Legendary actor Gene Hackman was spotted on an extremely rare outing as he grabbed a casual bite to eat in Santa Fe, New Mexico! In photos you can SEE HERE, the Royal Tenenbaums star, 93, was laid back in an olive green fleece vest, jeans, and long sleeved green shirt. He finished the look with black sneakers, a beige baseball cap, and stylish Oakley shades. Gene appeared very active despite his nine decades — he pumped gas, grabbed a Wendy’s sandwich and soda, and was seen leaving the gas station with what appeared to be a coffee.
Gene has been off the radar for quite some time, but his career as an actor is nothing short of iconic. In his seven decades onscreen, he’s starred in landmark films including Francis Ford Coppola‘s 1974 masterpiece The Conversation, Crimson Tide, Barry Sonnenfelds‘ Get Shorty and Tony Scott‘s Crimson Tide (both 1995), Clint Eastwood‘s Unforgiven (1992), 1986 sports drama Hoosiers, and gut wrenching 1989 film Mississippi Burning, for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. His last film role was almost two decades ago in 2004, when he starred Welcome To Mooseport alongside Christine Baranski.
However, in October of 2021, he resurfaced for an interview to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 1971’s The French Connection, for which he won the Best Actor Academy Award. Gene was modest about his part in the iconic film. “Filmmaking has always been risky — both physically and emotionally — but I do choose to consider that film a moment in a checkered career of hits and misses,” he said at the time, per the New York Post. “As for the car chase, there was a better one filmed a few years earlier with Steve McQueen.”
In a 2009 interview with Empire, the famously gruff actor explained why he finally chose to retire from acting at the age of 74. “The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York.” He told the outlet. “The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress.”