Recommendations of the Editorial team
Gene Hackman’s Film career stands for sizefrom roles like those in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” to Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven”. How Rolling Stones Rob Sheffield put it: “No film has ever been worse just because Hackman was in it.” The actor, born in 1930, had his breakthrough in “Bonnie and Clyde”before he comes in “The French Connection” occurred. Which earned him the Oscar for Best Actor.
Hackman was extremely prolific in the 1970s through the early 2000s before his film career took off Welcome to Moosport from 2004 ended abruptly. He never officially retired from acting. But became increasingly withdrawn and was rarely seen in public. He died at the age of 95 with his wife at their home in New Mexico. An investigation is currently underway.
Late Renaissance as a novelist
His last significant role was in Wes Anderson’s film The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). In it he played the contentious patriarch of the titular family alongside Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson.
Although he appeared less and less on screen, Hackman enjoyed a late renaissance as a novelist. He wrote three novels together with Daniel Lenihan. And two novels on my own. His co-author for the first three novels, Daniel Lenihan, was something of an unlikely partner. As a marine archaeologist, Lenihan Hackman trained for his role in The Company in scuba diving.
In one Interview with The Guardian in 2000, Lenihan explained: “We talked about Booksthat we liked. Of course, Gene is constantly evaluating scripts. And then we came up with the idea: ‘Why don’t we just write a book the way we like to read it?'” The result was Wake of the Perdido Stara swashbuckling historical adventure. The pair worked together on two more novels. Hackman wrote two books single-handedly. The last of these was Pursuitwhich was released in 2013. Hackman’s five novels included historical adventures, mysteries, and westerns.
Wake of the Perdido Star
The 1999 novel, Hackman’s first collaboration with Daniel Lenihan, “is a moving story of a boy’s coming of age on the high seas, peppered with authentic nautical and historical details.”
Justice For None: A Novel
Gene Hackman and Daniel Lenihan worked together again for “Justice for None” together. A historical drama about Boyd Calvin, a World War I veteran accused of murdering his wife. The book is currently out of print.
Escape from Andersonville: A Novel of the Civil War
The third historical novel by Gene Hackman and Daniel Lenihan, Escape From Andersonvillewas published in 2008. It is currently out of stock. But available as an audio book.
Payback at Morning Peak
Hackman’s first solo novel, Payback at Morning Peak from 2011, shows the kind of tough protagonist Hackman himself could have played. The dark western follows Jubal Young on his quest for revenge.
Pursuit
Hackman’s last novel was 2013’s “Pursuit,” a thriller about a police officer who uncovers a connection in a series of unsolved cases until the past catches up with her and puts her daughter in danger.