PREVIEW

Francis Ford Coppola is mourning the loss of his The Conversation star Gene Hackman following his death. The two-time Oscar-winning actor, his pianist wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday. Their deaths are being investigated, however, police do not suspect foul play. Coppola, who worked with the 95-year-old actor on the 1974 mystery thriller The Conversation, was among the first of Hackman's collaborators to mourn him on social media following the shock news. The Godfather filmmaker posted a throwback behind-the-scenes photo of himself and Hackman during the shoot on Instagram. He captioned the image: ”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 his existence and contribution.” The Conversation, in which Hackman played a surveillance expert faced with a moral dilemma, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and later received three Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Other tributes came from Baby Driver director Edgar Wright, who simply called Hackman "the greatest", while Star Trek actor George Takei wrote: ”We have lost one of the true giants of the screen. Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it. He could be everyone and no one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe. That's how powerful an actor he was. He will be missed, but his work will live on forever."
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