We recently lost a very talented and versatile actor who was one of my favorites – the brilliant Gene Hackman. The mysterious macabre details surrounding his passing at age 95 has created an unfortunate distraction from his career achievements. You can find his extensive filmography in the mainstream media obituaries that I will not try to duplicate here. Instead I will focus on two particular personal memories of his work.

If you have not seen his movie with Kevin Costner “NO WAY OUT” back in the 1980’s, it is worth your effort to seek it out. As a writer for the theater I can predict the outcome of most movies that I see. This one fooled me completely when I first saw it and I greatly enjoy watching it again even today. Then in 1992 I was fortunate to see a production of the play “Death and the Maiden” by Ariel Dorfman. It featured Gene Hackman, Richard Gere and Glenn Close at the Brooks Atkinson Theater and it was brilliant. It was Mr. Hackman’s only Broadway production and I was lucky to see it. We will certainly miss his presence.