford never having to do truly painful jobs, so they are a pampered whiney bunch. At lunch today I sneakily surveyed 13 20-something devs (all white, all male). Every single one went to college and didn't need a part-time job to pay for it. I've been at this for 30 years, and sure that was a pretty biased sample: there are plenty of Indian, Thai, Chinese women devs that I've worked with, but most everyone from overseas is already of a higher-caste.
I'd love to see your typical dev do even mildly physical labor 40 hours a week for a little over minimum wage. Lol.
>>Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
I've done 48 hr on-call work days, and a decade back my average sleep hours were like 3 - 4 hrs/day. Needless to say, even the best case sleeping hours are/were 5-6 hrs even till date. Writing code gets as stressful, as it gets.
But I guess you are talking more on the lines of most other professions putting same effort but not getting paid anywhere near we do.
That's a different problem and has a lot more to do with overall life directions, where you started and where you are going than something to do specifically with Software development.
Did you miss the part where a multi-decade, A-list actor with millions of dollars who can call his own shots was the one saying that? It's not the work, it's the constant financial shenanigans and horse whipping from the executives.
I'd take earning a million dollars for 3 months of work and then taking the rest of the year off over what I have to put up with. Constant 24/7 unpaid support, having to work long hours because the company decided to do layoffs, having to work long hours because someone in sales promised the world for his commission that I don't see a dime of. Having to fix work of bad hires because said hire was related to the boss. Dealing with very strict government regulations that change every few years. Having to implement an absolutely horrible idea in a dead language because some boss had a bright idea. Dealing with hacker-kiddies constantly trying to compromise the system. Having to constantly learn the latest fad abstraction, on my own dime and time, that will only be relevant for a few years. Have to fix massive data issues because some executive decided to read the first chapter in a SQL book run a query in production? Having to deal with unrealistic deadlines and half ass specs. Having to deal with whatever scrum implementation some nitwit who took one online course came up with. Getting a couple weeks or three off every year, including sick days, and having to practically beg for it, and still getting calls anyway. Talk about being out of touch. What exactly do you think programmers do all day, write "Hello World," in every language ever invented?
Do you think Gene Hackman ever had to sit in a one-on-one meeting with is boss where the boss asked him to rank himself on various things, from 1-5? Getdafuqouttahere.
Sometimes I randomly think of a famous person and ask myself "Are they still alive?". I remember doing it for Burt Bacharach and Dick Van Dyke (who's still alive!). This happened last month with Gene Hackman. I had just rewatched "The Conversation" and "The Firm" (so maybe not so random). So I googled him, and apparently he'd basically quit acting 20 years ago.
It was weird to see recent pictures of him. I guess our memory of a retired actor is often skewed since we constantly see them at a younger age in their movies, but rarely (or never) in a recent context. And considering his impact in cinema history, it didn't feel like he'd left the industry at all.
The 4k remaster of the conversation that came out in theatres was so good. I hadn’t seen it before and I was blown away by the end. Super recommend people go to the cinema these days they are doing lots of 4k remasters of classics like this.
The Academy Award-winning actor was found on the floor in the mud room, according to the search warrant. It appeared he fell suddenly, and he and his wife "showed obvious signs of death," the document said.
Arakawa was found lying on her side on the floor in a bathroom, with a space heater near her body, according to the search warrant.
Her body showed signs of decomposition, the document said. There was mummification to her hands and feet, the document said.
A German shepherd was found dead about 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa, the document said.
But two other dogs were found alive. One healthy dog was near Arakawa and the other was located outside, according to the search warrant.
The Santa Fe City Fire Department found no signs of a possible carbon monoxide leak or poisoning, the document said. If there was carbon monoxide at the scene, it could have vented out of the home through the open front door before responders arrived.
New Mexico Gas Company also responded and "as of now, there are no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence," the document said.
Keep in mind, he was 95 and was forced into retirement by health issues over 20 years ago. If your base rate is based on two healthy people in their prime, that's a little different. It could be as simple as he found her dead or dying, tried to get help and had a heart attack from the stress or simply just fell. Reports are they weren't found for two weeks, which sadly could explain the dog.
Tragic situation all around, but I'm not ready to use a probability based argument to insist on foul play.
3 things dying in 2 weeks in the same house is just unlikely and the people must have died within minutes. This is still unlikely EVEN when you take into account age and health issues.
Maybe he dropped dead and she just decided to go too? The one dog may have just been accidential injestion. But the Medical Examiner will figure out most plausible causes. Sad no matter how it happened.
Hackman and Arakawa were found in separate rooms. The actor was found in a mudroom near his cane, appearing to have fallen, while his wife was found in an open bathroom near a space heater, with an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the nearby countertop, according to the warrant
The dog that died was locked up and probably died without water. The two that weren’t locked up survived. It’s likely she was in some kind of danger and he had a heart attack trying to deal with it. He was found in the mud room by the door and she was in the bathroom with an open bottle of pills spilled.
> The local gas provider, the New Mexico Gas Co, was involved in the investigation alongside the Santa Fe county sheriff’s department, Associated Press reported, raising speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning lay behind the deaths
True. Newer ones will last ~10 years, and will shout an EOL warning when they near the end of their life. I've got hardwired combo smoke and CO detectors (AA battery backup) from Kidde at the house and they have this feature.
The nice part of having them hardwired is that the house is now like an office/other building: if one trips, they all trip, so the whole house is alerted. The newer ones have far fewer false alarms, too (pizza in the oven I am looking at you...).
Hardwiring is good, but if retrofitting, you don't need to do it. Some of the 10 year battery powered units can wirelessly link (and thankfully not over something inconsistent like WiFi or Bluetooth).
The article I read said no gas leak or CO was found.
However I don't believe that one person being found dead near an open door is evidence of no gases. I would take it as the opposite. Something happens, one of them almost makes it out but either blacks out at the open door before getting fresh air or, like in the CO case, once exposed the damage is done.
That said, the bigger curiosity is one dead dog and two small, live ones. If you have people poisoned by food, and one animal with food anxiety, that's a recipe for one dead dog and multiple dead people and other household animals wondering what the hell just happened. If you have people and animals poisoned by a gas... Unless it was lighter than air it should have affected the small dogs as well, unless they were napping somewhere outside of the immediate danger.
(The GSD could also have died from eating the prescription pills on the ground and it's only a coincidental death rather than common cause)
>They just got through saying that foul play was not suspected. It'd be nice if you could not slander the dead.
>not suspected
lol, It's all speculation. No one knows anything at this point. Have there been cases in the past where the police initially announce no foul play was suspected and then have it turn out to be that foul play was indeed involved? We can imagine so.
And there is no slander here. None. So what on Earth are you even talking about?
That background may have informed Hackman's portrayal of a military character in ''Bat*21'', a suspenseful film set during the Vietnam War based on the real escape of USAF Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton after being shot down.
He was a force of nature embodying his role in Mississippi Burning. Very physical and I never realized how tall he was until you see him face down some redneck racists! He plays the in-the-trenches tough guy who makes Willem Dafoe look like a comparative dweeb.
It is strange that I thought he was dead long ago and was surprised to know that he was still alive. Sorry to know that now he passed away for real. Great actor. My favorite Lex Luthor.
"Schizo surveillance guy gets a contract that starts to derail things" is the basic premise, but there is more going on - "it has layers".
Francis Ford Coppola filmed this in between Godfather I & II.
I believe it is less famous only because the target audience is smaller, not due to its quality.
The editing is perfect, the pacing just right and the acting mostly top notch. Gene Hackman absolutely nails it.
I found the whole thing to be mesmerising and gripping until the very end. Underrated masterpiece.
He was perfect as the sherif. One of those morally ambiguous characters, that you warm to but know is really a bad guy (much like the Clint Eastwood's lead character).
(...to be honest it's a tough call between Popeye Doyle or Royal Tenenbaum too).
I second this. "Little Bill" was portrayed in such a way, that as a viewer, you are pulled between rationalizing and condemning his actions. Fantastic movie with superb acting on Hackman's (and truly, every other actor's) part.
There are a number of military surveillance technologies like GORGON STARE that got their start when some military brass saw Enemy of the State and said "I want that capability. Can we have that?"
It's not very well known or particularly well reviewed. It just clicked with me, I've watched it probably a dozen times. It's about a jewel heist and the drama surrounding it
This is perhaps the most random and stupid comment in this thread, but I always hear Lou Costello going "HEY MAMETTTTTTTTTT!!!!!" in my head when I see his name. (Yes, I know he's saying 'Abbott'.)
I liked Heist and especially liked the cast (Delroy Lindo and DeVito are excellent in everything I’ve seen them in as well) - but there’s something up with Mamets direction and cinematography that makes the movies look way cheaper and older than they are. Never understood it, not in Spartan or the Spanish Prisoner (another underrated film IMO) or Heist.
"Asshole dad reconciles with his estranged children."
Probably my favourite Wes Anderson film with an extremely talented cast. Gene Hackman does a great job of playing a well-meaning buy very flawed father figure.
"Dad, you were never dying."
"But I'm going to live!"
I've heard he was just wretched to deal with on set and didn't really connect with the movie (at least at the time) — but wow what a performance regardless. That movie isn't what it is without him. You could say that for many of his films.
I have to go with The Birdcage. Just a silly movie, with Hackman playing a rather timeless portrayal of a politician. The meandering story about “purple mountains” always gets me for some reason.
"The Conversation" is a masterpiece of the golden age of 70s film. "The French Connection" would be on my list too, for similar reasons. Popeye Doyle is a classic 70s protagonist.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned "The Birdcage" yet. Fantastic ensemble cast, and Hackman plays his part to perfection.
"Heist" and "Royal Tenenbaums" would finish out my list.
I really love Guy Ritchie's tip of the hat in The Gentlemen from Hugh Grant's character where when talking about watching a conversation through a telephoto lens he says, "But I filmed it, had it lip-read, translated, and transcribed. Rather like the classic 1974 film The Conversation starring Gene Hackman and John Cazale. You know, Coppola slipped that one out between the Godfathers. It wasn't really for me. It's a bit boring to be honest...."
I don't know why but that makes me laugh every time. (And I agree w/ The Conversation being underrated)
Hoosiers, for sure. "My team is on the floor" was such a flex as a coach, it is still difficult for me to separate the man he played in that movie and the actor, to me they're one and the same.
+1 for The Conversation, an underated, gripping, and creepy movie that is underrated indeed and that I came to watch or even know about only last year (featuring a really young Harrison Ford btw). It's ahead of its time, yet also vaguely reminiscent of 1960's avantgarde movies like Blow Up. I also loved Hackmann's comedy performances, like in French Connection II and in The Birdcage. RIP
My favorite of his as well. Also in my top 10 movies of all time. Just a unique script, great cinematography, and a fantastic performance by Hackman. Love the sound editing. Special guests: Robert Duvall and Harrison Ford.
YES! Nice to see someone else who knows about his cameo. "I was gonna make espresso..." Hackman ad libbed that line and the reason that it immediately fades to black afterwards is because the entire crew loudly cracked up, and they couldn't reshoot that line without everyone still getting the giggles.
French Connection, talk about nailing the role of a cop obsessed with getting his suspect. Even the sequel is not bad. Mississippi Burning, Hoosiers...
Didn't watch that one, seems interesting so I will check it out, thanks.
The contrast between the police eating hotdogs out in the cold while the gangsters wine and dine in the most expensive restaurant is the most memorable scene to me. I still need to watch the sequel.
This is my favorite of the films I've seen him in also. It is surprising how rarely the film gets brought up, considering its quality and it having been written and directed by Coppola.
The Conversation is probably my favorite as well, but I always enjoyed Enemy of the State (1998) a lot. It has the same paranoid vibes as some of his work in the 70s, but with the subtlety replaced with sensational action. He was great in that film as a retired super spook, and his chemistry with Will Smith really elevated it.
All I seen are but I'd highlight his role in the Get Shorty, because it rarely mentioned. So perfecly played small person in a big game character, an other testament to his talent.
That's what I thought of. "Weird Al" Yankovic's parents were both found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning about 15 years back in a very similar fashion.
I bought my parents a few CO detectors for Christmas a few years ago. I reminded them that they don't have any gas appliances, but they do heat with wood.
CO poisoning during cold still weather is not uncommon in old/poor houses heated by gas or oil here in western Europe. What is the weather like in, I assume California, now?
Also people who warm up in idling cars, in semi confined spaces,on nights with no breeze. I've seen a couple local news stories of this. It's very sad.
And even if they do have them, they degrade over time and only last around 10 years tops. It's quite possible that the ones they had failed, and failed silently. Such as loss.
Yes but people forget to check them. A new threat could be cheapo detectors from Amazon. I bought a house recently and the fire marshall had them replace all their Amazon crap detectors with the real deal.
Shitty detectors; people simply forget to check on them or don't bother to install one in the first place or don't even know they should have one; expired detectors that don't work anymore but also don't alert that they're non-functional. Plus, older people tend to get worse at maintaining out-of-the-way stuff like that, more forgetful, harder to get around, may visit entire sections of their house (like a basement) almost never so just forget about it or don't notice signs that something needs to be replaced or repaired.
Check on your parents' smoke and CO detectors next time you visit!
As of this morning, the death is now considered "suspicious." Per local fire and police departments, there was no sign of a gas leak and only 1 of their 3 dogs died. The front door was found ajar, but there were no signs of forced entry.
This is a 2 pack. There are better ones, too. If you don't have one already, don't wait another day. Hundreds of people die preventable deaths each year in the US because of this.
Local massage therapists called him Gene “Whackman.” Having grown up in Santa Fe amongst a large group of massage therapists (my mother taught massage to many decades ago), many knew about his behavior from their personal experiences but somehow never reported it. Sort of interesting.
A couple of days ago, Michelle Trachtenberg (of Buffy fame) died. Seems the liver issues she'd been clearly undergoing since over a year ago finally caught up with her. She was just 39.
https://archive.ph/EszIB
Absolutely bonkers that Hackman quit acting more than 20 years ago [0] — "Welcome to Mooseport (2004)" was his last film. But his body of work in my mind feels as timelessly relevant and fresh as Clint Eastwood's and Bill Murray's. Maybe because I love rewatching Unforgiven and Crimson Tide. I haven't even seen French Connection, which earned him his first Oscar. RIP to this legend.
[0] https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/
"French Connection" is truly great. Such a good chase scene.
French connection was a great movie in its time. It feels a bit slow moving compared to today's contemporary films. But a must watch if you're a Hackman fan.
The Conversation and honestly The Royal Tanenbaums.
Don't forget his incredible performance as Lex Luther in Superman (1978... written by Mario Puzo...)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(1978_film)
Young Frankenstein FTW!
Hoosiers is probably my favorite movie of his.
Whichever of his movies I watched last.
Loved him in Get Shorty, too. This is prompting me to finally watch The Conversation tonight.
The Ringer has it as #3 all time best chase scene.
https://www.theringer.com/2024/05/21/movies/greatest-movie-c...
Why Gene Hackman stopped acting.
from https://nypost.com/2025/02/27/entertainment/gene-hackman-rev...
>“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.
>He maintained his love for acting and missed it but the business had become too stressful for him.
Sounds like modern dev work.
This is a take you'd only hear on a site like Hacker News.
Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
Looking over surveys of most stressful jobs, it looks like the common theme are those that deal directly with people like customer service, sales, nursing/health care, or working in physically demanding environments like cook, construction, fire fighter.
Software development is an incredibly stress-free job in the overwhelming majority of circumstances.
> Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
I've worked a number of different jobs. Software development isn't the most stressful job, but it can be very stressful.
It 100% depends upon who you work for, and what you're hired to do, and how that work is performed. I've worked jobs at both ends of the "stress scale" and most everywhere in-between, and it mostly comes down to the boss bein' the main decider if it's stressful or not to work there. A good boss can turn even the most stressful tasks into a fun challenge that everyone's on-board with solving. A bad boss can make even the simplest most routine tasks a daily nightmare that must be dealt with and tolerated for the sake of the paycheck.
I just wanted to bring up the stress caused by "passive" bosses, who attempt to be everyones buddy, avoiding even the faintest whiff of having to actually "manage" employees. Especially employees unable to integrate themselves, after months, into a workflow wothout causing an equal amount of work for others to decipher and clean up.
I'm not bitter, you're bitter! :)
I've worked in physically demanding environments like cook and construction - there were lots of injuries in the construction job, and a few people died, of course this was when I was young and extremely physically fit, but it was not as stressful as programming can be. More stressful than programming generally is, but not anywhere near as stressful as it can be.
The difference between relatively difficult programming and a lot of jobs is that a lot of jobs have a pretty steady level of stress, whereas the programming stress level can vary incredibly.
Then consider yourself really lucky because I ended up in the hospital back in 2010 from the stress. Yes I hear there are lovely places with fat salaries, massages, and free lunches, but that's not the majority of software development or tech work.
Saying that a profession is less stressful than others, doesn’t imply it’s stress free.
Most professions have a much higher risk of physical violence, for instance.
The only part of washing dishes that was stressful was the amount of money washing dishes paid me. The job itself had great hours and I could zone out washing dishes and not worry about things except running out of dishes to wash.
> customer service
You could offer me double my current tech job salary and I still don't think I'd go back to my old retail service job.
People were shitty when I did it 20 years ago, and they've only gotten shittier today.
This is sooooo dependent on where you work and your current outside of work situation (ie, you need the money bad)
I've done construction, masonry, retail sales, barista, deli, a line cook, aiding the mentally challenged and Software development. Id say all those jobs can be stressful.
I believe the most stressful part of IT is that the job itself is stressful at times. I believe that in most jobs, the job itself isn't stressful, it's the people and the stresses of life due to low pay.
> Software development is an incredibly stress-free job
laughs from a bootstrapped startup
It's not worth it
I was the second developer at a startup, got a nice bundle of stock options that kept me highly motivated for 12 years but were ultimately worthless when the company sold
> Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
Most devs already came from enough privilege to afford never having to do truly painful jobs, so they are a pampered whiney bunch. At lunch today I sneakily surveyed 13 20-something devs (all white, all male). Every single one went to college and didn't need a part-time job to pay for it. I've been at this for 30 years, and sure that was a pretty biased sample: there are plenty of Indian, Thai, Chinese women devs that I've worked with, but most everyone from overseas is already of a higher-caste.
I'd love to see your typical dev do even mildly physical labor 40 hours a week for a little over minimum wage. Lol.
>>Software development consistently ranks among the least stressful jobs you can get and it's really out of touch to compare this profession to genuinely stressful jobs.
I've done 48 hr on-call work days, and a decade back my average sleep hours were like 3 - 4 hrs/day. Needless to say, even the best case sleeping hours are/were 5-6 hrs even till date. Writing code gets as stressful, as it gets.
But I guess you are talking more on the lines of most other professions putting same effort but not getting paid anywhere near we do.
That's a different problem and has a lot more to do with overall life directions, where you started and where you are going than something to do specifically with Software development.
i strongly disagree as a SWE of 16y working silicon valley remotely
there are times it's great. there are times it's awful. and there are times i'm prepared to starve rather than continue working for ____
no one in my extended family went into this industry and none of them deals with the endless stress that i do
i envy those who can't relate
Unless one is on consulting, high integrity computing, trading,....
Did you miss the part where a multi-decade, A-list actor with millions of dollars who can call his own shots was the one saying that? It's not the work, it's the constant financial shenanigans and horse whipping from the executives.
I'd take earning a million dollars for 3 months of work and then taking the rest of the year off over what I have to put up with. Constant 24/7 unpaid support, having to work long hours because the company decided to do layoffs, having to work long hours because someone in sales promised the world for his commission that I don't see a dime of. Having to fix work of bad hires because said hire was related to the boss. Dealing with very strict government regulations that change every few years. Having to implement an absolutely horrible idea in a dead language because some boss had a bright idea. Dealing with hacker-kiddies constantly trying to compromise the system. Having to constantly learn the latest fad abstraction, on my own dime and time, that will only be relevant for a few years. Have to fix massive data issues because some executive decided to read the first chapter in a SQL book run a query in production? Having to deal with unrealistic deadlines and half ass specs. Having to deal with whatever scrum implementation some nitwit who took one online course came up with. Getting a couple weeks or three off every year, including sick days, and having to practically beg for it, and still getting calls anyway. Talk about being out of touch. What exactly do you think programmers do all day, write "Hello World," in every language ever invented?
Do you think Gene Hackman ever had to sit in a one-on-one meeting with is boss where the boss asked him to rank himself on various things, from 1-5? Getdafuqouttahere.
Depends on the individual situation obviously.
Sometimes I randomly think of a famous person and ask myself "Are they still alive?". I remember doing it for Burt Bacharach and Dick Van Dyke (who's still alive!). This happened last month with Gene Hackman. I had just rewatched "The Conversation" and "The Firm" (so maybe not so random). So I googled him, and apparently he'd basically quit acting 20 years ago.
It was weird to see recent pictures of him. I guess our memory of a retired actor is often skewed since we constantly see them at a younger age in their movies, but rarely (or never) in a recent context. And considering his impact in cinema history, it didn't feel like he'd left the industry at all.
I hope he went away without pain. R.I.P.
Dick Van Dyke just did a music video with Coldplay where he danced, pretty wild https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeaHfkd3M8
The 4k remaster of the conversation that came out in theatres was so good. I hadn’t seen it before and I was blown away by the end. Super recommend people go to the cinema these days they are doing lots of 4k remasters of classics like this.
I had a weird dream in the wee hours of the morning that all the headlines read "Jack Nicholson dead at 95, days after SNL appearance."
I checked my phone out of curiosity, and Gene Hackman was at the top of Google News.
Wild to think of Mr. Van Dyke as an avid Amiga user as well.
Him, his wife and his dog found dead in the house ?
Carbon Monoxide, possibly?
Shame. I had no idea the guy was that old.
Not when responders arrived according to this article, https://abcnews.go.com/US/actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead...
Very unlikely for two people to die like that at the same time without some common factor. Add a dog and the probability becomes even crazier.
The evidence doesn't show any foul play but the probabilities and unlikelihoods do.
Keep in mind, he was 95 and was forced into retirement by health issues over 20 years ago. If your base rate is based on two healthy people in their prime, that's a little different. It could be as simple as he found her dead or dying, tried to get help and had a heart attack from the stress or simply just fell. Reports are they weren't found for two weeks, which sadly could explain the dog.
Tragic situation all around, but I'm not ready to use a probability based argument to insist on foul play.
3 things dying in 2 weeks in the same house is just unlikely and the people must have died within minutes. This is still unlikely EVEN when you take into account age and health issues.
Maybe he dropped dead and she just decided to go too? The one dog may have just been accidential injestion. But the Medical Examiner will figure out most plausible causes. Sad no matter how it happened.
From https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/202...
Hackman and Arakawa were found in separate rooms. The actor was found in a mudroom near his cane, appearing to have fallen, while his wife was found in an open bathroom near a space heater, with an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the nearby countertop, according to the warrant
for that to happen randomly is unlikely. And a dead dog too.
The dog that died was locked up and probably died without water. The two that weren’t locked up survived. It’s likely she was in some kind of danger and he had a heart attack trying to deal with it. He was found in the mud room by the door and she was in the bathroom with an open bottle of pills spilled.
Unlikely. The reasoning all makes sense except for the part about him trying to deal with her danger I don’t see anyone mentioning evidence of that.
But it’s unlikely for so many things to converge like this.
> The local gas provider, the New Mexico Gas Co, was involved in the investigation alongside the Santa Fe county sheriff’s department, Associated Press reported, raising speculation that carbon monoxide poisoning lay behind the deaths
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/27/gene-hackman-ca...
Friendly reminder that “most CO detectors use a sensor with a defined, limited lifespan, and will not work indefinitely.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_detector
True. Newer ones will last ~10 years, and will shout an EOL warning when they near the end of their life. I've got hardwired combo smoke and CO detectors (AA battery backup) from Kidde at the house and they have this feature.
The nice part of having them hardwired is that the house is now like an office/other building: if one trips, they all trip, so the whole house is alerted. The newer ones have far fewer false alarms, too (pizza in the oven I am looking at you...).
Battery powered units are literal lifesavers during a blackout, particularly in winter.
My house has hard wired smoke detectors and they all have batteries and all get to chirping on their schedule every 3 years or so.
I'd be willing to bet the NEC says "must be able to perform without mains power" for any hard wired setup.
Hardwiring is good, but if retrofitting, you don't need to do it. Some of the 10 year battery powered units can wirelessly link (and thankfully not over something inconsistent like WiFi or Bluetooth).
TIL
Time to visit the hardware store
The article I read said no gas leak or CO was found.
However I don't believe that one person being found dead near an open door is evidence of no gases. I would take it as the opposite. Something happens, one of them almost makes it out but either blacks out at the open door before getting fresh air or, like in the CO case, once exposed the damage is done.
That said, the bigger curiosity is one dead dog and two small, live ones. If you have people poisoned by food, and one animal with food anxiety, that's a recipe for one dead dog and multiple dead people and other household animals wondering what the hell just happened. If you have people and animals poisoned by a gas... Unless it was lighter than air it should have affected the small dogs as well, unless they were napping somewhere outside of the immediate danger.
(The GSD could also have died from eating the prescription pills on the ground and it's only a coincidental death rather than common cause)
That was my first thought too, but only 1 of their 3 dogs was found dead
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> according to the statement, which said that foul play was not suspected.
From the 2nd paragraph of the article.
They just got through saying that foul play was not suspected. It'd be nice if you could not slander the dead.
>They just got through saying that foul play was not suspected. It'd be nice if you could not slander the dead.
>not suspected
lol, It's all speculation. No one knows anything at this point. Have there been cases in the past where the police initially announce no foul play was suspected and then have it turn out to be that foul play was indeed involved? We can imagine so.
And there is no slander here. None. So what on Earth are you even talking about?
What kind of psychopath commits murder-suicide and also kills their own dog??
Hitler
Hitler loved dogs. And they loved him.
Remember that next time someone says that dogs can tell which people are good and bad.
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Ok, at 95 that would maybe be understandable, but his wife was considerably younger (63). And what about the dog?
And they were found in different rooms. Hackman apparently in a mudroom, and the wife in the bathroom.
Mine too, but the dog was found dead in its kennel. I'm no detective but most decent dog owners wouldn't do that if it was a planned thing.
Depends, they (or she) could've medicated it to death.
Assuming suicide was involved, if they had certain spiritual beliefs about life after death, they might have had an idea of the dog coming with them.
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Like Weird Al’s folks and those poor people at the Bahama’s Sandals.
He was a great actor and seemed like such a great human as well.
Never realized until today, reading his bio that he is a former marine.
Semper Fi. Rest in peace Marine!
That background may have informed Hackman's portrayal of a military character in ''Bat*21'', a suspenseful film set during the Vietnam War based on the real escape of USAF Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton after being shot down.
And of course "Crimson Tide." Good God, was he good in that one.
He was a force of nature embodying his role in Mississippi Burning. Very physical and I never realized how tall he was until you see him face down some redneck racists! He plays the in-the-trenches tough guy who makes Willem Dafoe look like a comparative dweeb.
I just looked into it and wow, that movie depicts him killing a farmer after failing to steal supplies from his family.
Kind of surprising. Might have to check that out.
Oi, his role as a USNavy admiral in the film Behind Enemy Lines now makes sense.
It is strange that I thought he was dead long ago and was surprised to know that he was still alive. Sorry to know that now he passed away for real. Great actor. My favorite Lex Luthor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/
Related:
Gene Hackman has died - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194778
Sheriff: Gene Hackman, wife found dead in Santa Fe home; no foul play suspected - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194324
Gene Hackman and his wife found dead at their home - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43192605
There's more information here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/27/gene-hackman-ca...
His role as Royal Tenenbaum is among my favourite characters in all of film. RIP
R.I.P. Just watched Mississippi Burning the other day again, what a terrific actor. One of the all time greats, so many memorable roles.
I even thought man he's really old now, but this seems to be a tragedy. What a shame.
I always remember him in this role. Such a great film.
Drop your favourite Hackman movies!
Heres mine:
--= The Conversation (1979) =--
"Schizo surveillance guy gets a contract that starts to derail things" is the basic premise, but there is more going on - "it has layers".
Francis Ford Coppola filmed this in between Godfather I & II. I believe it is less famous only because the target audience is smaller, not due to its quality.
The editing is perfect, the pacing just right and the acting mostly top notch. Gene Hackman absolutely nails it.
I found the whole thing to be mesmerising and gripping until the very end. Underrated masterpiece.
May he rest in peace.
I'd go with Unforgiven (1992).
He was perfect as the sherif. One of those morally ambiguous characters, that you warm to but know is really a bad guy (much like the Clint Eastwood's lead character).
(...to be honest it's a tough call between Popeye Doyle or Royal Tenenbaum too).
I second this. "Little Bill" was portrayed in such a way, that as a viewer, you are pulled between rationalizing and condemning his actions. Fantastic movie with superb acting on Hackman's (and truly, every other actor's) part.
Clint Eastwood is not my favorite human by a long shot, but that movie and Hackman’s performance are both amazing.
I won't say favorite, but who can forget his Lex Luthor in the original Superman!
Won't a favorite, but I recently watched Enemy of the State again, and was surprised by how much it held up over time, 27 or 28 years laster.
There are a number of military surveillance technologies like GORGON STARE that got their start when some military brass saw Enemy of the State and said "I want that capability. Can we have that?"
Enemy of the State was a documentary. Prove me wrong!
Heist (2001) - Directed by David Mamet
It's not very well known or particularly well reviewed. It just clicked with me, I've watched it probably a dozen times. It's about a jewel heist and the drama surrounding it
That was one of the first ones I thought of as well. Not sure why but the line "I can't be worrying about every little thing!" stuck in my mind.
I love Heist. One quote that is etched into my brain, from Danny DeVito:
"Everybody needs money. That's why they call it MONEY!"
I love heist. Truly excellent film. It's been a while since I've seen it so I'll have to dig it out again.
This is perhaps the most random and stupid comment in this thread, but I always hear Lou Costello going "HEY MAMETTTTTTTTTT!!!!!" in my head when I see his name. (Yes, I know he's saying 'Abbott'.)
Yes! Heist is my favorite as well.
I liked Heist and especially liked the cast (Delroy Lindo and DeVito are excellent in everything I’ve seen them in as well) - but there’s something up with Mamets direction and cinematography that makes the movies look way cheaper and older than they are. Never understood it, not in Spartan or the Spanish Prisoner (another underrated film IMO) or Heist.
The Royal Tenenbaums
"Asshole dad reconciles with his estranged children."
Probably my favourite Wes Anderson film with an extremely talented cast. Gene Hackman does a great job of playing a well-meaning buy very flawed father figure.
"Dad, you were never dying." "But I'm going to live!"
I've heard he was just wretched to deal with on set and didn't really connect with the movie (at least at the time) — but wow what a performance regardless. That movie isn't what it is without him. You could say that for many of his films.
"Oh no, that's just dog's blood"
The Royal Tenenbaums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Hbs0s6_sQ
Just came across this, which I enjoyed: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/wes-anderson-difficulty-working...
The Quick and the Dead for me. His turn as the villian was the best part of that movie.
Enemy of the State is right up there too.
I have to go with The Birdcage. Just a silly movie, with Hackman playing a rather timeless portrayal of a politician. The meandering story about “purple mountains” always gets me for some reason.
Never mind the story, the audio equipment was awesome :-)
https://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=vintage&m=224226
The Conversation at 50: Why the paranoid thriller is more relevant than ever
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194188
"The Conversation" is a masterpiece of the golden age of 70s film. "The French Connection" would be on my list too, for similar reasons. Popeye Doyle is a classic 70s protagonist.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned "The Birdcage" yet. Fantastic ensemble cast, and Hackman plays his part to perfection.
"Heist" and "Royal Tenenbaums" would finish out my list.
EDIT- how could I forget “Mississippi Burning”?!? The man was truly a national treasure.
Crimson Tide - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112740/ Gene Hackman, and Denzel Washington with the always outstanding musical score of Hans Zimmer.
Night Moves is essential neo-noir
He’s so good in it, and its treatment of masculinity was interesting.
Best read after seeing it: https://filmschoolrejects.com/night-moves-neo-noir/
I really love Guy Ritchie's tip of the hat in The Gentlemen from Hugh Grant's character where when talking about watching a conversation through a telephoto lens he says, "But I filmed it, had it lip-read, translated, and transcribed. Rather like the classic 1974 film The Conversation starring Gene Hackman and John Cazale. You know, Coppola slipped that one out between the Godfathers. It wasn't really for me. It's a bit boring to be honest...."
I don't know why but that makes me laugh every time. (And I agree w/ The Conversation being underrated)
Enemy of the State
It is quite good on its own. And it's a bit ironic given "The Conversation".
But it's up against some great competition in this debate.
Hoosiers, for sure. "My team is on the floor" was such a flex as a coach, it is still difficult for me to separate the man he played in that movie and the actor, to me they're one and the same.
+1 for The Conversation, an underated, gripping, and creepy movie that is underrated indeed and that I came to watch or even know about only last year (featuring a really young Harrison Ford btw). It's ahead of its time, yet also vaguely reminiscent of 1960's avantgarde movies like Blow Up. I also loved Hackmann's comedy performances, like in French Connection II and in The Birdcage. RIP
Not my favorite (they’re all my favorites!), but maybe most underrated: Under Suspicion (2000).
The film’s only reason to exist is to put Hackman and Morgan Freeman in a room together sparring for 90 minutes. That’s more than good enough.
My favorite of his as well. Also in my top 10 movies of all time. Just a unique script, great cinematography, and a fantastic performance by Hackman. Love the sound editing. Special guests: Robert Duvall and Harrison Ford.
Boy, “it has layers” is an understatement. Go watch this movie, it’s fantastic.
Young Frankenstein 1974
YES! Nice to see someone else who knows about his cameo. "I was gonna make espresso..." Hackman ad libbed that line and the reason that it immediately fades to black afterwards is because the entire crew loudly cracked up, and they couldn't reshoot that line without everyone still getting the giggles.
Superman!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(1978_film)
French Connection, talk about nailing the role of a cop obsessed with getting his suspect. Even the sequel is not bad. Mississippi Burning, Hoosiers...
Didn't watch that one, seems interesting so I will check it out, thanks.
The contrast between the police eating hotdogs out in the cold while the gangsters wine and dine in the most expensive restaurant is the most memorable scene to me. I still need to watch the sequel.
The only contender for top spot, besides The Conversation.
“Were you picking your feet in Poughkeepsie!?”
This is my favorite of the films I've seen him in also. It is surprising how rarely the film gets brought up, considering its quality and it having been written and directed by Coppola.
I actually like Welcome to Mooseport. It's nothing special, but it's a pretty tame comedy from the start of the end of the, imo, golden comedy era.
Scarecrow (1973) is a little-known Gene Hackman and Al Pacino movie that's kind of great
The Conversation is probably my favorite as well, but I always enjoyed Enemy of the State (1998) a lot. It has the same paranoid vibes as some of his work in the 70s, but with the subtlety replaced with sensational action. He was great in that film as a retired super spook, and his chemistry with Will Smith really elevated it.
BAT21
Enemy of the State
All I seen are but I'd highlight his role in the Get Shorty, because it rarely mentioned. So perfecly played small person in a big game character, an other testament to his talent.
I absolutely adored him in Crimson Tide and Enemy of the State. Brilliant movies.
Why do stories like this stay at the top of HN but anything “political” gets banned immediately?
Because the comments aren’t as toxic
Mississippi Burning is one my favorite films https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Burning
I really enjoyed “The Firm”. I love that gene played many different roles but always felt familiar enough, yet serious.
Rest in peace. Three deaths (counting the dog) and no foul play. Carbon monoxide?
That's what I thought of. "Weird Al" Yankovic's parents were both found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning about 15 years back in a very similar fashion.
Former tennis pro, Vitas Gerulaitis, died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty propane heater.
https://www.atptour.com/en/players/vitas-gerulaitis/g008/bio
I bought my parents a few CO detectors for Christmas a few years ago. I reminded them that they don't have any gas appliances, but they do heat with wood.
CO poisoning during cold still weather is not uncommon in old/poor houses heated by gas or oil here in western Europe. What is the weather like in, I assume California, now?
The house is in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/816924/inside-gene-hackm...
Santa Fe weather seems to be daytime high around 10C, nighttime low around 0C, maybe a few degrees below 0C these days.
> I assume California
TFA states they lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
My mistake. I read Santa Fe elsewhere without the state attached and must have skimmed over it here.
Also people who warm up in idling cars, in semi confined spaces,on nights with no breeze. I've seen a couple local news stories of this. It's very sad.
Seems odd it is still fairly common, don't most people have detectors at this point?
And even if they do have them, they degrade over time and only last around 10 years tops. It's quite possible that the ones they had failed, and failed silently. Such as loss.
No.
Yes but people forget to check them. A new threat could be cheapo detectors from Amazon. I bought a house recently and the fire marshall had them replace all their Amazon crap detectors with the real deal.
Shitty detectors; people simply forget to check on them or don't bother to install one in the first place or don't even know they should have one; expired detectors that don't work anymore but also don't alert that they're non-functional. Plus, older people tend to get worse at maintaining out-of-the-way stuff like that, more forgetful, harder to get around, may visit entire sections of their house (like a basement) almost never so just forget about it or don't notice signs that something needs to be replaced or repaired.
Check on your parents' smoke and CO detectors next time you visit!
Note to the Times writer if the obituary. you can't accidentally murder someone
As of this morning, the death is now considered "suspicious." Per local fire and police departments, there was no sign of a gas leak and only 1 of their 3 dogs died. The front door was found ajar, but there were no signs of forced entry.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gene-hackman-wife-found...
Gene Hackman is one of my favorite actors of all time. There’s very few that can match his gravitas - as the young people say, his “aura”.
One of the few that can is Denzel, of course…
** IF YOU DON'T HAVE A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE **
Apologies for impolite formating.
https://www.target.com/p/first-alert-2pk-co400cn2-battery-po...
This is a 2 pack. There are better ones, too. If you don't have one already, don't wait another day. Hundreds of people die preventable deaths each year in the US because of this.
Local massage therapists called him Gene “Whackman.” Having grown up in Santa Fe amongst a large group of massage therapists (my mother taught massage to many decades ago), many knew about his behavior from their personal experiences but somehow never reported it. Sort of interesting.
Err… what?
A couple of days ago, Michelle Trachtenberg (of Buffy fame) died. Seems the liver issues she'd been clearly undergoing since over a year ago finally caught up with her. She was just 39.
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