Actor Gene Hackman, Wife Betsy Arakawa Found Dead in Their US Home

Two-time Oscar winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead in their home in New Mexico in the US, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting the Santa Fe New Mexican website.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told the publication that the couple had died along with their dog, and that the initial assessment suggested no foul play.

“All I can say is that we are in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant,” the sheriff told the Santa Fe New Mexican, adding, “I want to assure the community and neighborhood that there’s no immediate danger to anyone.”

Hackman, a former Marine appeared who made appearances in over 80 films as well as on TV, had won Academy Awards for the violent 1971 drug saga “The French Connection” and the 1992 western “Unforgiven”.

The actor, whose lengthy career started in the early 1960s, lived outside Santa Fe in New Mexico, and was married twice with three children. He had married 63-year-old pianist Arakawa in 1991.

In the 1990s, around the time he and Arakawa made Santa Fe their home, Hackman underwent angioplasty due to congestive heart failure. The actor, however, continued to work on-screen for 14 years, according to Variety.

Hackman also penned three novels with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan: “Wake of the Perdido Star” (1999), “Justice for None” (2004) and “Escape From Andersonville” (2008). His 2011 work, “Payback at Morning Peak,” was a solo effort.