Gene Hackman, 93, healthy as a lone star seen for the first time in years, two decades after the last movie

Reclusive actor Gene Hackman, 93, must have some good genes, as he looked healthy when he was spotted for the first time in years in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Sunday.

The legendary two-time Oscar winner, who hasn’t starred in a movie in nearly two decades, appeared to be in fine form, working in his ranch garden with a shovel in hand.

Before that, the retired actor enjoyed a fast-food lunch in a parking lot in his white van, after stopping by a Wendy’s drive-thru.

Later, the Royal Tenenbaums actor fueled up in two different ways, as he gassed up and grabbed coffee at a gas station.

Hackman – Hackman, who has more than 100 credits to his name, was dressed perfectly for an active day, wearing a black Columbia fleece sweater over a gray long-sleeved T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

He made sure to protect himself from the sun as he was also wearing a pair of black sunglasses and a khaki baseball cap.

His gray hair was tucked behind his ear under his hat, and he sported his signature moustache.

It was a rare sighting for the star: His last movie role was opposite Ray Romano and Christine Baranski in the 2004 comedy Welcome To Mooseport.

On July 7 of the same year, he gave a rare interview to Larry King in which he announced that he had no new film projects and believed that his acting career was over.

Years later, he confirmed his retirement while promoting his third novel, Escape From Andersonville in 2008.

In 2011, he was asked by GQ if he would ever come out of retirement to make one more film, to which Hackman replied, “If I could do it in my own house, maybe, unmolested and just one or two people.” .’

However, he hasn’t completely stayed away from the industry, having narrated two Marine Corps documentaries: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima (2016) and We, The Marines (2017).

Hackman began his acting career nearly 70 years ago, joining the Pasadena Playhouse in 1956, where he befriended fellow aspiring actor Dustin Hoffman.

He eventually moved to New York in 1963 and began acting in various Off-Broadway plays and small roles on television.

The actor really made a name for himself in the 1970s, when he was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for the 1970 film I Never Sang for My Father.

The following year he officially became a leading man and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of New York City detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection.

He went on to have consistent work, including in Francis Ford Coppola’s disaster film The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Conversation (1974) before landing the role of supervillain Lex Luthor in 1978’s Superman: The Movie.

In the 1980s, he starred in several films, including Reds (1981), Under Fire (1983), Hoosiers (1986), No Way Out (1987), and Mississippi Burning (1988).

The 1990s brought him his second Oscar when he won Best Supporting Actor for his work as sadistic sheriff ‘Little’ Bill Daggett opposite Clint Eastwood in 1992’s Unforgiven.

He rounded out that decade by also starring in Narrow Margin (1990), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), The Firm (1993), The Chamber (1996), Wyatt Earp (1994), The Quick And The Dead (1995), Crimson Tide ( 1995), Get Shorty (1995), Absolute Power (1997), The Birdcage (1996) and Enemy Of The State (1998).

Hackman continued to be active in the early 2000s with roles in Behind Enemy Lines (2001), Heist (2001), Runaway Jury (2003), and even won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for The Royal Tenenbaums’ 2001.