Oscar Winner Gene Hackman & Wife Found Dead At Their Home

The bodies of acclaimed American actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog have been discovered at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hackman, who had a remarkable career spanning over 60 years, won two Academy Awards for his performances in *The French Connection* and *Unforgiven*.

According to a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office, Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased at their Sunset Trail residence on Wednesday afternoon.

While the investigation is ongoing, authorities currently do not suspect foul play.

Gene Hackman was 95 years old, while his wife was 63.

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Screen Appearances Of Gene Hackman

He gained fame for his role as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller *The French Connection*, which earned him the Oscar for Best Actor. In 1992, he portrayed Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Western *Unforgiven*, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Hackman also received Oscar nominations for his performances in *Mississippi Burning* (1988) as an agent, *I Never Sang for My Father* (1970), and *Bonnie and Clyde* (1967), where he played Buck Barrow, marking his breakthrough role.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office reported: “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.”

Hackman, a celebrated actor, played more than 100 roles, including Lex Luthor in the Superman movies of the 1970s and 1980s.

He also starred in the hit movies Runaway Jury, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, and Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.

In addition to his Oscar wins, Hackman received two Baftas, four Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

His last big screen appearance was as Monroe Cole in Welcome to Mooseport in 2004, after which he retired from Hollywood to live a quieter life in New Mexico.

Early Life Of Gene Hackman

Born in California in 1930, Hackman enlisted in the army after lying about his age at 16, serving for four-and-a-half years. He was stationed in China, Hawai’i, and Japan before being discharged in 1951.

Following his military service, after living and working in New York and studying journalism and television production at the University of Illinois, he decided to move back to California to pursue his acting dream.

Hackman’s journey began at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he formed a lasting friendship with Dustin Hoffman.

“I suppose I wanted to be an actor from the time I was about 10, maybe even younger than that,” he once recalled. “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 also admitted to “wanting to act” but being “always convinced that actors had to be handsome,” a notion fueled by his admiration for Errol Flynn. “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 returned to New York in 1963, performing in Off-Broadway productions and smaller TV roles. It was in the 1970s that he truly made his mark, achieving leading-man status as New York City detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection. From that point on, he became a fixture on the big screen, appearing in films such as the 1972 disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure.

Marriage Life Of Gene Hackman

Hackman and his first wife, Faye Maltese, were married for 30 years and raised three children before divorcing in 1986.

In his later years, he and his second wife, Betsy (a classical pianist), remained out of the public eye, with a rare appearance at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, where he received 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 his shift in focus from acting to 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.”

Source: bbc