--- title: Gene Hackman is Alive Despite Death Rumor description: Online rumors were spreading that the Hollywood legend died this week, but he is very much alive and turns 85 on Friday. canonical: https://time.com/3687046/gene-hackman-not-dead/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-29T02:54:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:57:58.346Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: No, Gene Hackman Is Not Dead og:description: In fact, he turns 85 on Friday og:url: https://time.com/3687046/gene-hackman-not-dead/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf548d6b03701191d/69877c775f570f3b5eb14f8d/hackman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: HACKMAN ARAKAWA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: No, Gene Hackman Is Not Dead twitter:description: In fact, he turns 85 on Friday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf548d6b03701191d/69877c775f570f3b5eb14f8d/hackman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # No, Gene Hackman Is Not Dead by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 29, 2015 2:54 AM UTC  This Jan. 19, 2003 file photo shows actor Gene Hackman at the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. This Jan. 19, 2003 file photo shows actor Gene Hackman at the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif.Mark J. Terrill — AP by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 29, 2015 2:54 AM UTC **_\[Editor’s note:_** _This story was originally published in 2015\. Hackman_ [_died in 2025_](https://time.com/7262470/gene-hackman-legacy-remembrance/)_._ **_\]_** Actor Gene Hackman [is alive and well.](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gene-hackman-alive-rep/story?id=28554729) Rumors were spreading that the Hollywood legend had died, following the publication of an article on sports and pop culture blog Grantland earlier this week. The confusion was sparked by a headline that ran on the website Tuesday stating “The Greatest Living American Actor at 85: Gene Hackman Is Gone But Still in Charge,” spurring rumors that Hackman, who is in fact 84-years-old, had died. The headline has since been revised from “Gone” to “Retired.” Hackman turns 85 on Friday. \[[ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gene-hackman-alive-rep/story?id=28554729)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3687046/gene-hackman-not-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3687046/gene-hackman-not-dead/"},"headline":"No, Gene Hackman Is Not Dead","datePublished":"2015-01-29T02:54:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:57:58.346Z","description":"Don’t believe the online rumors","url":"https://time.com/3687046/gene-hackman-not-dead/","keywords":["celebrities","Actor"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf548d6b03701191d/69877c775f570f3b5eb14f8d/hackman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf548d6b03701191d/69877c775f570f3b5eb14f8d/hackman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"HACKMAN ARAKAWA","caption":"HACKMAN ARAKAWA","creditText":"Mark J. Terrill — AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3687046/gene-hackman-not-dead/","name":"No, Gene Hackman Is Not Dead"}}]}] ```