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Gene Hackman and his wife found dead at their home 16 minutes ago Share Save Paul Glynn Culture reporter Getty Images Gene Hackman & wife Betsy Arakawa during The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards – Arrivals at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United StatesGetty Images Oscar-winning US actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In a career spanning more than six decades, Hackman received two Academy Awards, two Baftas, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award. A statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico 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.” ADVERTISING Hackman was 95, and his wife 63. Gene Hackman obituary: One of Hollywood’s greatest ‘tough guys’ Hackman won the best actor Oscar for his role as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection, and another for best supporting actor for playing Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Western film Unforgiven in 1992. His other Oscar-nominated roles were in 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde – as Buck Barrow in his breakthrough role – and 1970’s I Never Sang for My Father, as well as playing the agent in Mississippi Burning (1988). The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office told the BBC: “On 26 February, 2025 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64 and a dog were found deceased.” Getty Images Gene HackmanGetty Images Much celebrated actor Hackman played more than 100 roles including Lex Luthor in Superman movies in the 1970s and 1980s. He also starred in the hit movies Runaway Jury and Francis Ford Copalla’s The Conversation, as well as Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums. His last big screen appearance came as Monroe Cole in Welcome to Mooseport in 2004. Born in California in 1930, Hackman had enlisted in the army after lying about his age at 16, serving for four-and-a-half years. Following his military service, after briefly living in New York he decided to pursue acting. In order to pursue his chosen career, Hackman joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he befriended a young Dustin Hoffman. “I suppose I wanted to be an actor from the time I was about 10, maybe even younger than that,” he once said. “Recollections of early movies that I had seen and actors that I admired like James Cagney, Errol Flynn, those kind of romantic action guys. “When I saw those actors, I felt I could do that. But I was in New York for about eight years before I had a job. I sold ladies shoes, polished leather furniture, drove a truck. “I think that if you have it in you and you want it bad enough, you can do it.” He added that he” wanted to act” but had “always been convinced that actors had to be handsome”. “That came from the days when Errol Flynn was my idol. I’d come out of a theatre and be startled when I looked in a mirror because I didn’t look like Flynn. I felt like him.” He moved back to New York in 1963, performing in Off-Broadway productions and smaller TV roles. He began to make his name in name in the 1970s, becoming a leading man as New York City detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection. He became a fixture on the big screen in the likes of 1972 disaster film The Poseidon Adventure. Hackman and his first wife, Faye Maltese, were together for 30 years and raised three children before getting divorced in 1986. In his later years, he and his second wife, Betsy – a classical pianist – stayed out of the spotlight, bar for a rare public appearance together at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, where he won the Cecil B. deMille award. In 2008 he told Reuters: “I haven’t held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I’m not going to act any longer. “I’ve been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don’t want to do it any longer.” He also explained he was focusing his attentions on his passion for writing novels. “I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press,” he once said. “It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on-screen. I think of myself, and feel like I’m quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that.
Gene Hackman, the esteemed actor renowned for his roles in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven,” was found deceased alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and their dog at their residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday afternoon. Hackman was 95 years old, and Arakawa was 63. Authorities have stated that there are no indications of foul play, though investigations are ongoing.
Born in California in 1930, Hackman’s illustrious career spanned over six decades, earning him two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, and four Golden Globes. He was celebrated for his versatility, portraying a wide range of characters from the determined detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in “The French Connection” to the complex sheriff in “Unforgiven.” In addition to his acting career, Hackman co-authored five novels, showcasing his literary talents.
Hackman and Arakawa, a classical pianist, were married in 1991 and had maintained a private life in Santa Fe since his retirement from acting in 2004. Their partnership was marked by mutual support and a shared appreciation for the arts.
The couple’s unexpected passing has left the entertainment community and fans worldwide mourning the loss of a cinematic legend and his beloved spouse.