section_path: Early life and military service
section_name: Early life and military service
paragraph_text: Early life and military service
  
  Hackman was born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California, to Anna Lyda Elizabeth (née Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman. He had a brother named Richard. Anna, an actress, painter, and pianist, was born in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The family moved frequently before eventually settling in Danville, Illinois, where they lived in the house of Anna's English-born mother, Beatrice. Hackman's father operated the printing press for the Commercial-News, a local newspaper. Hackman later stated that he decided to become an actor at the age of 10. His parents divorced when he was 13 years old, and his father later left the family.
  
  Hackman spent his sophomore year at Storm Lake High School. He left home at the age of 16, lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, and served four and a half years as a field radio operator. Hackman was stationed in China (Qingdao and later in Shanghai) as part of Operation Beleaguer. He later stated that part of his role there was destroying Japanese military equipment so that Communist revolutionaries did not capture it. After the Communists conquered the mainland in 1949, he was reassigned to Hawaii and Japan. After his discharge in 1951, Hackman moved to New York City, where he worked at various jobs. In 1962, his mother died in a fire she had accidentally started while smoking. Hackman began a study of journalism and television production at the University of Illinois under the G.I. Bill but left without graduating and moved back to California.
  
  Hackman was born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California, to Anna Lyda Elizabeth (née Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman. He had a brother named Richard. Anna, an actress, painter, and pianist, was born in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The family moved frequently before eventually settling in Danville, Illinois, where they lived in the house of Anna's English-born mother, Beatrice. Hackman's father operated the printing press for the Commercial-News, a local newspaper. Hackman later stated that he decided to become an actor at the age of 10. His parents divorced when he was 13 years old, and his father later left the family.
  
  Hackman spent his sophomore year at Storm Lake High School. He left home at the age of 16, lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, and served four and a half years as a field radio operator. Hackman was stationed in China (Qingdao and later in Shanghai) as part of Operation Beleaguer. He later stated that part of his role there was destroying Japanese military equipment so that Communist revolutionaries did not capture it. After the Communists conquered the mainland in 1949, he was reassigned to Hawaii and Japan. After his discharge in 1951, Hackman moved to New York City, where he worked at various jobs. In 1962, his mother died in a fire she had accidentally started while smoking. Hackman began a study of journalism and television production at the University of Illinois under the G.I. Bill but left without graduating and moved back to California.