to some shocking news this morning from Hollywood two-time Oscar winning actor Jean Hackman has died at the age of 95 along with his wife and their family dog authorities say Hackman and Betsy arakawa were found dead in their Ranch in Santa Fe New Mexico Hackman won his first Oscar for his performance in the 1971 Thriller The French Connection he took home his second Oscar for his role in Clint Eastwood's un given 21 years later let's now bring in film critic Richard Krauss and this conversation good morning Richard we are tracking this very grim and rather
shocking story uh your reaction to this news uh it's a shocking story uh for me I was really uh um upset by the news when I heard it this morning uh Jee Hackman is a giant uh in Hollywood for the last 40 years he's handed in some of the most memorable performances on The screen uh and did so on his own terms the thing that makes his career so remarkable is that you can't pinpoint one thing that made him great uh he could do comedy he could do drama he could do everything in between uh
he could play popy Doyle he could play Lex Luthor he could play the inspirational coach in whoers or a character in Young Frankenstein uh and get laughs this is a someone who could literally do it all and did it with Charisma and talent and he was someone for whom a career and acting wasn't necessarily a given uh he would being a marine when he left the uh forces he decided to try his hand at journalism he didn't like that so he thought well I'm from California acting seems to be uh you know the one of
the ways that people out here make a living so he joined the Pasadena play house uh and got the lowest scores ever awarded to that point to an actor at the Pasadena Playhouse so he moved to New York hoping to make a splash on Broadway and he talks about one of the things that became a turning point in his life was living and working in New York City he had no success as an actor yet he was working as a waiter at a Howard Johnson's and one of his teachers from the Pasadena Playhouse came in
and said you see I was right about you you're just a waiter you moved out here for acting jobs and you didn't get any uh so I was correct I improved proved correct and Hackman says that from that point on he said I would do anything to get an audition I would cheat I would lie I would fight anything to book an audition and to get the job and within years he was standing on the stage of the Academy Awards uh taking home best actor for playing popey Doyle in The French Connection so it's a
remarkable story all around wow indeed what a story what a lifetime and the Legacy that he leaves behind and as you were discussing Jean of course uh is a five time Oscar nominee who starred in dozens of the films that you just mentioned but can we also talk about the person ker is remarkable as you told us the roles that he has played but as a human being what more do we know about or did we know about Jean well tenacity always comes to mind he says uh that an acting career is 95% luck and
the rest of it is just endurance and that is certainly uh I think probably um one of the earmarks of his person ality I mean he was someone who within just a three-year uh period between 1985 and 1988 uh made Nine Movies that's a lot of movies in three years making him one of the busiest actors in Hollywood and one of the biggest stars in Hollywood he was someone uh who was always uh you know facing forward looking at the next challenge even when he retired from film work in 2004 uh after making the movie
welcome to mooseport uh and he was diagnosed with a heart problem and his doctor said you can't act anymore it's too stressful for you he disappeared by and large from public life as an actor but he wrote books and you know he was still someone who was always moving forward looking to do something else uh interesting and and create something and that is that kind of creative spirit I think that you need to continue a career over 40 years in the Cutthroat world of Hollywood right and as we leave the story of course important to
to note that uh their debts are under investigation very shocking story indeed husband wife as well as their family dog found dead in New Mexico Richard Krauss appreciate your time thank you for joining us Richard thank you for having me
