Legendary Hollywood actor Gene Hackman was found dead in his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, alongside his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, according to Santa Fe New Mexican, citing the police. The Santa Fe County police discovered the bodies of the two-time Oscar winner, 95, and Arakawa, 63—his wife of 34 years—along with their dog on Wednesday afternoon.
No foul play is suspected, and the cause of death has not been announced.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the news on Thursday.
Hackman was one of the greatest actors of all time, known for his roles in The French Connection, Bonnie and Clyde, and The Royal Tenenbaums.
Born in California on January 30, 1930, Eugene Hackman and his family moved from town to town before eventually settling in Danville, Illinois.
Hackman recalled that his father, Eugene, waved goodbye to the family when he was 13 years old.
“I didn’t realize how much a small gesture could mean,” Hackman told GQ in 2011. “Maybe that’s why I became an actor.”
Hackman enlisted in the Marines at 16, serving four and a half years in China, Japan, and Hawaii before attempting to earn a degree in journalism and television production at the University of Illinois.
He abandoned those plans to pursue a serious acting career, enrolling at Pasadena Playhouse in California at the age of 27, where he met 19-year-old Dustin Hoffman.
“There was something about him—like he had a secret. You just knew he was going to do something,” Hackman recalled to Vanity Fair in 2004.
They formed a tight-knit group with Robert Duvall and tried to launch their careers in New York.
“There was a kind of Jack Kerouac feeling at that time—On the Road—kids just wanting to have a good time and experience things. It had nothing to do with success—they just wanted to try this and see if it worked,” Hackman told Vanity Fair.
In 1964, at age 34, Hackman got his big break on Broadway in Any Wednesday, which led to a star-making turn in Lilith (1964) alongside Warren Beatty.
When Beatty was casting Bonnie and Clyde (1967), he chose Hackman to play his older brother. Hackman received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor—one of five Academy Award nominations in his career.
In 1972, he won the Best Actor Oscar for The French Connection, a film that cemented his status as a leading man. The police thriller featured one of the greatest car chase scenes of all time, with death-defying stunts spanning 26 blocks of Brooklyn—all shot illegally. Surprisingly, everyone managed to walk away from the set without a scratch.
“Filmmaking has always been risky—both physically and emotionally—but I chose to see that movie as a moment in a career full of hits and misses,” Hackman told The Post in a rare 2021 interview, marking the 50th anniversary of The French Connection.
“The film certainly helped my career, and I’m grateful for that.”
After The French Connection—which he claimed to have watched only once—Hackman went on to star in Young Frankenstein (1974), Night Moves (1975), Bite the Bullet (1975), Superman (1978), and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992), which earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
He also headlined blockbusters, portraying a wayward reverend in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), a struggling high school basketball coach in Hoosiers (1986), a cunning tax lawyer in The Firm (1993), and an eccentric father in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
When presenting him with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2003, Michael Caine praised Hackman as “one of the greatest actors” he had ever known.
“In Hollywood, Gene Hackman is known as an actor’s actor, but in my house, he’s known as a comedian’s comedian,” joked Robin Williams, who co-presented the award.
“Whether it’s comedy or drama, you’re the most talented actor in America. You’re also a truly superhuman being,” he added.
After more than 100 credits, Hackman took his final bow in Welcome to Mooseport (2004), retiring from the screen—and from stunts—in New Mexico.
“The breaking point was actually a stress test I took in New York,” he told Empire in 2009. “The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the condition to handle stress anymore.”
Instead, he opted for quieter pursuits, such as “low-budget movies,” painting, fishing, and writing.
He co-authored adventure novels like Justice For None and Wake of the Perdido Star with his friend, underwater archaeologist Daniel Lenihan.
“It’s very relaxing for me,” Hackman said about writing. “I don’t see myself as a great writer, but I enjoy the process a lot.”
Though “stressful,” it was “a different kind of stress,” he admitted.
