Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, along with their dog, were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico released a statement saying: "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." The bodies were not identified until Thursday morning.
According to ABC News, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Public Information Officer Denise Avala said the couple was found during a welfare check after a neighbor called in concerned about their well-being.
Hackman just celebrated his 95th birthday last month. He and Arakawa, 63, were married for 34 years.
Hackman, a two-time Academy Award-winner, is best known for his roles in The French Connection, Unforgiven, and The Royal Tenenbaums. He was last seen on screen with Ray Romano in the 2004 satirical comedy Welcome to Mooseport.
Upon the completion of the film, Hackman retired from acting and pivoted to become a writer. He co-wrote three historical fiction novels with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan: Wake of the Perdido Star in 1999, Justice for None in 2004, and Escape from Andersonville in 2008. He also wrote two novels by himself, the first in 2011 about a story of love and revenge set in the Old West titled Payback at Morning Peak. His final novel was a police thriller, Pursuit, which was released in 2013.
During his second career, Hackman lived a private life and rarely gave interviews.
After divorcing his first wife, Faye Maltese, in 1986, Hackman met Arakawa, who was a classically trained pianist. The two married in 1991 and lived in their Santa Fe home. Arakawa became the stepmother of Hackman's three children: Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne Hackman.
Not much is known about Arakawa, as she lived a very private life. She had no social media presence, and Hackman rarely talked about her in interviews, with the exception of explaining that she had helped him improve his writing. ~Ryan Donahue
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Surprised..but also 95 and it was going to happen at some point. Way to overshadow Michelle Trachtenberg, Gene lol. Honestly, if there are old guard stars, he was one of the few still at the top. I don't know a movie that I didn't absolutely think he was awesome in. As a big Superman fan, I LOVED his Lex. He was a guy that you could like one second and be totally afraid of the next. See Crimson Tide and the blossoming friendship with Denzel and it turned instantly to two people not necessarily enemies, but people with vastly opposing views on a topic that could have destroyed the world. I think I need to have a Hackman movie marathon now.
Oh Gene Hackman, what a fantastic actor! I became aware of him at age ten, when I went to see 'The Poseidon Adventure'. Then I just kept watching every new movie he was in. He really had the audience engaged with his characters. When I discovered he was a writer, I purchased one of his books, a Western, and I liked it. I'm very sad for them both, that it wasn't a natural way that they passed. Thank you Gene Hackman, for all the years of great entertainment! My sincerest condolences to the family. â¤ï¸