Legendary Hollywood Actor, Gene Hackman, Dies Alongside Wife, Dog

Yinka Olatunbosun

Legendary Hollywood actor, Gene Hackman, has been found dead in his Santa Fe, New Mexico home alongside his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, as well as their dog.

Local authorities say no foul play is suspected but an investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the deaths in such sad circumstances.

The Oscar-winning star of “The French Connection,” “The Conversation,” “Superman” and “The Poseidon Adventure” died at the age of 95.

A statement by the Santa Fe New Mexican County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their home in the Santa Fe Summit community northeast of the city.

It quoted the police department as saying: “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday.”

Hackman had lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, since the 1980s and married Arakawa, 63, in 1991.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the couple’s home in a gated community called Old Sunset Trail on Wednesday afternoon to investigate the deaths of two elderly people and a dog. It was unclear whether the deputies were responding to a report of the deaths or if they were making a welfare check at the home.

The deputies discovered the bodies of a man in his 90s and a woman in her 60s, Mendoza initially reported.

Hackman won an Oscar for a leading role in “The French Connection,” a 1971 action movie by William Friedkin, and another for best supporting actor in Clint Eastwood’s 1992 western, “Unforgiven.”

He was also known for playing Lex Luthor in the Superman films of the late 1970s and 1980s, as well as his roles in The Conversation and Mississippi Burning.

The former US Marine appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage, during a lengthy career that started in the early 1960s.

He earned his first Oscar nomination for his breakout role as the brother of bank robber Clyde Barrow in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde.

He is also remembered for playing Captain Frank Ramsey alongside Denzel Washington in the 1995 thriller Crimson Tide.

Hackman’s final film appearance was in 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport, after which he retired from acting and began co-writing adventure novels with friend and underwater archaeologist Daniel Lenihan.

Hackman had three children, Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne, with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017.