Editing Gene Hackman (section)

===1956–1969: Career beginnings===
{{quote box||align=left|width=25em|quote=Acting was something I wanted to do since I was 10 and saw my first movie, I was so captured by the action guys. [[Jimmy Cagney]] was my favorite. Without realizing it, I could see he had tremendous timing and vitality.|source=—Gene Hackman<ref name="Deseret News"/>}}
In 1956, Hackman began pursuing an acting career. He joined the [[Pasadena Playhouse]] in California,<ref name="Inside the Actors Studio"/> where he befriended another aspiring actor, [[Dustin Hoffman]].<ref name="Inside the Actors Studio"/> Already seen as outsiders by their classmates, Hackman and Hoffman were voted "the least likely to succeed",<ref name="Life and Work">{{cite book |last1=Shelley |first1=Peter |title=Gene Hackman: The Life and Work |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476670478 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_tt8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7}}</ref>{{rp|p=7}}<ref name="Inside the Actors Studio"/> and Hackman got the lowest score the Pasadena Playhouse had yet given.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pasadena Playhouse, a Star Crucible, Reopens |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-08-8602020175-story.html |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=September 16, 2018 |first=Luaine |last=Lee |date=May 8, 1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116130112/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-08-8602020175-story.html |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Determined to prove them wrong, Hackman moved to New York City. A 2004 article in ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' described Hackman, Hoffman, and [[Robert Duvall]] as struggling California-born actors and close friends, sharing New York apartments in various two-person combinations in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web |work=[[Xfinity]] |title=Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman |access-date=December 31, 2011 |url=http://xfinity.comcast.net:80/slideshow/entertainment-celebroommates/10/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416054245/http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/entertainment-celebroommates/10/ |archive-date=April 16, 2011 |publisher=[[Comcast]] |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Robert Duvall, Hollywood's No. 1 Second Lead, Breaks for Starlight |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20067777,00.html |first=Laura |last=Stevenson |magazine=[[People (American magazine)|People]] |access-date=December 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104213721/http://www.people.com/people/article/0%2C%2C20067777%2C00.html |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |date=September 5, 1977}}</ref>

To support himself between acting jobs, Hackman was working at a [[Howard Johnson's]] restaurant<ref name="Meryman">{{cite journal |title=Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Duvall: Three Friends who Went from Rags to Riches |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2004/03/gene-hackman-dustin-hoffman-hollywood |journal=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=September 16, 2018 |first=Richard |last=Meryman |date=March 2004 |publisher=[[Condé Nast]] |archive-date=September 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916130202/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2004/03/gene-hackman-dustin-hoffman-hollywood |url-status=live}}</ref> when he encountered an instructor from the Pasadena Playhouse, who said that his job proved that Hackman "wouldn't amount to anything."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Vintage Movies: 'The French Connection' |url=http://magnetmagazine.com/2013/08/07/vintage-movies-the-french-connection/ |journal=[[Magnet (magazine)|Magnet]] |access-date=September 16, 2018 |date=August 7, 2013}}</ref> A Marine officer who saw him as a doorman said, "Hackman, you're a sorry son of a bitch." Rejection motivated Hackman, who said:
{{blockquote|It was more psychological warfare, because I wasn't going to let those fuckers get me down. I insisted with myself that I would continue to do whatever it took to get a job. It was like me against them, and in some way, unfortunately, I still feel that way. But I think if you're really interested in acting there is a part of you that relishes the struggle. It's a narcotic in the way that you are trained to do this work and nobody will let you do it, so you're a little bit nuts. You lie to people, you cheat, you do whatever it takes to get an audition, get a job.{{r|Meryman}}}}

Hackman began performing in several [[Off-Broadway]] plays, starting with ''Witness for the Prosecution'' in 1957 at the Gateway Playhouse in [[Bellport, New York]], and including ''Come to the Palace of Sin'' in 1963.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/celebrities/gene-hackman-gateway-playhouse-ke88tbkc | title=Gene Hackman's Long Island connection: He started acting at Bellport's Gateway Playhouse | date=February 28, 2025 }}</ref> He got various bit roles, for example, in the film ''[[Mad Dog Coll (1961 film)|Mad Dog Coll]]'' and on multiple television series: ''[[Tallahassee 7000]]'', ''[[The United States Steel Hour]]'', ''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]'', ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]'', ''[[The Defenders (1961 TV series)|The Defenders]]'', ''[[The DuPont Show of the Week]]'', ''[[East Side/West Side]]'', and ''[[Brenner (TV series)|Brenner]]''.<ref name="Roots"/>  In 1963, he made his [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] debut in ''Children From Their Games'', which had only a short run, as did ''A Rainy Day in Newark''. However, ''[[Any Wednesday (play)|Any Wednesday]]'' with actress [[Sandy Dennis]] was a huge Broadway success in 1964.<ref name="Hall"/> This opened the door to film work. His first credited role was in ''[[Lilith (film)|Lilith]]'', with [[Jean Seberg]] and [[Warren Beatty]] in the leading roles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/interview-gene-hackman/|title=Interview: Gene Hackman|website=Film Comment|first= Beverly|last=Walker|date= November–December 1988|access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>

[[File:Bonnie and Clyde (1967 cast photo).jpg|thumb|Hackman (left) with the cast of ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'' in 1967]]
Hackman returned to Broadway in ''Poor Richard'' (1964–65) by [[Jean Kerr]], which ran for over a hundred performances.<ref name="Hall"/> He continued to do television – ''[[The Trials of O'Brien]]'', ''[[Hawk (TV series)|Hawk]]'', and ''[[The F.B.I. (TV series)|The F.B.I.]]'' – and had a small part as Dr. John Whipple in the epic film ''[[Hawaii (1966 film)|Hawaii]].'' He had small roles in features like ''[[First to Fight (film)|First to Fight]]'' (1967), ''[[A Covenant with Death]]'' (1967), and ''[[Banning (film)|Banning]]'' (1967). Hackman was originally cast as Mr. Robinson in the 1967 [[Mike Nichols]] independent romantic comedy film ''[[The Graduate]]'', but Nichols fired him three weeks into rehearsal for being "too young" for the role; he was replaced by [[Murray Hamilton]].<ref>{{cite magazine | title=The Making of 'The Graduate' | magazine=Vanity Fair | date=February 25, 2008 | url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/03/graduate200803 | access-date=August 21, 2023 | archive-date=January 18, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118045634/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/03/graduate200803 | url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 1967, he appeared in an episode of the television series ''[[The Invaders]]'' entitled "[[The Invaders#Season 2 (1967–68)|The Spores]]" and as [[Buck Barrow]] in [[1967 in film|1967]]'s biographical crime drama ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'',<ref name="Inside the Actors Studio"/> which earned him an [[Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 40th Academy Awards |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968 |access-date=February 27, 2025 |website=oscars.org |date=October 4, 2014 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences]] |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819135057/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968 |url-status=live}}</ref>

A return to Broadway that same year, ''The Natural Look'', ran for just one performance. Additionally, he performed Off-Broadway in ''Fragments and The Basement''. Hackman was in episodes of ''[[Iron Horse (TV series)|Iron Horse]]'' ("Leopards Try, But Leopards Can't") and ''[[Insight (American TV series)|Insight]]'' ("Confrontation"). In 1968, he appeared in an episode of ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'', in the role of "Hunter", in the episode "Happy Birthday... Everybody". That same year, he starred in the ''[[CBS Playhouse]]'' episode "[[My Father and My Mother]]" and the dystopian television film ''[[Shadow on the Land]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW8j6sHvrewC&pg=PA500 |title=Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors |last=Roberts |first=Jerry |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |page=500 |isbn=9780810863781 |year=2009 |access-date=February 3, 2017 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1969, he played a ski coach in ''[[Downhill Racer]]'' and an astronaut in ''[[Marooned (1969 film)|Marooned]]''. Also that year, he played a member of a barnstorming skydiving team that entertained mostly at county fairs, a film which also inspired many to pursue [[skydiving]] and has a cult-like status amongst skydivers as a result: ''[[The Gypsy Moths]]''. Hackman supported [[Jim Brown]] in two films, ''[[The Split (film)|The Split]]'' (1968) and ''[[Riot (1969 film)|Riot]]'' (1969). Hackman nearly accepted the role of [[List of The Brady Bunch characters#Mike Brady|Mike Brady]] for the TV series ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=You'll never watch 'The Brady Bunch' the same way again after reading these 12 facts |url=https://www.metv.com/lists/youll-never-watch-the-brady-bunch-the-same-way-again-after-reading-these-12-facts |work=[[Me TV]] |access-date=September 16, 2018 |date=June 9, 2016}}</ref> but his agent advised that he decline it in exchange for a more promising role, which he did, but this story is said to have been exaggerated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ew.com/books/2019/12/02/brady-bunch-mike-casting-robert-reed-book-excerpt/|title=How Robert Reed came to play 'The Brady Bunch' dad Mike (and who almost got the job instead)|website=EW.com|access-date=February 27, 2025|archive-date=May 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524162926/https://ew.com/books/2019/12/02/brady-bunch-mike-casting-robert-reed-book-excerpt/|url-status=live}}</ref>