Gene Hackman's connection with Bob Martin "The Accountant to the Stars"

The death of Gene Hackman, 95, is still being investigated, with his film career being celebrated in the meantime.

With one of his movies having a H-Town-ish tie.

Bob Martin "The Accountant to the Stars" and longtime Houston TV tax expert revealed to me that his mother, Louise Martin, was in the 1973 film Scarecrow with Hackman (WATCH ABOVE).

"My mother is the actress playing the part of the ticket clerk in the final scene of Scarecrow with Gene Hackman," Martin told mikemcguff.com.  "We lived in Detroit in 1972 and the scene was filmed at the Greyhound Bus Depot in Detroit. She was a stage actress all of her life and she did a lot of industrial films and TV and radio commercials. Her agent called her for the cattle call they liked her and she got the part. She used to travel to New York quite a bit for auditions and she also landed a very small part in the Woody Allen film Annie Hall (1977)."

Martin adds that his mother's Scarecrow scene went well, and Hackman was pleased with the result. To compliment his mother when they were done filming, Hackman used the shoe to gently tap her on the nose as a sign of approval! 

Hackman later said that Scarecrow was his favorite movie to work on.  Also starring Al Pacino, the drama tells the story of men from California hitchhiking their way to Pittsburgh with plans of starting a car wash.

Louise Martin passed away from a heart attack at the age of 69 on April 29, 1991.

Her acting career began in the 1930s with the Detroit Stock Company. 

Over the years, she took on roles in approximately 25 community theater productions, showcasing her talent with the Theatre Guild of Livonia-Redford, the Dearborn Players, and Meadow Brook Theatre.

Her portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln in A Thin Line earned her the Best Performer award from the Metropolitan Detroit Theater Council and was featured on local television.

Mrs. Martin’s versatility shone through in various productions, including The Glass Menagerie, Butterflies Are Free, and Arsenic and Old Lace.

Beyond the stage, she became a familiar face in national and local advertisements, appearing in radio, television, and print commercials for brands such as Anacin, White Cloud, and Jell-O. In the early 1980s, her image graced a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes box. She also contributed to corporate training films for major companies.

Her talent also extended to the big screen, with roles in notable films including Marathon Man and Presumed Innocent.