Hollywood legend Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.In a career spanning more than six decades, the much-loved actor won a number of gongs – including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globes, and one Screen Actors Guild Award.Here are some of his best-known roles:The French Connection
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Hackman won an Oscar for his role in The French Connection. Pic: 20th Century Fox/D’Antoni Productions/Schine-Moore Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock
Hackman, 95, won a best actor Oscar for his performance as Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection.The 1971 action thriller, directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist), follows two dogged New York Police Department detectives as they aim to take down a French heroin smuggler.The Poseidon Adventure
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Hackman and Ernest Borgnine in The Poseidon Adventure. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
Hackman played Reverend Frank Scott in the 1972 disaster film.The movie follows a group of passengers who find themselves fighting for survival after a rogue wave capsizes aging ocean liner SS Poseidon during its final voyage from New York to Athens before being scrapped.The ensemble cast featured five Oscar winners, including Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters and Red Buttons.Superman
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Ned Beatty and Hackman in Superman. Pic: Warner Bros/DC Comics/Kobal/Shutterstock
Hackman stole the show as villainous Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve in the 1978 movie Superman.His performance earned him a best supporting actor BAFTA nomination.Hackman portrayed the Man of Steel’s arch nemesis two more times, in 1980 (Superman II) and 1987 (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace).Mississippi Burning
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Hackman and Willem Dafoe in Mississippi Burning. Pic: Moviestore/Shutterstock
Mississippi Burning is set in 1964 and revolves around the disappearance of three civil rights workers – loosely based on a real-life murder investigation.The 1988 crime thriller follows two FBI agents as they are met with hostility by the fictional town’s residents, local police and the Ku Klux Klan.Hackman earned a best actor Oscar nomination for his performance as FBI agent Rupert Anderson.The Unforgiven
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Hackman in The Unforgiven. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
The Unforgiven was a smash hit at the box office in 1992.Hackman picked up the best supporting actor Oscar for his performance as Sheriff “Little” Bill Daggett.Clint Eastwood’s western won an additional three Academy Awards, including best picture, best director and best film editing.The movie, also starring Morgan Freeman, follows aging outlaw and killer William “Bill” Munny (Eastwood) who takes on one more job to avenge an injustice.Read more:Oscar-winning actor and wife found dead at home with their dogGet
