Why Did Gene Hackman Stop Acting?

Gene Hackman stopped acting over 20 years ago, but why exactly did the Hollywood legend suddenly retire?

Considering he was still making appearances in hit, cult or even critically acclaimed films at the time, it's perhaps surprising that the late, great Hackman pulled the plug on his decades-long acting career in 2004.

In the years leading up to his retirement, the actor starred in films such as 2000's The Replacements; 2001's Behind Enemy Lines, Heartbreakers, and The Royal Tenenbaums, for which he received a Best Actor Golden Globe award; and 2003's Runaway Jury.

The actor's final film role—at least, until he made a brief return to film in 2016 and 2017—came when the actor starred in the 2004 comedy Welcome to Mooseport alongside Ray Romano.

A few months after the film's release, during an interview with Larry King the actor revealed he had decided to officially retire following medical advice from his doctor, and had no more films lined up.

Hackman's doctor had advised the actor, who was 74 at the time, that the stress of his career was putting too much pressure on his heart. In fact, it was the results of an alarming heart stress test that became the "straw that broke the camel's back."

But Hackman was happy to retire and in the following years expressed no interest in returning to Hollywood.

Instead, he focused on his writing career and published some novels.

Hackman did, however, make a brief return to the screen to narrate the 2016 and 2017 historical documentaries U.S. Marine Corps: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima and We, the Marines, respectively.

Hackman, 95, and his professional pianist wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, were found dead alongside their pet dog inside their New Mexico home on Feb. 26.

Adan Mendoza, the Santa Fe Country sheriff, said that "no foul play" is suspected in their deaths at this time.

"All I can say is that we're in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant," Mendoza told the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Hackman and Arakawa's official cause of death has not yet been revealed as of publishing.