Gene Hackman was honored at the Oscars 2025 by friend Morgan Freeman, four days after he and wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead at their New Mexico home

The Oscars paid tribute to Gene Hackman during Sunday’s ceremony, with the actor’s “Unforgiven” co-star Morgan Freeman introducing an honor for the late star. The speech preceded the ceremony’s in memoriam,

Freeman and Hackman, who was found dead last week at the age of 95, appeared together in the 1992 western “Unforgiven.”

Gene Hackman’s Unforgiven co-star Morgan Freeman is set to lead a heartfelt tribute at the 2025 Oscars, honoring the late actor’s legacy amid the continuous speculation swirling around the circumstances of his death.

Oscars on March 2, the Academy Awards paid tribute to Gene Hackman four days after he and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their New Mexico home.

Freeman, whose friendship with Hackman spans decades, called the late actor a “giant” of the film industry in his homage.

The Oscars brought a somber elegy for Gene Hackman and a joyful tribute to Quincy Jones on Sunday night. In a late addition to the ceremony, Morgan Freeman praised the two-time Oscar winner and his two-time co-star Hackman,

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Morgan Freeman opened the segment with a heartfelt speech about Gene Hackman, with whom he costarred in Unforgiven and Under Suspicion. "Like everyone who's ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer and a man who elevated everyone's work,