Remembering Gene Hackman

Published: March 19, 2025

As we finally have clarity in the tragic deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, I’d like to share what a great pleasure it was to photograph Gene. I always laugh when my friend calls him a ‘badass’ as he’s one of the kindest gentlest people I have ever met.

The first time I photographed Gene was for a Cigar Aficionado cover story. We shot at the Grove Isle Hotel in Coconut Grove and on the day of the shoot we set up our lights and backdrops a couple hours ahead of time. I was told to meet Gene in the lobby at 4:00 pm, so at 3:45 I headed to the lobby to find Gene quietly standing in the lobby looking out the window. A panic came over me as I approached him to apologize for making him wait.

“You’re not late,” he assured me. “I just think it’s rude to keep people waiting and it seems you do as well.”

With that we were off to shoot. I’d been given permission to shoot Gene without the obligatory cigar in hand which was a hallmark of Cigar Aficionado covers at the time. We shot options against two different backgrounds, then headed outside to shoot a portrait of him surrounded by over-sized chess set as the sun went down.

Not only was Gene a legendary actor. He was a great story-teller. I’d heard that as young actors, Gene and Dustin Hoffman were acting school classmates at the Pasadena Playhouse. As the story goes, the pair were supposed named “least likely to succeed.” I had to know if it was true. Gene confirmed to story and with a wink admitted that he was in fact the source of the rumor, as years ago he told the story on late night TV.

Much as I hated to say goodbye, but out of respect for starting early, I made certain to let Gene go a few minutes before our agreed time was up. I knew Gene liked the shots because after filming Wes Anderson’s ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’, the studio licensed the portrait from our shoot for the press kit for the movie with Gene’s blessing. I know Gene would be happy that People Magazine chose the same image for the opener of their tribute to him.

A decade later I got a call from Gene’s publicist asking if I was available to shoot a portrait of Gene. He needed a headshot for a book he was writing and he and Betsy were staying in Key Largo. I offered to drive down, but was told, he’s happy to come to you. Gene and Betsy showed up at our studio with one of their dogs. Betsy chose this image as her favorite from our shoot. I’d never posted before, but here it is now.

Gene told more stories as I shot this portrait. In the years since our first shoot, he’d retired from acting. One day while driving past a movie shoot in Santa Fe, he pulled his car up to a production assistant directing traffic and asked, “are you looking for extras today?” Without looking down, the PA replied, “nah, man we’re good.” The two-time Oscar winner just laughed and drove away…