Gene Hackman Net Worth – 2023

What is the Net Worth and Salary of Gene Hackman?

American actor and author Gene Hackman has an estimated net worth of $80 million. Hackman has earned over 30 honors over his nearly 50-year career, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and two BAFTAs. Gene is best known for his award-winning performances in films such as “The French Connection” (1971), “Unforgiven” (1992), and “The Royal Tenenbaums” (1989). His portrayal as Buck Barrow in the 1967 film “Bonnie and Clyde” established his career (2001). Hackman has continued to write, having published “Payback at Morning Peak” in 2011 and “Pursuit” in 2013. In addition, he has co-authored three historical fiction books with underwater archaeologist Daniel Lenihan: “Wake of the Perdido Star” (1999), “Justice for None” (2004), and “Escape from Andersonville” (2008).

Early Years

Eugene Allen Hackman was born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California. His mother, Anna, and father, Eugene (a printing press operator for “Commercial-News”) split in 1943, and Eugene abandoned Gene and his brother, Richard. After growing up in many locations, Gene settled in Danville, Illinois, where he developed an interest in acting at age 10. He attended Storm Lake High School in Iowa but left out at age 16 to lie about his age and enroll in the Marine Corps, where he served as a field radio operator for four and a half years. Hackman was released from the military in 1951 and came to New York; he then enrolled at the University of Illinois to study television production and journalism, moved to Los Angeles in 1956, and enrolled in acting training at the Pasadena Playhouse Theatre. After moving to New York City in 1957, he shared a room with classmate Dustin Hoffman, with whom he became close friends.

Career

In 1958, Hackman was cast in an off-Broadway production of “Chaparral,” and in 1961, he made his film and television debuts in “Mad Dog Coll” and an episode of “Tallahassee 7000,” respectively. Gene’s first Oscar nomination was for his performance as Buck Barrow in “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967), for which he was cast by director Robert Rossen alongside Warren Beatty. The part of Mike Brady on “The Brady Bunch” was offered to him, but he declined on the advise of his agency. 1970’s “I Never Sang for My Father” earned Hackman another Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination, and 1971’s “The French Connection” earned him the award for Best Actor. In 1973, he won the Best Actor prize at the BAFTA Film Awards for his roles in “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The French Connection.” He made his debut in “The Poseidon Adventure” in 1972. In 1974, Gene featured in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation,” for which he was awarded the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor, as well as the future classic “Young Frankenstein.”

In 1978’s “Superman: The Movie,” Hackman portrayed Lex Luther, and he repeated the character in 1980’s “Superman II” and 1987’s “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.” In the 1980s, he acted in numerous important films, including “Red” (1981), “Hoosiers” (1986), and “No Way Out” (1987), and he received an Oscar nomination and a National Board of Review Award for his portrayal of an FBI Agent in “Mississippi Burning” (1988). Gene earned his second Academy Award for Clint Eastwood’s western “Unforgiven” in 1993. In the same year, he also portrayed a corrupt attorney in “The Firm” and subsequently appeared in “Wyatt Earp,” “The Quick and the Dead,” and “Get Shorty” Hackman has only done nine films in the 2000s, including “Under Suspicion” (2000) and “Behind Enemy Lines,” due to his retirement in July 2004. (2001). His portrayal in Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001) garnered critical praise and multiple honors. In 2003, he co-starred with his pal Dustin Hoffman in “Runaway Jury,” his third film based on a John Grisham novel. Since his retirement, Gene has voiced two television documentaries: 2016’s “The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima” and 2017’s “We, the Marines.” His final feature was 2004’s “Welcome to Mooseport.”

Personal Life

Gene wed Faye Maltese on January 1, 1956, and they had Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie before separating in 1986. He subsequently wed Betsy Arakawa in December 1991. Hackman has participated in various races, including the 24 Hours of Daytona Endurance Race and the Long Beach Grand Prix Celebrity Race. Gene suffered an angioplasty in 1990 after experiencing chest problems while on vacation in Oregon, and he was struck by a car while riding a bicycle in the Florida Keys in 2012.

Awards and Accolades

Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1972 for “The French Connection,” and he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1993 for “Unforgiven.” In addition, these two films garnered him BAFTA, Golden Globe, and New York Film Critics Circle awards. Gene earned the Cecil B. DeMille Award (2003) and the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for his role in “The Royal Tenenbaums” at the 2003 Golden Globes. Hackman has earned honors for “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Mississippi Burning,” “The Birdcage,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” and “The Conversation” as well as “The French Connection,” “Unforgiven,” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.” In 2015, he was honored at the CinEuphoria Awards with the Career – Honorary Award.

Real Estate

Gene has called Santa Fe, New Mexico home for many years. His current permanent abode is a 12-acre estate that he and Betsy renovated and redesigned substantially. In the 1980s, he possessed a 25-acre property in Montecito, California, which he sold for $5.5 million in 1985; in 2015, the home was sold for $25 million by a subsequent owner. In 2012, Hackman’s former Pebble Beach, California property, which he sold in 1993, was advertised for $79 million.