The Morning That Gene Hackman Said Hello

Bob Greene’s March 3 op-ed “The Night I Left Gene Hackman Alone” is a touching tribute to a great actor and an even kinder man. I know from experience. I was in San Francisco in January 1973, walking with a friend in the early morning. Rounding a corner, we saw a camera crew set up for a scene. Gene Hackman was standing to one side in a rumpled trench coat, suit and glasses. We stopped, watched him wait and, on cue, he slowly walked past a janitor mopping the floor, glancing at him uneasily. The whole scene took 15 seconds, but they shot it several times. We observed in breathless silence. The director called “cut,” and Hackman looked up at us, gave a big smile and asked, “How did I do?” We stammered that it was great, later discovering that this was a scene in “The Conversation.”

Hackman didn’t need to acknowledge us, but he did. He made us feel like we were friends, and his including us in this obscure moment on the set of one of his several movies forever changed the way I thought about him. Many will remember him as a brilliant actor. I’m glad to have learned that he was a lovely person, too.