Oscars 2025: Morgan Freeman pays heartbreaking tribute to Gene Hackman
It’s become an annual tradition for the Oscars to pay tribute to the actors who’ve passed away over the last 12 months, but this year’s was even more heartbreaking after Morgan Freeman paid an emotional tribute to Gene Hackman.
The two-time Academy Award winner was found dead earlier this week at the age of 95, and Freeman was clearly struggling to honour his late friend under the weight of his grief. The two co-starred in Unforgiven and Under Suspicion, striking up a friendship that transcended the screen.
“Our community lost a giant, and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman,” he said. “I had the pleasure of working alongside Gene on two films. Unforgiven and Under Suspicion, he was a generous performer who elevated everyone’s work; he received two Oscars but, more importantly, warmed the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”
Freeman continued: “Gene would say, ‘I just want people to remember me as someone who tried to do good work’ — I speak for us all when I say Gene; we will remember that and so much more.”
Freeman was famously indignant when Hackman retired from acting in 2004 after his final film, Welcome to Mooseport. He revealed his anger about one of America’s greatest-ever screen actors leaving the business when he believed they still had so much more to give.
The Oscar-winning icons weren’t just two heavyweights and titans of their chosen profession; they were friends, and Freeman’s cracking voice and faltering tone made it clear that he’d been hit hard by Hackman’s death.
Given his status in the annals of cinema history, it was always likely that Hackman would be honoured during the ‘In Memoriam’ segment. However, it couldn’t have been easy for Freeman to take the stage in front of a packed auditorium and millions of viewers worldwide to speak about someone he was close to who died so recently, and there was barely a dry eye in the house by the time he’d finished.
In a statement released by Hackman’s family following his death, they wrote: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy… He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us, he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”
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