Francis Ford Coppola has paid tribute to his “The Conversation” star
Gene Hackman after the Oscar-winning actor was
found dead at 95 alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, in their Santa Fe home on Wednesday.
“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,” Coppola wrote on Instagram with a photo of the two on set. “I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.”
Hackman starred in “The Conversation,” Coppola’s 1974 neo-noir mystery thriller, as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential murder. The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d’Or, and received three Oscar nominations for best picture, original screenplay and sound.