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

Reclusive actor Gene Hackman, 93, appears to have good genes as he appeared healthy while he was spotted for the first time in years because he hadn’t starred in a movie in nearly two decades.

The legendary two-time Academy Award winner looked to be in great shape as he was spotted out and about in his home town of Santa Fe, New Mexico on Sunday.

Hackman – who had over 100 credits to his name – had a very active day as he was seen doing yard work on his farm with shovel in hand.

Prior to that, the retired actor enjoyed a quick lunch in a parking lot in his white van after crashing into Wendy’s car.

The Royal Tenenbaums actor was later fueled in two different ways as he pumped gas and drank coffee at a gas station.

Hackman was perfectly dressed for an active day outside as he wore a black Columbia cardigan over a gray long-sleeved T-shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

He made sure to protect himself from the sun as he wore black sunglasses and a khaki baseball cap.

His gray hair is tucked behind his ear under a headdress and he wears his distinctive moustache.

It was certainly a rare sighting for Hackman as his final film role was alongside Ray Romano and Christine Baranski in the 2004 comedy Welcome to Mooseport.

On July 7, 2004, Hackman gave a rare interview with Larry King where he announced that he had no new film projects and thought his acting career was over.

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

In 2011, GQ asked him if he’d come out of retirement to do another movie to which Hackman replied, ‘If I could do it in my house, maybe, without bothering them with anything and just one or two people. “

However, he hasn’t completely strayed 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 and began performing several smaller Off-Broadway television roles in 1963.

The dramatist really made his name in the 70s as he was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for 1970s I Never Sing for Daddy.

The following year he officially became a leading man with incredible style as he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as New York City detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection (1971).

He went on to have consistent work including the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) before landing a role as Superintendent 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 Academy Award as he won Best Supporting Actor for his work as sadistic boss “Little” Bill Daggett alongside Clint Eastwood in 1992’s Unforgiven.

He rounded out the 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), and Runaway Jury (2003), and even won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for The Royal. Tenenbaums 2001.