Gene Hackman won an Academy Award for best actor in a movie directed by who ?
Gene Hackman:  In a career spanning nearly five decades, Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning Best Actor in "The French Connection" and Best Supporting Actor in "Unforgiven". The French Connection (film): The French Connection is a 1971 American crime thriller film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Philip D'Antoni.
William Friedkin