By Sandra Queiroz
Oscar winner Gene Hackman and his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday, alongside their dog. Hackman was 95 and his wife 63 years old.
The cause of death isn’t yet determined. Police say there’s no foul play involved but they are investigating the circumstances of their deaths.
A brief statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff said: “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence in Sunset Trail.
“This is an active investigation – however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.”
Hackman was married twice and he’s survived by one son and two daughters – Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne – with his ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who died in 2017.
Gene and Faye were married for 30 years before getting divorced in 1986. He married Betsy Arakawa in 1991.
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Gene Hackman’s life
Hackman was born in California in 1930 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps when he was just 16, after lying about his age.
He served four and half years as a field-radio operator and was stationed in China, Hawaii and Japan.
After 1956 he studied journalism and TV production at Illinois University.
He lived and worked in New York before deciding to move back to California to pursue a career in acting, something he dreamed of since he was 10 years old.
The first Oscar nomination came in 1967 as the best supporting actor in “Bonnie and Clyde”.
In 1970 he was nominated again for the same category for his performance in “I Never Sang For My Father”.
Best acting award success
The best acting award happened in 1971 for the role of Jimmy Popeye in the “French Connection”.
In 1992 he won his second Oscar in “Unforgiven,” this time for best supporting actor.
During his career he also won one award from the Screen Actors Guild and four Golden Globes for his work as best supporting actor in Clint Eastwood film “Unforgiven”, two for best acting in “French Connection”, in 1971, and a fourth in “The Royal Tenenbaums”, in 2001. He received two Baftas, one in 1973 for “French Connection” and another in 1982 for “Unforgiven”.
In 2008 he told Reuters he was advised not to announce the end of his acting career, “in case some really wonderful part comes up, but I really don’t want to do it any longer”.
He explained he wanted to pursue his passion for writing novels.
On July 7, 2024, in an interview with Larry King, he announced that he had no film projects lined up and he believed his acting career was over.
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