Gene Hackman Net Worth: Gene Hackman is an American retired actor and novelist who has a net worth of $80 million. Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman was born January 30, 1930 in San Bernardino, California. Over his almost 50-year career, he has been nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, including best actor in The French Connection. In addition, Hackman has won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs. His performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde launched his career. His other substantial films include Poseidon Adventure (1972); The Conversation (1974); Superman (1978); Hoosiers (1986); Mississippi Burning (1988); Unforgiven (1992); The Firm (1993); Crimson Tide (1995); Get Shorty (1995); The Birdcage (1996); Enemy of the State (1998); The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). At 16 years old, Hackman dropped out of high school and lied about his age in order to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. After being discharged in 1951, he worked his way from Illinois to New York, taking on various jobs and studying journalism and TV production as well. He went on to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse Theatre in the '50s where one of his classmates was Dustin Hoffman. The two became friends and shared the dubious honor of being labeled "least likely to succeed." Back in New York, Hackman landed his first off-Broadway role in Chaparral in 1958. He also became friends with actor Robert Duvall and was roommates with Dustin Hoffman for a time. His big break came after director Robert Rossen cast Hackman in the drama Lilith (1965) with Warren Beatty. Beatty then helped Hackman land a supporting role in the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a role which brought Hackman the critical acclaim he needed and he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Many roles and successes in the film industry followed as Hackman continued to explore different genres and types of characters for the remainder of the decade. He has co-written three books with Daniel Lenihan: Wake of the Perdido Star (1999), Justice for None (2004), and most recently, Escape from Andersonville: A Novel of the Civil War (2008).
