Crow T. Robot was right. Gene Hackman was good in anything.

If you were to press me about who my favorite actor is, I might have to say Hackman. I first met him in Superman: The Movie, playing a demented and rather bizarre Lex Luthor, slightly cartoonish but also menacing. I don’t know if anyone but Hackman could have made it work so well. (Spacey’s attempt to play that version of Lex didn’t work one bit for me.) Over the years, I would slowly catch up with what I had missed, try to see him in new movies. Some are not great, some are incredible. He brought talent and depth to the darkest roles and the silliest, and occasionally got rewarded with a chance to work with the best actors and the best directors. He will be missed.

PS: I suspect we all are speculating about the nature of his death. I would suggest that for this thread, we leave to the side and focus on his work.