Gene Hackman, the Oscar winning actor, was discovered dead in his New Mexico home, along with his wife and dog.
According to authorities, Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife, and their dog were discovered dead in their New Mexico home on Thursday.
Although foul play was not suspected, authorities stated that an investigation was still underway but did not disclose the circumstances of their deaths.
When deputies arrived at their residence at 1:45 p.m. to check on the welfare of Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog, they found them all dead. Spokesman Denise Avila of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office stated on Wednesday.
From the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s, the sour-faced but adored Hackman played villains, heroes, and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies, and action movies. He was one of the best actors of his generation.
Five times nominated for an Oscar, he took home the honors for The French Connection in 1972 and Unforgiven twenty years later. Four days before this year’s celebration, he passed away.
According to a 1989 New York Times article, Hackman met Arakawa, a Hawaiian-born pianist with classical training, while she was working part-time at a gym in California in the middle of the 1980s. They quickly moved in together and purchased their Santa Fe home by the end of the decade.
Perched on a slope overlooking the Rocky Mountains, the expansive Southwestern-style ranch is part of a gated enclave outside the capital city of New Mexico.
According to the local newspaper, The New Mexican, Hackman was a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s and was frequently spotted around town.
He retired over 20 years ago, and aside from attending award events, he was seldom ever spotted on the Hollywood social scene. His was one of the few Hollywood retirements that lasted.
He wrote novels in his senior years.
Hackman and Arakawa were childless together, but Hackman had three children from a previous marriage. The Baltimore Sun reported in 1999 that they had adopted three German shepherds.
In 2020, Hackman told the movie magazine Empire that he and Arakawa enjoyed watching the DVDs she rented.
“We enjoy the straightforward plots that some of the smaller, less expensive movies are able to tell,” he stated.
Early on Thursday, his publicist did not immediately respond to an email.
Reporting from Flagstaff, Arizona, was Fonseca. Contributions were made by Brian Melley and Sylvia Hui in London and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles.