Academy Award for Best Actor

1971

Gene Hackman

As

Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle

The French Connection

Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is a retired American actor and novelist.

In a career that spanned five decades, Hackman has been nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, including best actor in The French Connection. In addition Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde. His major subsequent films include The French Connection (1971), in which he played Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle; The Poseidon Adventure (1972); The Conversation (1974); Superman (1978), in which he played arch-villain Lex Luthor; Hoosiers (1986); Mississippi Burning (1988); Unforgiven (1992); The Firm (1993); Crimson Tide (1995); Get Shorty (1995); The Birdcage (1996); Enemy of the State (1998); and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).