Gene Hackman mourned by Clint Eastwood, Gwyneth Paltrow and more: No finer actor

Tributes are pouring in for the late Gene Hackman.After Hackman, 95, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday, celebrities paid tribute to one of their own.Clint Eastwood, who directed and starred alongside Gene Hackman in the 1992 western, “Unforgiven,” told Variety in a statement on Thursday: “There was no finer actor than Gene.

Intense and instinctive.Never a false note.

He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much.”⁠Nathan Lane, who costarred with Hackman in the 1996 comedy “The Birdcage,” also got candid about his time with the two-time Oscar winner.“Gene Hackman was my favorite actor, as I think I told him every day we worked together on ‘The Birdcage,’” he told People.“Getting to watch him up close it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest.

You could never catch him acting.Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger.”Concluding his heartfelt message, Lane, 69, said: “He was as brilliant in comedy as he was in drama and thankfully his film legacy will live on forever.

It was a tremendous privilege to get to share the screen with him and remains one of my fondest memories.Rest in peace.

Mr.Hackman.”Many stars also took to social media following the news.Gwyneth Paltrow, who starred with Hackman in “The Royal Tenenbaums” in 2001, posted a picture from the film to her Instagram with simply a broken heart emoji.Tom Hanks echoed the actress’s sentiments, simply sharing a picture of Hackman.

“There has never been a ‘Gene Hackman Type.’ There has only been Gene Hackman,” he captioned the shot.Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Hackman in the 1974 project “The Conversation,” wrote a sweet message to the late icon.“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.I mourn his loss, and celebrate h...