‘Hoosiers’ actors remember Oscar winner Gene Hackman

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. — Walking into Hoosier Gym in Knightstown feels like stepping back into the past. The rows of seats, the hardwood floor and the scoreboard are all just the same as when Gene Hackman was filming the movie Hoosiers there 40 years ago.

”We had people waiting this morning,” said Bill Gorman, a volunteer at the Hoosier Gym. “We open at noon and we had people here at 11, a little after I got here, because they had heard of his passing.”

The hallways surrounding the Hoosier Gym have plenty of pictures of Gene Hackman during his time there for the movie and in years since. It’s become a museum to the film.

”We have a uniform that was used in the move, we have lots of pictures, we have old basketballs,” Gorman said.

However, it’s more than keepsakes for this town. When the film was shot in the 1980s, Knightstown residents used to volunteer as extras in the audience.

”It was kind of like watching paint dry, because you’d sit there for an hour and they’d shoot something that lasted five minutes or less and you’d sit another half hour,” Gorman said.

In fact, Gorman’s oldest son was an extra in the movie. At the time, his son was a sixth grader at a nearby school.

”They used to bring those classes over and fill the seats with those kids if they weren’t really busy, so he was an extra in the movie,” Gorman said.

The entire film wasn’t shot in Knightstown, but Hackman was kind during his stay.

”He intermingled with the kids at the school, the teachers and if he was out on the street, he would speak to people,” Gorman said. “So, real nice guy, from what I understand.”

People with Gene Hackman and Hoosier connections are still scattered across Indiana.

Jeff Duhamell is a former Indianapolis police officer who got an unexpected opportunity one day on the job.

”Somebody came in the office there on the first floor and they said, ‘Would anyone be interested in being a part in a movie.’ and I’m like, ‘Sure’,” Duhamell said.

Duhamell ended up playing the role of a reporter once the Hickory Huskers made it to the state championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Duhamell said he did get admonished for his acting, though.

”They had actually stopped and he comes to me and he says, ‘You need to look down when you’re writing,'” he said.

As for Hackman, Duhamell only had good things to say. Hackman even signed Duhamell’s press badge that was part of his costume.

”He was gracious and he would talk and shake everybody’s hand and everything,” Duhamell said.

Despite all of the positive words about Hackman, his character Coach Norman Dale could be more than just confrontational. Few know that better than Buddy, one of Coach Dale’s players, who was played by Whiteland resident Brad Long.

”I played Buddy,” Long said. “I was the troublemaker who gets kicked off the team early for mouthing off, but then I kind of see the error of my ways and end up being the captain of the team.”

Once Buddy gets back on the team, he has one of the most iconic moments of the movie. Coach Dale tells Buddy “41 is killing us, just killing us. Stick with him. Like chewing gum. By the end of the game I want to know what flavor he is.”

As Buddy jogs off the court in Hoosiers, he tell Dale the flavor is “Dentyne.” A moment Long said he still gets recognized for.

Long said Hackman impressed him. He was already a star for several prominent roles and was still down to earth.

“He could have come in really narcissistic and said ‘Get out of my way, show me my lines, get out of my way,'” Long said. “Instead, he said, ‘I want to go to some high school basketball practices, I want to see their body language, see their verbiage.’ And so here’s an old dog that said, ‘Hey, I can learn some new tricks.’ and I always admired that and thought that was pretty cool.”

Nearly 40 years after Hoosiers came out, the movie has truly stood the test of time. It stands as a fan favorite among sports movies and is one most in Indiana have seen out of pure state pride.

”That is one of the greatest movies, I think, because of how it is portrayed of the little guy making it to the big championship and winning,” Duhamell said. “It is just what we all dream about.”

As we remember Gene Hackman, all agree, he was made to play Coach Norman Dale.

”Gene Hackman played the perfect coach,” Duhamell said.

”He’s a coach,” Gorman said. “I mean, he would pass for a coach anywhere.”

If you would like to go see the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, it’s open every day of the week except for Sunday. You can find additional details on its website.