Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their home in New Mexico, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office told CNN. He was 95.
Their cause of death has not been confirmed but it is not believed to be foul play, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila told CNN Thursday morning.
Deputies responded to a welfare check request at the home around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday and found Hackman, Arakawa and a dog deceased, Womack-Avila said. An investigation is ongoing, police said.
CNN has reached out to Hackman’s representatives.
Hackman’s performances in such films as “The French Connection,” “Hoosiers,” “Unforgiven,” and “The Firm” elevated character roles to leading-man levels.
Hackman’s best roles were often of conflicted authority figures or surprisingly clever white-collar villains, such as the iconic evil villain Lex Luthor in the “Superman” film series in the 1970s and 80s. Many held a hint – sometimes more than a hint – of menace.
Gene Hackman in “The French Connection.” – Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
He won an Oscar for his portrayal of New York cop Popeye Doyle in 1971’s “The French Connection,” a detective who gets his man but at a high cost. His surveillance expert in 1974’s “The Conversation” is single-minded to the point of obsession, losing all perspective.
He won his second Oscar for his performance as Little Bill Daggett, the violent sheriff in Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film, “Unforgiven.”
Fellow celebrities and fans have begun sharing tributes on social media for the late Hollywood legend.
Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola, who worked with Hackman in “The Conversation,” posted on Threads: “The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration.”
“A great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution,” Coppola wrote.
Actor and writer George Takei called Hackman “one of the true giants of the screen,” in a social media post.
“Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it. He could be everyone and no one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe,” Takei wrote. “He will be missed, but his work will live on forever.”
Hackman’s death comes just days before the Academy Awards on Sunday.
Hackman was 36 before he broke through in 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde,” a role he got after losing the part of Mr. Robinson in “The Graduate.” Before that, he’d served in the Marines, scuffled in California and New York – sometimes with a roommate, “Graduate” star Dustin Hoffman – and worked odd jobs, including truck driver and doorman.
He retired at 74 and lived in Santa Fe in recent decades with Arakawa, a former classical pianist, largely staying out of the public eye.
Hackman had three children, whom he shared with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Todd Leopold and CNN’s Alex Stambaugh contributed to this report.
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