Gene Hackman, Hollywood’s Consummate Everyman, Dies at 95

Photo courtesy Instagram

 

By Robert Berkvist

Gene Hackman, who never fit the mould of a Hollywood movie star but became one all the same, playing seemingly ordinary characters with deceptive subtlety, intensity and often charm in some of the most noted films of the 1970s and ’80s, has died, the authorities in New Mexico said on Thursday. He was 95.

Mr. Hackman and his wife were found dead on Wednesday afternoon at the home in Santa Fe., N.M., where they had been living, according to a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. The cause of death was unclear and under investigation.

Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies of Mr. Hackman; his wife, Betsy Arakawa; and a dog, according to the statement, which said that foul play was not suspected.

[Update: On March 7, New Mexico’s chief medical examiner said Mr. Hackman had died from heart disease, most likely a week after Ms. Arakawa died from the effects of hantavirus, a rare disease linked to rodents that can cause respiratory failure. Alzheimer’s disease contributed to Mr. Hackman’s death, which occurred eight days before his body was discovered, as indicated by his implanted pacemaker, the authorities said.]

Mr. Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two during a 40-year career in which he appeared in films seen and remembered by millions, among them “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The French Connection,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Unforgiven,” “Superman,” “Hoosiers” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

The familiar characterization of Mr. Hackman was that he was Hollywood’s perfect Everyman. But perhaps that was too easy. His characters — convict, sheriff, Klansman, steelworker, spy, minister, war hero, grieving widower, submarine commander, basketball coach, president — defied pigeonholing, as did his shaded portrayals of them.

Still, he did not deny that he had a regular-Joe image, nor did he mind it. He once joked that he looked like “your everyday mine worker.” And he did seem to have been born middle-aged: slightly balding, with strong but unremarkable features neither plain nor handsome, a tall man (6-foot-2) more likely to melt into a crowd than stand out in one.

It was Mr. Hackman’s gift to be able to peel back the layers from characters who carried the weight of middle age.

Mr. Hackman as Popeye Doyle in the 1971 film “The French Connection.” The role earned him his first Academy Award.Credit...20th Century Fox, via Photofest

“Because they’ve been around long enough to experience failure and loss, but not long enough to take it easy, Hackman could play them with a distinctive mix of shadow and light,” Jeremy McCarter wrote in an appraisal of Mr. Hackman’s career in Newsweek in 2010, six years after the release of what turned out to be his last film, the comedy “Welcome to Mooseport,” and two years after he confirmed that he did not plan to make any more movies.

“While some actors congratulate themselves for venturing into the moral gray zone,” Mr. McCarter continued, “Hackman has called it home for so long that we’ve ceased to notice. In his performances, as in life, the good guys aren’t always nice guys, and the villains have charm.”

He avoided self-analysis when he talked about acting. “I don’t like to look real deep at what I do with my characters,” he once said. “It is that strange fear that if you look at something too closely, it goes away.”

Mr. Hackman was forever associated with his breakout role: the crude, relentless narcotics cop Popeye Doyle — a grim-faced bloodhound in a porkpie hat — in the hit 1971 film “The French Connection.” That performance brought him his first Academy Award, as best actor.

But that was only one of countless memorable film portraits. He received an Oscar nomination for his work in Alan Parker’s “Mississippi Burning” (1988), in which he played an F.B.I. agent investigating the disappearance of three civil rights workers — a “scratchy, rumpled, down-home-talking redneck, who himself has murder in his heart,” as Vincent Canby wrote in The Times.

In “Unforgiven” (1992), as a vicious small-town sheriff who crosses six-guns with a bounty hunter played by Clint Eastwood, he was a chilling study in sadistic brutality. That performance brought him his second Oscar, as best supporting actor.

Early Accolades

Early in his career Mr. Hackman worked in television, on shows like “Route 66” and “Naked City,” in improvisational theater and in Broadway comedies, including Muriel Resnik’s “Any Wednesday,” with Sandy Dennis, and Jean Kerr’s “Poor Richard,” with Alan Bates and Joanna Pettet. His performance in a bit part in a 1964 Warren Beatty movie, “Lilith,” made a lasting impression on Mr. Beatty, who remembered him when he was producing “Bonnie and Clyde” and looking for someone to play Buck Barrow, the explosive brother of the gangster Clyde Barrow (played by Mr. Beatty). Mr. Hackman’s performance in that film, directed by Arthur Penn and released in 1967, brought him his first Oscar nomination.

By the time the director William Friedkin cast him in “The French Connection,” Mr. Hackman had more than a dozen films under his belt and a second supporting-actor Oscar nomination, for “I Never Sang for My Father” (1970), in which he played a widower coping with a demanding parent (played by Melvyn Douglas).

Mr. Hackman, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in “Bonnie and Clyde.” Mr. Hackman’s performance brought him his first Academy Award nomination, for best supporting actor.Credit...
Photo: Warner Brothers, via Everett Collection

Not all his roles explored life’s dark side. His knack for comedy, honed on the stage, resurfaced in Mel Brooks’s “Young Frankenstein” (1974), in which he had a cameo role as a blind hermit who unknowingly plays host to the monster, and served him well in later films like “The Birdcage” (1996) and “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001).

By the mid-1970s Mr. Hackman was making movies at such a pace that he became known as the hardest-working actor in Hollywood. In 1972 he appeared in three feature films, most notably “The Poseidon Adventure,” in which he played a minister trying to survive with other frantic passengers aboard a capsized ocean liner. (The other two were “Prime Cut” and “Cisco Pike.”) He repeated that trifecta in 1974 with “Young Frankenstein,” the western “Zandy’s Bride” and “The Conversation,” Francis Ford Coppola’s taut, understated drama about a surveillance expert who becomes involved in trying to prevent a murder.

His work in “The Conversation” was one of a string of critically acclaimed performances in the 1970s; among the others were his brawling ex-con in “Scarecrow” (1973) — which he considered the best performance of his career — and his troubled private eye in “Night Moves” (1975), in which he was reunited with Arthur Penn. But perhaps inevitably, given how many there were, his performances were often routine.

Mr. Hackman was making lots of money, but he was also wearing himself out. His return appearance as Popeye Doyle in “French Connection II” in 1975 was one of four Hackman films that were released that year. By the end of the decade, he decided he’d had enough for a while.

After playing Lex Luthor, nemesis of the Man of Steel, in “Superman” (1978) — and simultaneously filming his scenes for “Superman II,” released two years later — Mr. Hackman briefly left Hollywood. He did not make another film until “All Night Long,” a comedy co-starring Barbra Streisand, in 1981.

His streak of well-received performances soon resumed: as a high school basketball coach in search of redemption in “Hoosiers” (1986) and a government official who accidentally murders his mistress in “No Way Out” (1987); as a district attorney trying to protect a witness from two hit men in “Narrow Margin” (1990); and, in “The Birdcage,” a remake of the French comedy “La Cage aux Folles,” as a pompous conservative politician whose daughter’s fiancé turns out to have two gay men, one of them a drag performer, as parents.

No Slowing Down

Even the heart surgery he underwent in 1990 did not slow his pace. In 2001, a year after turning 70, Mr. Hackman was seen in five films: the comedy “Heartbreakers,” as a tobacco tycoon; “Heist,” David Mamet’s story of an elaborately planned robbery, as a master thief contemplating retirement; “Behind Enemy Lines,” as a naval chief trying to rescue a pilot shot down over Bosnia; “The Mexican,” a comedy adventure starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, as an imprisoned mob boss; and Wes Anderson’s quirky “The Royal Tenenbaums,” as the absentee father of three prodigiously talented children.

That same year the critic David Edelstein, writing in The Times, noted that unlike most actors of comparable stature, Mr. Hackman occupied “a middle ground between character acting and movie stardom.” He suggested one key to Mr Hackman’s success: “Even at their jauntiest, Mr. Hackman’s performances have volcanic undercurrents. It might be that the secret of his uniqueness is that his comfort zone is such a scary and volatile place.”

Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, Calif., on Jan. 30, 1930, and grew up in Danville, Ill. His father, also named Eugene, was a pressman for the local newspaper. His mother, Anna Lyda (Gray) Hackman, was a waitress.

When young Gene was 13, his father abandoned the family, driving away while his son was out playing in the street. As his father passed by, Mr. Hackman recalled years later, he gave him a wave of the hand.

“I hadn’t realized how much one small gesture can mean,” he once said. “Maybe that’s why I became an actor.”

Lying about his age, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1946 and served in China and then in Hawaii and Japan, at one point working as a disc jockey for his unit’s radio station. After his discharge, he studied journalism at the University of Illinois for six months and then went to New York to learn about television production.

He worked at local stations around the country before deciding to study acting, first in New York and then at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where Dustin Hoffman was a fellow student. They struck up a lasting friendship, though they did not appear in a film together until 2003, when they were both in “Runaway Jury,” a courtroom drama based on a John Grisham novel.

Back in New York, Mr. Hackman met and married Faye Maltese, a bank secretary, and began the classic actor’s struggle to survive. “I drove a truck, jerked sodas, sold shoes,” he told an interviewer.

A Broadway Hit

Eventually he found theater work, first in summer stock and then Off Broadway. In “Any Wednesday” — his third Broadway play, but the first to last more than a few days — he played a young man from Ohio who goes to New York and falls in love with a tycoon’s mistress. The critics applauded, the play was a hit, and Mr. Hackman never had to sell another pair of shoes.

Mr. Hackman’s first marriage ended in divorce in 1986, after several trial separations. In 1991 he married Ms. Arakawa, a classical pianist, and they settled in Santa Fe. Survivors include three children from his first marriage, Christopher, Elizabeth and Leslie, and a granddaughter.

Mr. Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, at the Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles in 2003.Credit...Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Mr. Hackman returned to the stage in 1992, opposite Glenn Close and Richard Dreyfuss in Mike Nichols’s production of “Death and the Maiden,” Ariel Dorfman’s play about a Latin American woman (Ms. Close) who succeeds in trapping the man (Mr. Hackman) she believes had raped and tortured her as a political prisoner years earlier. It was his first appearance on Broadway in 25 years; it was also his last.

In his later years Mr. Hackman devoted much of his time to painting and sculpture at his adobe home in Santa Fe. He also became a published author. He collaborated with his friend Daniel Lenihan, an underwater archaeologist, on three historical novels, and later wrote “Payback at Morning Peak” (2011), a western, and “Pursuit” (2013), a thriller.

He never formally retired from acting, but he told an interviewer in 2008 that he had given it up because he did not want to “keep pressing” and risk “going out on a real sour note.” Three years later, when an interviewer for GQ magazine told him, “You’ve got to do one more movie,” he said, “If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people.”

In that same interview, Mr. Hackman was asked to sum up his life in a single phrase. He replied:

“‘He tried.’ I think that’d be fairly accurate.”

First published at The New York Times, February 27, 2025

Donny Hathaway circa 1970

By George Goodman Jr.

Donny Hathaway, a 33-year-old Grammy‐award winning singer and composer of pop tunes with blues and gospel undertones, died Saturday after he plunged from the 15th floor of his Essex House room at 160 Central Park South, the police said.

The singer had recently returned from dinner with Roberta Flack, the singer, with whom he had spent the day recording, according to Edward Howard, a business associate.

“We suspect suicide,” a police spokesman said. Mr. Hathaway's room was bolted shut and no visitors were present, he added. But Mr. Howard, vice president of David M. Franklin & Associates, an Atlanta‐based concern managing Mr. Hathaway and other prominent black entertainers, disagreed:

“He was in good spirits, having just written new music and having performed with Roberta, all day. We had just left her Central Park West apartment and were back in our rooms for the evening. He hadn't been drinking heavily or taking drugs of any sort.”

According to his estranged wife, Eulalah, he was briefly hospitalized for emotional problems on two occasions in 1972. Yesterday she said, “He was troubled.” She said his trouble was his quick rise to success and the anxiety it had produced. Also a singer, the two met when they were students at Howard University where he was a straight‐A student although he never graduated. She said Mr. Hathaway did not use drugs.

Mr. Hathaway, whose style was sometimes comparable to Otis Redding, the blues singer, like Mr. Redding, had deep connections with black gospel music. He first performed in the gospel churches of St. Louis, his birthplace.

He enrolled at Howard, where, during the 60's, he was a contemporary of Miss Flack, and stayed around the Washington area playing with the Rick Powell group for several years before King Curtis, the late saxophonist, introduced him to Mr. Franklin, who arranged for a contract with Atlantic Records in 1971. “The Ghetto,” characteristic of his passionate, hard‐driving blues style, was his first hit single.

In 1972, Mr. Hathaway teamed with Miss Flack to record “Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway,” which won the pair a Grammy award and sold more than 500,000 copies. “You've Got a Friend” caused something of a flurry among record buyers, but it was not a hit single.

Hit Single by Duo

Again in 1973, the two recorded for Atlantic. “Where Is the Love,” was followed in 1978 by the hit single “The Closer I Get to You.” It established the duo in a romantic, almost erotic setting that was highly appreciated by their fans. In fact, however, they were only drawn together by friendship.

“People compare him to Otis,” Miss Flack said, “but Donny was greater. He was not only a singer, but also a composer, arranger, conductor, singer and teacher.

 

When we met in the studio to do ‘You've Got a Friend,’ he wrote the music at midnight, scored, did the whole job, and we were finished by 2 A.M.”

In addition to his wife, Mr. Hathaway is survived by two daughters, Eulalah and Kenya.

First published at The New York Times, January 15, 1979

Roberta Flack, a 'Legend that Transcended Generations,' Dies at 88

The R&B singer best known for "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and “Feel Like Makin’ Love" received an honorary degree from Berklee in 2023.

By Tara Bellucci

Musician Roberta Flack poses in the press room during the 52nd Annual
GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Djansezian/Getty Images

Legendary R&B singer Roberta Flack ’23H passed away Monday at the age of 88. Known for her ability to tell a story with her voice, the four-time Grammy winner is the only solo artist to win back-to-back Grammys for Record of the Year. 

Flack grew up in a large musical family in North Carolina, where she started playing piano at age nine and received a full scholarship to Howard University at 15. She was discovered by jazz musician Les McCann while singing in a Washington, DC, nightclub and was soon signed to Atlantic Records. From her debut album, First Take, in 1969 to her Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, Flack's career spanned six decades and produced countless hits, including duets with Donny Hathaway and interpretations of songs by the likes of Leonard Cohen and the Beatles.

In 2007, the former teacher founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, which provides an innovative and inspiring music education program for free to students.

In her remarks to Berklee’s 2023 graduating class, Flack reflected on her deep love of education. “To this day, I continue to be a student of music; it finds me everywhere—in the darkest of moments, in the times of fear, and the depths of doubt. . . . It lifts me higher than the sky, warming my heart and opening my soul to love, to dream, and to try. Never stop learning. Never stop growing. Use what you have and share yourselves with the world.”

"Roberta Flack was a legend whose music transcended generations," says Associate Professor Keli Nicole Price, who teaches R&B songwriting. 

"Though I was born years after her career began, I grew up knowing all of her hits—her voice was everywhere, shaping the sound of love and storytelling in music. My parents sang ‘The Closer I Get to You’ at their wedding, a testament to how deeply her artistry touched people’s lives. I regularly sing 'Killing Me Softly' in my own performances, and it never fails to remind me of her brilliance." 

“I always remember soloing on one of her ballads—she says to me, ‘play it more like Miles,’” says Elan Trotman, associate professor in the Ensemble Department. “Ever since that day, I’ve paid more attention to the use of space and adapting the concept of ‘less is more.’”

Elan Trotman with Roberta Flack. Photo courtesy Elan Trotman

"Roberta Flack's majestic voice was more than music—it was a bridge between the human heart and the world," says Senior Concert Producer Maureen McMullan ’09. "As an educator, pianist, songwriter, and vocalist, she shared her brilliance across many realms. As a singular artist, she infused her work and vocal timbre with the beauty of both classical technique and contemporary singing, bringing a depth, precision, and nuance to every note. With each song, she poured the richness of love, joy, pain, and resilience into a soundtrack that transcended time and genres."

\

“Today, she and her favorite duet partner, Donny Hathaway, are giving heaven an unforgettable concert, and we here on Earth will forever be singing along,” says Price.

First published at Berklee, February 24, 2025

Zubin Mehta, the Maestro, gets candid about his early life, his deep connection with India, and association with NCPA

Zubin Mehta. Photo courtesy Lucerne Festival

By Malika Halder

From a childhood immersed in music to a career defined by excellence, Zubin Mehta has been conducting a million dreams for over 60 years. From his early days in Mumbai to commanding the world’s greatest orchestras, the legendary conductor reflects on his journey, discipline, and unwavering love for music.

There is an indefatigable and irrepressible spirit in Zubin Mehta. The octogenarian orchestrator have defined the world of Western classical music for more than six decades. Born in 1936 into a household suffused with Western classical music, he moved toVienna when he was barely an adult to train as a conductor, and soon found himself commanding some of the greatest orchestras in the world. His is a story of passion, precision, and an unyielding dedication to music.

But ask Mehta about it, and he would wholeheartedly attribute his success to the guidance and influence of his father, Mehli Mehta—a violinist and the founder of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra—and his teachers. Mehta acknowledges that his foundation in music was laid at home, where rigorous training and an irrefutable commitment to excellence were the norms. In many ways, his journey is as much a tribute to his own talent as it is to the legacy of his father.“I heard music in my home every day from about eight in the morning,” he recalls. Mehta says he was “destined to be a musician”—a realisation that dawned on him during his college days. At the Vienna Academy of Music, Mehta studied under Hans Swarowsky, a legendary teacher who instilled in him a deep understanding of orchestral scores.“He was a very strict teacher,” Mehta recalls. “He taught us formal analysis of scores from Handel to Bach to Beethoven.” Swarowsky’s rigorous training gave Mehta the foundation he needed to navigate and master the vast landscape of Western classical music.

The conductor’s career trajectory has been meteoric. By 25, he became the music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (1961–1967). His talent caught the attention of the world’s leading orchestras. Over the decades, Mehta has led some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), where he served as Music Director for Life. Under his baton, the IPO flourished, performing in conflict zones and promoting peace through music. Mehta’s gift for memorising entire symphonies, anticipating every musician’s move, and immersing himself fully in the music made him a phenomenon. His art is characterised by an emotional intensity that captivates both musicians and audiences alike. In 1999 he conducted Gustav Mahler’s Resurrection at the Buchenwald concentration camp which went on to become a career defining moment. Mehta chose the same symphony when he took his final bow in 2019, after a 50-year stint with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. With the overarching theme of beauty of afterlife, the five- movement symphony talks about the significance of joyous times and hope for an eternal regeneration.

For Mehta, conducting is not just about keeping time— it is about understanding the composer’s message with utmost sincerity. When asked how he balances the tradition of classical music while making it accessible to new audiences, he responds with characteristic clarity: “Our earnestness and our honesty towards the work is transmitted to the audience.” He believes that if the conductor and musicians are deeply engaged with the music, the audience, regardless of background, will respond to it. His deep respect for music extends to his approach to different composers. He does not believe in imposing his own interpretation but rather in remaining faithful to the composer’s intent. “Some music is very emotional. One must surrender to the composer’s wishes,” he explains. It is this philosophy that has allowed him to navigate the works of composers spanning centuries, from Bach to Beethoven to contemporary masters.

Despite his global career, Mehta has always maintained a deep connection with India. He has returned frequently to perform, bringing some of the world’s finest orchestras to Indian audiences. “I’ve been coming to India with foreign orchestras since 1967, and the audience has always been very appreciative,” he says. He acknowledges that while the technical knowledge of Western classical music in India might not be widespread, the enthusiasm and appreciation for it have always been present. His association with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai has strengthened over the years. Last year, he conducted concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of India, and the experience left him deeply impressed.“I did some difficult programmes last year, and they played them brilliantly,” he recalls. Encouraged by the high standards of the orchestra, he readily agreed to return this year.Mehta’s legacy is not just limited to the concerts he has conducted or the orchestras he has led. It is in the thousands of musicians he has inspired, the audiences he has moved, and the deep, unwavering love for music that he continues to embody.

Even in his late 80s, Mehta is relentless. His advice to aspiring conductors is simple but profound. He emphasises on the importance of discipline and dedication, acknowledging that the path is not easy but is immensely rewarding. “They have to acquire immense knowledge. There’s an enormous amount of study involved. Hopefully, they will have good teachers like I did,” he concludes.

First published at Harper’s Bazaar, February 16, 2025

Tragedy + Time = Comedy: Anneli Cole on Eating Disorders

By Alice Matthews

The Afternoons program on ABC Radio Canberra has invited the stand-up comedians of Canberra to share the saddest or most difficult thing they've been able to turn into a joke.

Afternoons presenter Alice Matthews was joined by Anneli Cole who spoke about her experience with an eating disorder and how it has shaped her comedy.

If you or someone you know needs help or support for an eating disorder or body image issue, call Butterfly's national helpline on 1800 334 673 or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

First published at ABC News, February 12, 2025

Anna Matthew, Presenter

Cate Armstrong, Producer

Imogen McDonald, Producer

Giant schnauzer Monty crowned top dog at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

Owner Katie Bernardin kisses Monty after he receives his trophy and ribbon. (AP: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Dogs

A giant schnauzer named Monty has been crowned Best in Show at the 149th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Monty emerged victorious from more than 2,500 top-ranked canines competing in a two-day contest, held in New York City.

It’s the first Westminster best-in-show title for a giant schnauzer in the 95 years the breed has been entered.

After coming close in the past two years, handler and co-owner Katie Bernardin was almost too emotional to speak.

"He always tries so hard, and we're just proud of him," she told the crowd at Madison Square Garden.

According to co-owner Sandy Nordstrom, Monty is bold, cocky and fun.

"He's just a really cool dog," she said in an interview before the competition, which will be his last.

The five-year-old is retiring from showing.

Monty had tough competition, participating against seven semifinalists for the coveted crown.

They included a bichon frisé called Neal, a Skye terrier named Archer, a whippet and repeat runner-up known as Bourbon and a shih tzu called Comet.

Also in the mix were a German shepherd named Mercedes, who came in second last year, and an English springer spaniel called Freddie.

The show is considered to be the most prestigious competition among pure-bred canines in the United States.

It also bills itself as the second-oldest US sporting event, behind only the Kentucky Derby thoroughbred horse race.

How do judges pick a winner?

To the casual viewer, it might be hard to fathom what judges gather from patting down and carefully peering at prepped canines.

But choosing a winner requires an encyclopedic knowledge of 201 different breeds.

Judges perform hands-on examinations and watch dogs in motion to work out which one comes closest to the ideal for its breed.

This is set out in a "standard" that details desired features.

President of the Westminster Kennel Club Donald Sturz says he looks for the "presence of virtue, versus faults".

"I focus on the dog that rings the most bells of virtue for me as I go from nose to tail."

But at the end of the day, it comes down to which canine performs best on the day.

"There's just something that a dog will bring that night that will put them a notch above the other great dogs in the ranks," Mr Sturz said.

Gallery of glamorous dogs

Monty and the other semifinalists weren't the only pretty pooches on display.

Check out the gallery of pampered pups below.

First published on at ABC News, February 12, 2025