Gene Hackman death: Stars share tributes to actor who died at 95

Hollywood stars are beginning to share tributes following the news of storied actor Gene Hackman's death at the age of 95.

Director Francis Ford Coppola, who wrote and directed the 1974 thriller "The Conversation," starring Hackman, praised him in an Instagram post.

"The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution," Coppola wrote in the accompanying caption.

Fellow director Edgar Wright remembered Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner, simply as "the greatest" in a post on X.

Acclaimed actor George Takei, in a tribute shared on X, described Hackman as a "true giant" of the film industry.

"We have lost one of t