He moved back to New York in 1963, performing in Off-Broadway productions and smaller TV roles.

He began to make his name in name in the 1970s, becoming a leading man as New York City detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection.

He became a fixture on the big screen in the likes of 1972 disaster film The Poseidon Adventure.

Hackman and his first wife, Faye Maltese, were together for 30 years and raised three children before getting divorced in 1986.

In his later years, he and his second wife, Betsy – a classical pianist – stayed out of the spotlight, bar for a rare public appearance together at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, where he won the Cecil B. deMille award.

In 2008 he told Reuters: “I haven’t held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I’m not going to act any longer.

“I’ve been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don’t want to do it any longer.”

He also explained he was focusing his attentions on his passion for writing novels.

“I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press,” he once said.

“It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on-screen. I think of myself, and feel like I’m quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that.”