Gene Hackman was born to be an actor, but it took him 30 years to realize it. Born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernadino, California, and raised in Illinois, Hackman became restless early and dropped out of high school at age 16. He lied about his age and joined the Marines, where he was trained as a radio operator and then shipped off to China. That training came in handy when his unit's announcer was injured and Hackman took over the job of radio dj.

Hackman attended the University of Illinois under the GI Bill. studying journalism and TV production before moving to New York to attend the School of Radio Technique. 
He spent the next several years moving from town to town working at various small radio and TV stations as an announcer. It wasn't until he was 30 that Hackman decided to pack his bags once more to attend the prestigious Pasadena Playhouse to take up acting . There he met a fellow student named Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman and Hackman immediately stood out from the other students, but not in the way you might expect: they were voted by their peers as "least likely to succeed."

It didn't take Gene long to prove them wrong. He took the New York stage by storm, winning a prize as the most promising newcomer in Irwin Shaw's "Children At Their Games" (quite an achievement, considering the play lasted only one night), and garnered glowing reviews with Sandy Dennis in the comedy "Any Wednesday."

Hackman's big break was being cast in the little-known Warren Beatty film Mad Dog Calls in 1961. Beatty remembered Hackman's craft and diligence for years after, and in 1967, actor and producer Beatty cast him as Buck Barrow, Clyde's dimwitted sibling in the landmark film Bonnie and Clyde. The role led to the first of Gene Hackman's five Oscar® nominations.

Hackman became the consummate character actor, from his Oscar® nominated role as the burdened son in the poignant I Never Sang For My Father to the dastardly supervillain Lex Luthor in three Superman movies, to the quirky Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, and the pop psychology promoting priest in The Poseidon Adventure.

Pundits in Hollywood have long felt he'd make a powerful director: in fact, Gene was slated to make his directorial debut lensing The Silence Of The Lambs. For reasons he's never revealed, he dropped out, making way for Jonathan Demme. But until then, we can enjoy his work as an actor, a star, and a film legend.

Credit: amctv.com