The bodies of Oscar-winning American actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog have been found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, residence.
Hackman won two Academy Awards for his work on 'The French Connection' and 'The Unforgiven' over his more than 60-year career.
"We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail. This is an active investigation - however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor," read a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico.
His portrayal of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in William Friedkin's 1971 thriller 'The French Connection' earned him the Oscar for best actor. In 1992, he won another for best supporting actor, this time for his portrayal of Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood's Western film 'Unforgiven'.
Other Oscar nominations include his breakout performance as Buck Barrow in the 1967 film 'Bonnie and Clyde', as well as his part as the agent in 'Mississippi Burning' (1988), and 'I Never Sang for My Father' (1970).
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office reported: "On 26 February, 2025 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64 and a dog were found deceased."
Hackman, a highly acclaimed actor, portrayed Lex Luthor in the 1970s and 1980s Superman films, among more than 100 other roles. He also starred in Wes Anderson's 'The Royal Tenenbaums', Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Conversation', and the popular film 'Runaway Jury'.
In addition to his Oscars, he received a Screen Actors Guild Award, four Golden Globes, and two Baftas.
Following his final big-screen role as Monroe Cole in 'Welcome to Mooseport' in 2004, he left Hollywood to live a more sedate life in New Mexico.
Hackman was born in 1930 in California and served for four and a half years in the army after lying about his age at 16. Before being discharged in 1951, he served in China, Hawaii, and Japan.
After serving in the military, he lived and worked in New York, attended the University of Illinois to study television production and journalism, and then returned to California to follow his acting career. Hackman became friends with a young Dustin Hoffman when he joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California.
"I suppose I wanted to be an actor from the time I was about 10, maybe even younger than that," he once said. "Recollections of early movies that I had seen and actors that I admired like James Cagney, Errol Flynn, those kind of romantic action guys.
"When I saw those actors, I felt I could do that. But I was in New York for about eight years before I had a job. I sold ladies shoes, polished leather furniture, drove a truck.
"I think that if you have it in you and you want it bad enough, you can do it."
He added that he "wanted to act" but had "always been convinced that actors had to be handsome".
"That came from the days when Errol Flynn was my idol. I'd come out of a theatre and be startled when I looked in a mirror because I didn't look like Flynn. I felt like him."
In 1963, he returned to New York and began doing small TV parts and Off-Broadway shows. He also started to establish himself in the 1970s, playing the role of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a detective in New York City, in 'The French Connection'.
He soon started to appear frequently on the big screen in films like 'The Poseidon Adventure', a disaster movie from 1972.
After 30 years of marriage and raising three kids together, Hackman and his first wife, Faye Maltese, separated in 1986.
With the exception of a rare public appearance at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, where he received the Cecil B. deMille award, he and his second wife, Betsy, a classical pianist, remained out of the spotlight in their final years.
In 2008, he told Reuters: "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."
Additionally, he clarified that he was shifting his concentration from the big screen to his love of writing novels.
"I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press," he once said.
"It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on-screen. I think of myself, and feel like I'm quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that."
