Gene Hackman was abandoned by dad, kicked out of acting school before finding Hollywood success

Gene Hackman's father left his family when the actor was just 13, something he feels made him the actor he became, even through struggles to land roles.

"It was a real adios. It was so precise. Maybe that’s why I became an actor."

"I loved the idea that somebody could convince me that they were a sea captain without being phony. I’d grown up shy—not unusual for actors. They want to show they’re more than that—people of import, substance. I think because I was shy, I felt insecure, and acting seemed like a way of maybe getting around that. Getting to be somebody," he told Vanity Fair in 2004.