Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa found dead at home

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, a classical pianist, have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Local reports say the couple died along with their dog.

Santa Fe Sheriff's Office have stated that they do not believe foul play was a factor in the deaths – even if no cause of death has been released at the time of writing. An investigation is ongoing.  

“All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant,” the sheriff told the Santa Fe New Mexican. The statement came before authorities had positively identified the pair, per the publication. “I want to assure the community and neighborhood that there’s no immediate danger to anyone.”

Hackman was one of the industry's most respected and honoured performers, alongside his contemporaries such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman. His prolific resume includes two Oscars, three Golden Globes and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, bestowed in 2003. 

He won an Oscar for a Best Actor in William Friedkin’s 1971 action movie The French Connection, in which he played Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle. He won a second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Clint Eastwood's 1992 Western Unforgiven, for playing Little Bill Daggett. 

The legendary Hollywood actor and former Marine was also known for playing Lex Luthor in the Superman films, as well as starring in classics like Bonnie and Clyde, The Conversation, Mississippi Burning, Crimson Tide, The Quick and the Dead, The Firm, Under Fire, The Birdcage and Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.

His last big screen role was in 2004 in Welcome to Mooseport – and the same year, he announced that he was retiring from acting. Since then, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit - aside from appearances at awards shows.

News of his death comes just four days before this year’s Academy Awards ceremony.

Eugene Alden Hackman was born in San Bernardino, Calif., though he grew up in Danville, Ill.  

At 16, he lied about his age and joined the Marine Corps. He was stationed in Shanghai, Hawaii and Japan. In the military Hackman served as a newscaster for his unit’s radio station. 

After the military he studied journalism briefly at the University of Illinois and then moved to New York to study radio techniques under the G.I. Bill. After working at several radio stations, he studied acting at California’s Pasadena Playhouse.  

After several theatre productions, he scored his breakout role in Arthur Penn’s 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, which earned him his first Oscar nomination.

On top of his illustrious career in film, Hackman wrote several novels with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan: “Wake of the Perdido Star” (1999), “Justice for None” (2004) and “Escape From Andersonville” (2008). He also wrote a solo novel, 2011’s “Payback at Morning Peak”. 

Hackman and Arakawa married in 1991 and lived outside in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Hackman is survived by three children, Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne, with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese.