Gene Hackman, an Oscar-winning actor, and his wife were discovered dead at home

Gene Hackman, a veteran Hollywood star, and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead at their Santa Fe home. 

Authorities have verified that Oscar-winning American actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog were discovered dead at their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. 

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a statement that Gene Hackman and his wife were discovered dead at their Sunset Trail home on Wednesday afternoon. Although the inquiry is ongoing, we do not currently think that foul play had a role. 

The 95-year-old Hackman won two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, four Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award throughout his more than 60-year career. His performance as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection (1971) earned him the Oscar for Best Actor. He went on to win Best Supporting Actor for his depiction of Little Bill Daggett in Unforgiven (1992). He was also nominated for an Oscar for his performances in Mississippi Burning (1988), I Never Sang for My Father (1970), and Bonnie and Clyde (1967). 

Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza informed local media that the couple had died; the Press Association subsequently confirmed the information. Betsy Arakawa, Hackman’s wife, was sixty-three. 

Neither the cause of death nor the projected time of death have been disclosed by the authorities. All I can say is that we are awaiting the approval of a search warrant while conducting a preliminary death investigation, said Sheriff Mendoza. 

With more than 100 parts under his belt, Hackman was considered by many to be among Hollywood’s best actors. In addition to starring in Runaway Jury, The Conversation, and The Royal Tenenbaums, he is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the Superman movies of the 1970s and 1980s. His final film role was in the 2004 film Welcome to Mooseport. 

Hackman, who was born in 1930 in California, joined the army at the age of sixteen after lying about his age and served for four and a half years. His love of theater brought him to California’s Pasadena Playhouse, where he made friends with a young Dustin Hoffman. 

“I was trained to be an actor, not a star,” Hackman reportedly remarked when looking back on his career. I wasn’t taught to handle celebrity, agents, attorneys, and the media; I was trained to perform parts.
Additionally, he acknowledged that he had trouble seeing himself on screen, saying, “Watching myself on screen really costs me a lot emotionally.” When I consider myself, I feel very young, but then I see this elderly man with the drooping chins, the weary eyes, the thinning hairline, and everything else. 

The circumstances surrounding the couple’s deaths are still being looked at by authorities.