Gene Hackman predates the existence of Superman.
There’s something to throw out at parties when the conversation turns to fun facts about famous actors.
The man who would one day become perhaps the greatest Lex Luthor ever committed to the screen not only predated Superman’s first appearance in 1938 (when “Action Comics” no.1 hit the stands), but he was born before creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster even conceived the character in 1933.
Born January 30, 1930, he was one of the first children of “the decade of the 1930s” (as spoken in the opening scene of “Superman: The Movie”). He and “Superman” director Richard Donner had that birth year in common and were only three months apart.
Another fact for you at your next gathering.
That’s the thing about Hackman. He was so much more than what we saw on the surface of that rugged, expressive face. His contribution to the world of film is unquestioned. But he’s also a man who seems to beg to be at the end of the sentence, “Did you know he —”
For example, did you know he was once tricked into shaving off his treasured signature mustache by Richard Donner?
We’ll get to that. First, “Did you know he was a private first class during a Chinese civil war?”
He was a Marine
Gene was 13 years old when his parents divorced, and his father left the family, never to return. At 16, he left home, lied about his age, and enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he served four and a half years (1946-1951) as a field radio operator—another case of life predicting art as he would later win wide acclaim for his role as a surveillance expert in the film “The Conversation.” He was stationed in China and was only 19 when Communist revolutionaries entered the mainland.
He joined the Marines out of devotion to a girl
In a 1988 interview with David Letterman, Gene tells the story:
“It was probably because of Lowell Ford. His sister was my girlfriend. This was when I was 14 or 15, at a time when young men don’t quite know who they’re in love with. Her brother had been killed in Guam. A year and a half or so later, when I wasn’t quite 17, I thought it would be very heroic of me if I joined the Marine Corps. I wanted to show her that I was proud not only of her but of her brother, too.”
He and Dustin Hoffman were voted ‘least likely to succeed’
By 1956, Gene had been out of the military for four years and had begun pursuing acting at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. Seen as an outsider, Hackman made friends with another outsider named Dustin Hoffman. Despite their dedication, neither fit the mold of the typical leading man and were jointly voted “least likely to succeed.” Gene himself got the lowest score the Playhouse had ever given.
Refusing to quit, he moved to New York City (with Hoffman and another friend, Robert Duvall) and took odd jobs while auditioning. One day an old instructor from the Pasadena Playhouse saw him working at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant and told Gene that proved he “wouldn’t amount to anything.” Adding insult to injury, later still, a Marine officer who saw him working as a doorman said, “Hackman, you’re a sorry son of a bitch.”
He was a hit on Broadway
Gene took those insults and used them as fuel to prove them wrong. He was 33 when he made his 1963 Broadway debut in “Children From Their Games,” but it was “Any Wednesday” one year later that put him on the map as a stage success.
That exposure got him television and film work—including a movie with Warren Beatty—which paid off in return. When Gene came back to Broadway for “Poor Richard,” it ran for over a hundred performances.
He was fired from ‘The Graduate’
In 1967, seemingly reunited with his close friend Dustin Hoffman for what was to become a film classic, Hackman was originally cast in the role of Mr. Robinson, but director Mike Nichols fired him three weeks into rehearsal, telling him he was “too young.”
He was nominated for an Academy Award the same year he was fired from ‘The Graduate’
“Bonnie and Clyde” was a risky film to make. Its glorification of criminals and gun violence created considerable controversy at the time, causing some critics to side against it as a film. They did not, however, side against Hackman’s mesmerizing performance as Clyde’s brother Buck, more than holding his own opposite Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Less than a decade after being told he would never amount to anything, the host of the 40th Academy Awards was calling Gene’s name as a nominee for Best Supporting Actor of 1967.
He was nominated again three years later
Gene again heard his name as a nominee for Best Supporting Actor in 1970 for his role in “I Never Sang For My Father.” Roger Ebert described the effect of his performance as “not of acting, but as if the story were happening right now while we see it.”
He won the Academy Award the year after that
Audiences and critics alike were blown away by “The French Connection”—especially the portrayal of tough-as-nails New York City police detective Jimmy “Popeye” Boyle (opposite Roy Scheider, who would later be known worldwide for “Jaws”). For that, Gene didn’t just hear his name as a nominee. He walked onstage and accepted the Oscar for Best Actor.
He was funny
The playbill for “Poor Richard” made a point of mentioning that Gene “revealed an additional gift for improvisation.” While filming the scene in “Young Frankenstein” as Harold, the lonely old blind man who so unintentionally tortures the monster that it leaves howling in pain, Hackman added the last line at the door, “Where are you going? I was gonna make espresso…”
Mel Brooks found it so funny he kept it in the final cut, but the scene had to fade quickly to black because the cast and crew could not contain their laughter.
‘Superman: The Movie’ might not have been made without him
In 1976, there was no such thing as a superhero movie franchise. There was not anything the public would even consider a superhero movie unless one counts the campy 1966 “Batman” film, which was originally intended only to be a splashy premiere of the characters to promote the launch of the equally campy television show.
To take a comic book character and put him on the big screen in a way that audiences—and, more importantly, investors—would take seriously would require some serious Hollywood names, especially since the producers didn’t yet know who Superman was going to be.
Early promotions banked on the guaranteed star power of Oscar winners. The writer of “The Godfather,” the star of “The Godfather,” and Gene Hackman, who had gained even further pop culture status as one of the best actors of that generation in “The Poseidon Adventure,” “The Conversation,” and a critically acclaimed sequel to “The French Connection.”
It worked. Hollywood took notice that something different and, dare they believe, “respectable” could be made. Not having Superman himself cast was not a deal-breaker if these titans were involved. Ultimately, Guy Hamilton (director of four James Bond films) would be replaced by Richard Donner, and Christopher Reeve would be discovered, but the production owed its green light to Mario Puzo, Marlon Brando, and Gene Hackman.
Even in casting, not only did Hackman predate Superman again—he received top billing above his name.
He was loyal
After the well-known issues the producers had with Donner and Brando that led to both of them being cut from “Superman II” and replacement director Richard Lester stepping in, Hackman did not agree with the treatment of his friend Richard Donner and refused to return to set for any reshoots. Additional Lex Luthor scenes in “Superman II” were done by stand-ins and voice-dubbing.
The photo on Lex Luthor’s piano is Gene Hackman from another movie
Inside the evil lair of the greatest criminal genius of our age are trophies from his past nefarious deeds and framed photos of men we can only assume are his heroes. In a silver frame in a prominent position on his piano (next to Benito Mussolini) is a photo of Harry Caul, Gene’s character in “The Conversation.”
By the way, he won another Academy Award
In 1988, he was nominated again for Best Actor for “Mississippi Burning.” He lost to his life-long friend Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man.“
However, four years later he took home Best Supporting Actor for his iconic role as Little Bill Daggett in “Unforgiven”, beating Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men” and Al Pacino in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
That deserves repeating.
The waiter and doorman who was voted least likely to succeed and told by his acting instructor he would never amount to anything beat both Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino at the same time.
There is an asteroid named in his honor
American Astronomer Roy A. Tucker (1951 – 2021), best known for the co-discovery of near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis as well as 702 numbered minor planets and two comets, discovered and named Asteroid 55397 Hackman in tribute to Gene.
At the time of this article, there is no asteroid named after either Christopher Reeve or Superman. This means that Gene predated…well, you get the idea.
Lex was loved by his costars
Many heartwarming tributes poured out from those he worked with, from Clint Eastwood to Francis Ford Coppola. Here are some from his time as Lex Luthor:
“He was a genius and one of the greatest to grace the silver screen. I had the honor of working with him on “Superman.” His performances are legendary. His talent will be missed. Goodbye, my sweet Lex. Till we meet again.” — Valerie Perrine, Miss Teschmacher, “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II”
“I will always remember Gene for his kindness towards me on the set of “Superman.” We became good friends and painted London a bit red back in the day. The very finest of actors and a great loss.” — Sarah Douglas, Ursa, “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II”
“I will miss Gene Hackman. I’m so happy I had this experience. He was wonderful!” — Mark Pillow, Nuclear Man, “Superman IV”
He was pranked out of his mustache
Richard Donner was thrilled to have Hackman as the villain of his big-screen Superman movie, but there was the issue of character accuracy. Lex Luthor was firmly entrenched in the minds of comic book fans around the world as bald and clean-shaven, and Donner was a believer in honoring the American myth correctly. This was an issue for Hackman, who loved his signature mustache and certainly had no desire to shave his head for the duration of filming.
Donner made him two deals.
Deal no.1: Gene could go most of the movie with the character trait that Lex wore wigs and use a bald cap for the final prison scene reveal.
Deal no.2: If Gene would shave his mustache for the role, Donner would likewise shave his own mustache as a show of solidarity.
Hackman told the story in a Hollywood Reporter article after Donner’s passing:
“I showed up for the first day of make-up tests for Superman with a fine Lex Luthor mustache I’d grown for the role. Dick, wearing his own handsome mustache, told me mine had to go. He bargained to lose his if I did mine. True to his word, he celebrated my last razor stroke by gleefully pulling off the fake whiskers he’d acquired for the occasion. Dick made it fun, and that’s why the films turned out that way, too.”
He was an author
As Gene reached the beginning of the new century and the sunset years of his acting career, he brought many of the genres he was known for into a series of books: sea adventure, crime drama, western, and police thriller.
Collaborating with co-author Daniel Lenihan for the first three, in true Hackman fashion, he quickly wanted to prove he could do it on his own and proudly authored two more solo.
In 2011, he told The Guardian, “I’ve been writing novels. It’s a lot easier than acting. No one yells ‘Cut!’ when you make a mistake.”
He was one of a kind
Few actors achieve the level of accomplishment and admiration that Hackman did. It is one thing to be special—it is quite another to be so unique there is literally no comparison. Unlike other leading men and marquee players, you don’t hear anyone else described as “a Gene Hackman type.”
He was more than an everyman who could play everything. He had a specific brand of on-screen presence. When his character was in a scene, there was an premonitional feeling that under this person’s exterior is dynamite, and the fuse is already lit. As the audience, we don’t know how long that fuse will burn before it explodes—but explode it will—and we are fascinated by the thrill of expectation as we have no choice but to lie in wait, every penny of our movie ticket money well spent.
Not bad for a young New York City doorman trying to get someone to give him his first shot.
Thank you, Gene, for everything. You did it. Feel proud.
And say hi to Superman for us.
