The late Gene Hackman managed to become a huge cinema success without ever playing the Hollywood game. Despite being voted ‘Least Likely to Succeed’ by his acting school classmates, Gene became one of the greatest actors of his generation, driven in part by a ruthless perfectionism. But after achieving his extraordinary success, he walked away from it all, happy to retire to rural New Mexico, where he lived a quiet secluded life a world away from the glamour of the movie business. Tales and