(Headline USA) Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities said Thursday.
Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.
Hackman was found dead in a mudroom and Arakawa was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.
Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds.
The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff’s detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.
The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.
He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for The French Connection in 1972 and”Unforgiven two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.
Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had decamped to Santa Fe.
Their Southwestern-style ranch on Old Sunset Trail sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the Rocky Mountains.
The 2,300 square-foot home on one acre was built in 2000 and had an estimated market value of a little over $1 million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records. It is modest compared to the sprawling estate next door, which was valued at $7.9 million.
Hackman co-wrote three novels, starting with the swashbuckler, Wake of the Perdido Star, with Daniel Lenihan in 1999, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. He then penned two by himself, concluding with Pursuit in 2013, about a female police officer on the tail of a predator.
In his first couple decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the historic state capital, which known as an artist enclave, tourism destination and retreat for celebrities.
He served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.
In recent years, he was far less visible, though even the most mundane outings caught the attention of the press. The Independent wrote about him attending a show at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in 2018. The New York Post reported on him pumping gas, doing yard work and getting a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s in 2023.
Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.
Hackman had three children from a previous marriage, but he and Arakawa had no children together. They were known for having German shepherds.
Hackman told the film magazine Empire in 2020 that he and Arakawa liked to watch DVDs she rented.
“We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” he said.
An email sent to his publicist was not immediately returned early Thursday.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
