LAST UPDATE | 27 Feb

TWO TIME OSCAR-WINNING actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead yesterday at their New Mexico home in the US, in an incident that police are calling “suspicious.”

Hackman’s body was found in a mud room, and his wife was found next to a space heater in a bathroom, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives said in a search warrant.

Police initially said they do not believe that foul play was a factor at this time and Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman, added there was no indication that any of them had been shot or had other types of wounds.

Santa Fe county sheriff Adan Mendoza did not provide a cause of death for the couple, who had been married since 1991.

Mendoza told a press conference that an initial inspection by the local fire department had not found high levels of the gas, but no conclusions had been drawn yet.

He added that there was no sign of a struggle at the home.

“This is an investigation, so we’re keeping everything on the table,” he said.

I think the autopsy is going to tell us a lot and any evidence that we collect.

A gas company is assisting the investigation into the death of US actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, amid reports suggesting the couple died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

The person who reported the deaths found the door of Hackman’s home unlocked and open, and pills scattered next to Arakawa’s body, which was found in the bathroom with a space heater near to her head.

It appeared Arakawa had been dead “for some time,” with the body in a state of decomposition.

Hackman’s daughter Elizabeth Jean has said that carbon monoxide poisoning may be to blame.

Hackman’s daughters Elizabeth and Leslie, and his granddaughter Annie, said they will miss the actor “sorely” and are “devastated by the loss”.

A statement to the PA news agency said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy.

“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

Initial police statement

Earlier, a statement from the county sheriff’s office said there is an “active investigation” into the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa, aged 95 and 63 respectively.

The police department said: “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.”

Local paper the Sante Fe New Mexican reported that Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the news just after midnight local time (7am Irish time) and that the couple’s dog was also found deceased. 

Mendoza said there was no immediate indication of foul play but did not provide a cause of death or say when the couple might have died. 

Hackman won Oscars for his roles in crime thriller The French Connection (1971) and western Unforgiven (1992). Widely regarded among the greatest actors of his generation, Hackman retired in 2004 and never returned to the big screen. 

A prolific star of some of Hollywood’s best-known films in a career spanning five decades, some of his other best-loved roles were in films such as Mississippi Burning, The Poseidon Adventure, Hoosiers, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State and the 1970s/80s Superman series. 

Prior to his acting career, Hackman grew up in Illinois and enlisted in the US military at the age of 16, spending time in China and Japan. 

Hackman married Arakawa, a Hawaii-born classical pianist, in 1991 and the pair moved to a scenic hilltop house in Sante Fe, New Mexico. The pair lived a relatively private life compared to Hollywood stars of his level of fame. 

Hackman had three children from his first marriage to Faye Maltese, whom he was married to for 30 years until 1986. 

Speaking in 2020 about his retirement and his career, Hackman described the “business part of show business” as “kinda wicked” and difficult in his older years, adding that he much preferred performing: 

When I’m actually on the set or on a stage, actually doing the work, I loved that process and I loved the creative process of trying to bring a character to life.

“And then, when you’re actually shooting or performing, there is a kind of a feeling that comes over you, a confidence and kind of a wonderful, washed-over feeling of wellbeing, if you will. When it’s going well!”

Tributes

Hollywood actors and directors have been paying tribute to Hackman as the US woke up to news of his death. 

Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, who worked with Hackman on 1974′s The Conversation, said he was “inspiring and magnificent”. 

Coppola and Hackman on the set of The Conversation. Instagram Instagram

“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration. Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution,” Coppola wrote on social media. 

Viola Davis said that Hackman was “one of the greats”: 

Loved you in everything! The Conversation, The French Connection, The Poseidon Adventure, Unforgiven—tough yet vulnerable. You were one of the greats. God bless those who loved you. Rest well, sir.

Director Paul Feig said that Hackman was “an inspiration to so many of us who love movies”. 

“So many brilliant roles. His performance in The Conversation alone changed the way I looked at acting and what actors could bring to a role. Such an amazing career. RIP Mr. Hackman,” he wrote.