Gene Hackman’s Role in ‘Hoosiers’ led to an Unforgettable, Beloved Film for Fans in Indiana and Beyond
Source: WISH-TV
KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind.— The gym still has the bus and memorabilia from the film “Hoosiers” that starred Gene Hackman.
A wooden cutout of his face sits inside the original team bus, and photographs of the award-winning actor line the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown.
To the people in the Henry County town that’s about a 40-minute drive east of Indianapolis, Hackman is more than an actor, but someone who helped shine light on basketball and the Hoosier community, leaving a legacy for generations to come.
Oscar-winner Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on Wednesday, according to investigators.
The Milan High School team that won the 1954 Indiana basketball championship over Muncie Central at Butler Fieldhouse in Indianapolis inspired the movie “Hoosiers.” The Knightstown gym where the iconic film was shot has a signed movie poster, and the film plays in the background on repeat for visitors.
Larry Loveall volunteers at the gym. “What we do is we put the movie on and just mute the sound. We know all the words. We know all the lines. We sit there and recite them to each other just like some sort of game.”
At the Hoosier Gym, basketball players, visitors and “Hoosiers” movie fans shared a moment of silence Wednesday to pay homage to the actor.
Much of the gym remains as it did in the movie. The last shot of the 1986 film is a photograph of the 1952 state champs, the Huskers and their Coach Norman Dale, played by Hackman. The photo hangs above the basketball court. That same photograph also hangs at the back of the gym, this time with Hackman’s signature and the message “To the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.”
Loveall didn’t know Hackman, but says his son was an extra on the film. “Mr. Hackman interacted with the kids, the teachers and the community. He was a very nice guy and loved the small town because he’s from a small town in Illinois.”
The film set-turned-museum also sports a basketball court where 80 high school games are played a year by students from all around the country.
Matthew Steward visited Wednesday. He’s seen the movie more than 100 times. “The impact he had in this movie reflected who he was, and it impacted me and my friends growing up, and we wanted to play basketball, because not just how the movie depicted basketball players, but how he coached.”
Steward said he watched the movie with his daughters, and now both of them are playing high school basketball at the Hoosier Gym.
