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.
He was nominated for five Oscars, winning for both Unforgiven twenty years later and The French Connection in 1972. Four days prior to 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.
Situated on a hill in a gated community with vistas of the Rocky Mountains, the expansive ranch on Old Sunset Trail is designed in the Southwestern style.
Hackman began writing novels around the end of his acting career. He and Daniel Lenihan co-wrote three, beginning with the swashbuckler Wake of the Perdido Star (1999). After that, he wrote two of his own books, the last of which being Pursuit (2013), which followed a female police officer who was pursuing a predator.
During his first few decades in Santa Fe, Hackman was frequently spotted in the ancient capital city, which is known for being a haven for celebrities and an artistic community.
According to The New Mexican, the local newspaper, he was a board member of the Georgia O. Keeffe Museum in the 1990s.
He was less noticeable in recent years, yet the media covered even his most ordinary trips to Santa Fe. In 2018, he went to a performance at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, according to an article in The Independent. In 2023, the New York Post included an article about him grabbing a Wendy’s chicken sandwich, doing yard labor, and pumping gas.
He retired from acting 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.
Hackman and Arakawa were childless together, but Hackman had three children from a previous marriage. Their German shepherds were well-known.
In 2020, Hackman told the movie magazine Empire that he and Arakawa enjoyed watching the DVDs she rented.
According to him, we enjoy the straightforward plots that some small, low-budget movies are able to tell.
Early on Thursday, his publicist did not immediately respond to an email.
The Associated Press
