"How big of a deal was Gene Hackman in the movies, especially in the 70s?" Seattle's Morning News host Charlie Harger asked.

"If we look at that period between through the 70s, the 80s into the 90s, Gene Hackman was right up there with Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman (and) Al Pacino in both the output and the variety of films that he made and the seriousness of a lot of them as well," Syracuse University Professor of Pop Culture Robert Thompson answered. "He was involved and headed up some real masterpieces through that period."