Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, wife and dog found dead at home

Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, at the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Jan. 19, 2003

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities said yesterday.

Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.

Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday (yesterday, Macau time), Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.

The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” in 1972 and “Unforgiven” two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.

Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had bought their home in Santa Fe.

The large Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains.

Hackman co-wrote three novels, starting with the swashbuckler, “Wake of the Perdido Star,” with Daniel Lenihan in 1999, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. He then penned two by himself, concluding with “Pursuit” in 2013, about a female police officer on the tail of a predator.

In his first couple decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic capital city famous as an enclave for artists, a destination for tourists and as a retreat for celebrities.

He served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.

In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press, the newspaper reported. The Independent wrote about him attending a show at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in 2018. The New York Post reported on him pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s in 2023.

Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage, but he and Arakawa had no children together. They were known for having German shepherds.

Hackman told the film magazine Empire in 2020 that he and Arakawa liked to watch DVDs she rented.

“We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” he said.

An email sent to his publicist was not immediately returned yesterday. MDT/AP