Gene Hackman Will Be Missed
The Hollywood star was a true American artist.
By WSJ Opinion
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Today in Free Expression, columnist Louise Perry warns that a two-tier system of policing speech could lead the U.K. down a dark path; Elliot Kaufman checks in on an online chess culture gone slightly mad; Jack Butler learns what it’s like to be unchurched; and Dick Sullivan demands that government unions leave him alone so that he can take care of his son.
But first, he was going to make espresso . . .
There’s a case to be made that America gets the movie stars it deserves. We deserved Gene Hackman.
Hackman, who died in February at 95, succeeded in Hollywood because he had qualities that the country wanted to see when it looked in the mirror. It was the 1970s. Society was fraying at the edges. He was straightlaced but a little gritty. He spoke plainly. He knew how to use his fists.
Gene Hackman could handle himself.
After getting his start on TV in the early 1960s, Hackman gained fame for dramatic roles in “The French Connection” (1971), “The Conversation” (1974), “Hoosiers” (1986) and “Mississippi Burning” (1988). But he had range. He played the heavy as often as the hero and wasn’t a stranger to comedy. He was hilarious in Mel Brooks’s “Young Frankenstein” (1974) as a blind man who befriends Peter Boyle’s monster. He was a gas as Lex Luthor in “Superman” (1978) alongside Christopher Reeve and Ned Beatty.
Robin Williams said that Hackman was so funny during the filming of “The Birdcage” (1996) that the crew had to cover director Mike Nichols with a blanket to keep the microphones from picking up his laughter. High praise. Nichols knew comedy. Williams compared it to getting a belly laugh from the pope.
It wasn’t all hijinks and fun. Hackman had a reputation for surliness. He didn’t suffer fools.
“He was a tough nut, Gene Hackman, but he was really good and he was really difficult,” recalled Bill Murray. Hackman allegedly tormented director Wes Anderson on the set of “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001). Great performers are not always great colleagues. But we forgive them their trespasses because they give us such joy.
We forgive you, Gene.
It’s a pity the end of his life became such tabloid material, because he was a real American artist, honest and true.
In 2004 Hackman did something that most Hollywood types don’t: He went away. He spent the last 20 years of his life retired in New Mexico, doing yard work and driving his pickup truck to the drive-thru at Wendy’s. What’s more American than that?
—Matthew Hennessey
Watch What You Say or ‘Two Tier Keir’ Might Put You Away
Louise Perry
In today’s U.K., random citizens popping off on social media get arrested, but avowed Britain-haters are feted by the prime minister. The double standard betrays a deeper reality that could tear the country apart.
Read Louise’s Column ⧁
Welcome to the Wild World of Chess Streaming
Elliot Kaufman
The recent death of Daniel Naroditsky, a skilled chess player turned popular online streamer, reveals the extent to which the digital free-for-all is infecting everything.
Read Elliot’s Article ⧁
Why ‘Do-It-Yourself’ Religion Falls Short
Jack Butler
People increasingly worship outside formal institutions. But those who cut themselves off from organized religion are losing something profound, even if they don’t realize it.
Read Jack’s Article ⧁
I Take Care of My Disabled Son. Government Unions Want My Money
Dick Sullivan
It has taken much of my time, and a lot of my resources, to care for my son for the past four decades. Public-employee unions are making it harder for me.
Read Dick’s Article ⧁
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