Francis Ford Coppola Leads Tributes to Gene Hackman After Oscar Winner Found Dead Alongside Wife: ‘Inspiring and Magnificent in His Work and Complexity’

variety.com:

Ellise Shafer Francis Ford Coppola has paid tribute to his “The Conversation” star Gene Hackman after the Oscar-winning actor was found dead at 95 alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, in their Santa Fe home on Wednesday. “The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,” Coppola wrote on Instagram with a photo of the two on set. “I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.”A post shared by Francis Ford Coppola (@francisfordcoppola) Hackman starred in “The Conversation,” Coppola’s 1974 neo-noir mystery thriller, as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential murder.

The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d’Or, and received three Oscar nominations for best picture, original screenplay and sound.

Meanwhile on X, Edgar Wright simply remembered Hackman as “the greatest,” while George Takai wrote: “We have lost one of the true giants of the screen.

Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it. He could be everyone and no one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe.