Gene Hackman Said 'I Never Wanted to Be Anything but an Actor, I Love It' in Final Awards Show Appearance Before His Death

Gene Hackman reflected on his incredible acting career as he made his final awards show appearance at the 2003 Golden Globes.

The Superman star, 95 — who was found dead at his Santa Fe home alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and their dog on Wednesday, Feb. 26 — had nothing but appreciation for his decades-long acting accomplishments as he took the stage to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award for "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment."

After being presented the honor by the late Robin Williams and British actor Michael Caine, Hackman said: "I never wanted to be anything but an actor."

Referencing a line from actor George Scott, who played U.S. Army General George S. Patton in the 1970 movie Patton, Hackman told the crowd, "God help me, I love it."

"I truly do," he said of his acting career, reflecting on heading to the movie theater as a young boy where he was "transported" while seeing different films.

"I knew that there were people behind all of that dream-making, but I chose to believe that this was happening for the first time, for me, on that screen, on that Saturday afternoon," he continued.

Hackman also said, "There's a line that I always wanted to say, 'Top of the world, Ma! Top of the world!' " referencing James Cagney's phrase from the 1949 movie White Heat.

The 2003 event was thought to be the last awards show appearance Hackman and his wife Arakawa, who married in 1991 and opted to live a more private life, made. 

The couple were found dead at their home in Santa Fe Summit on Wednesday, Feb. 26, per the Santa Fe New Mexican, citing County Sheriff Adan Mendoza. Mendoza added there was no immediate indication of foul play in the deaths, the outlet reported. He also did not provide a cause of death or say when the couple might have died. 

Hackman's 2003 Golden Globes appearance came just before he starred in his final film, the 2004 comedy Welcome to Mooseport. He then retired from acting, telling Larry King in an interview that year that his career was “probably all over,” and that he had no new scripts in front of him. He expanded on his thoughts several years later, telling GQ in 2011 that it would take a lot for him to make another film.

“I don’t know. If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people,” he said.

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Hackman turned to painting and did voice-over work and writing books. He penned the old west story Payback at Morning Peak (2011) and the police thriller Pursuit (2013), as well as co-authoring three works of historical fiction with undersea archeologist Daniel Lenihan.

The former Marine also narrated two documentary films: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jim (2016) and We, the Marines (2017).

When asked how he would like to be remembered, Hackman said “as a decent actor. As someone who tried to portray what was given to them in an honest fashion. I don’t know, beyond that.”

"I don't think about that often, to be honest," he insisted to GQ.