Oscar winner Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa found dead with their dog at New Mexico home

Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakwa were found dead with their dog at their home on Thursday, New Mexico authorities confirmed.

Updated on: Feb 27, 2025, 14:30:37 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman has died at the age of 95. According to reports, the veteran actor and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead at their home in New Mexico's Santa Fe on Thursday.

Gene Hackman with his wife Betsy Arakawa

Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakwa's deaths

Santa Fe Sherriff's Office told Sky News: "We do not believe foul play was a factor in their deaths however, exact cause of death has not been determined at this time." The report stated that the couple died along with their dog. No cause of death has been revealed by the authorities so far. Reuters reported that the local police were not immediately available for comment.

Gene Hackman had been retired from acting for two decades and lived in New Mexico with his wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, who was a classical pianist.

Gene Hackman's legendary career

Gene Hackman was an intense character actor who won Academy Awards for the violent 1971 drug saga The French Connection and the 1992 western Unforgiven. One of the rare Hollywood stars to get critical acclaim in independent films and appear in blockbusters, to a generation, he was also known for playing Lex Luthor in the original Superman films starring Christopher Reeve.

The former Marine appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage, during a lengthy career that started in the early 1960s. Apart from his two Oscars, he also won two BAFTA Awards and four Golden Globes. He retired from acting in 2004 with Welcome to Mooseport being his final screen appearance

Gene Hackman was married twice and had three children. His first marriage to Faye Maltese lasted 30 years from 1956 to 86. Hackman married Arakawa in 1991. Before his film career, he had served in the United States Marine Corps for four years from 1947-51.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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