Gene Hackman was abandoned by dad, kicked out of acting school before finding Hollywood success

Gene Hackman turned a painful childhood and years of rejection into a successful and legendary Hollywood career. Gene – who died from heart disease with Alzheimer’s as a significant contributing factor, about one week after his wife Betsy died from hantavirus – had always had a love and interest in movies, admiring James Cagney, Errol Flynn and Edward G. Robinson.