Gene Hackman Pens Western Novel, 'Jubal's Bounty'

Where has Gene Hackman been all these years? His last picture was 2004's forgettable "Welcome to Mooseport," and in 2008, the 80-year-old, quietly announced his retirement while promoting his latest book. "I haven't held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I'm not going to act any longer. I've been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don't want to do it any longer." To Hackman, a major factor in his retirement was the fact that "the compromises that you have to make in films are just part of the beast, and it had gotten to a point where I just didn't feel like I wanted to do it anymore."

Well, at least Hackman hasn't been resting on his laurels. The LA Times book blog Jacket Copy reports that the former actor has quietly finished writing another novel. Entitled "Jubal's Bounty," the book is set in late 19th century New Mexico and will be published in the Spring of 2011 by Pocket Books. While Hackman has co-written three other novels with Daniel Lenihan -- "Wake of the Perdido Star" (1999), "Justice For None" (2004) and "Escape From Andersonville" (2008) -- this will be his first solo effort.

Instead of acting, Hackman has spent the last decade living in New Mexico and writing. "I write every day for at least a couple of hours. I exercise a little bit. And then it's time for the old folks to go to bed," Hackman explained. For the actor, the draw of writing is the solitary nature of the exercise. "I like the loneliness of it, actually," Hackman noted. "It's similar in some ways to acting, but it's more private and I feel like I have more control over what I'm trying to say and do."

Hackman has also been active in the fight against animal testing on chimpanzees. In August of this year, the actor spoke out against the planned transfer of 200 retired experiment chimpanzees to a lab where further experiments would be performed on them. "Scientists around the world have largely stopped experimenting on chimpanzees, in part because these animals just haven't proven to be good models for human health research," Hackman wrote in a letter to the head of the National Institute of Health. "I join [others trying to save the chimpanzees] in urging you to fulfill the National Institutes of Health's goal to 'exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science' by allowing these chimpanzees to live out their lives in the safety of a sanctuary."

Ok, it's not quite as good as a curmudgeonly Hackman pounding some young actor over the head in a scene or allegedly cussing out Wes Anderson on the set of "The Royal Tenenbaums" (apparently Hackman had more than one very heated argument with the filmmaker), but hell, at least he's still standing up for something.