The Only Main Actor Still Alive From The French Connection

New York City Police Department detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) is nothing if not dogged. Working the narcotics beat, he's determined to bust a Marseille-based heroin smuggling operation. But Popeye finds himself dodging bullets and in deep. With the help of his partner, Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider), Popeye drives himself to near distraction trying to bring in kingpin Alain "Frog One" Charnier (Fernando Rey) and Salvatore "Sal" Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) and his family and stop yet another shipment of French drugs from disappearing into the ether. But organized crime ties might just keep Sal and Alain free men.

That's the piping hot plot behind the Oscar-winning "The French Connection." Based loosely on true events and best known for its daring car chases, it has developed a reputation as one of the best crime thrillers of all time. The movie was successful enough to spawn a sequel, as well as a telefilm that served as a pilot for a series that never took off. But it's been several decades since "The French Connection" first hit the big screen. Many of the actors who make up the film's main cast have passed away. But one actor is still alive, and he has quite a resume behind him. Here's the only main actor who's still alive from "The French Connection."

Gene Hackman is the sole surviving main actor from "The French Connection." The thespian, naturally, was already well-established when he took on the mantle of Popeye Doyle; he had just completed "I Never Sang for My Father." The Oscar he won for "The French Connection" would be just one bit of good news Hackman would receive in the early 1970s. He was one of the leads in 1972's epic blockbuster "The Poseidon Adventure" and would return to play Popeye in the 1975 sequel to "The French Connection." Not bad for a movie Hackman admitted to seeing once, then never again.

Hackman, of course, would earn the part of Lex Luthor in the Richard Donner "Superman" series, and would lead "Hoosiers" and "Mississippi Burning." He'd have memorable supporting roles in "Unforgiven," "The Quick and the Dead," "The Firm," "Crimson Tide," "The Birdcage," "The Royal Tenenbaums," and "Get Shorty." His last role was in "Welcome to Mooseport," which may prove to be a career-ending flop for the actor. He confirmed his acting retirement in 2008 and has gone on to write several novels. These days, the actor's leading what appears to be a comfortable life as a retiree — a right Twitter fans rallied to support when paparazzi pictures of the actor surfaced in early 2024. At the age of 94 at the time of writing, rest is what he well deserves.