Actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, have been found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home, police said.
Santa Fe County police discovered the lifeless bodies of the two-time Oscar winner, 95, and the classical pianist, 63, on Wednesday.
The couple, who had been married since 1991, were found dead alongside their dog.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the news to the Santa Fe New Mexican on Thursday, saying no foul play is suspected.
Mendoza added that there is no official cause of death at this time.
The iconic actor, best known for his roles in “The French Connection,” where one of the most exciting and iconic car chases in the history of cinema was featured, “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Royal Tenenbaums,” celebrated his 95th birthday last month.
Gene Hackman quit acting in 2004
While he was known to shy away from the spotlight in recent years, Hackman had quit acting back in 2004. His last project was “Welcome to Mooseport.”
On July 7, 2004, Hackman gave a rare interview to Larry King, where he announced that he had no future film projects lined up and believed his acting career was over. In 2008, while promoting his third novel, he confirmed that he had retired from acting.
Speaking on his retirement in 2009, Hackman said:
“The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York. The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress.”
When asked during a GQ interview in 2011 if he would ever come out of retirement to do one more film, he said he might consider it “if I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people.” He briefly came out of retirement to narrate two documentaries related to the Marine Corps: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima (2016) and We, the Marines (2017).
Together with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan, Hackman wrote three historical fiction novels: Wake of the Perdido Star (1999), a sea adventure of the 19th century; Justice for None (2004), a Depression-era tale of murder; and Escape from Andersonville (2008) about a prison escape during the American Civil War. His first solo effort, a story of love and revenge set in the Old West titled Payback at Morning Peak, was released in 2011. His last novel Pursuit, a police thriller, followed in 2013.
He and his wife subsequently traded their Los Angeles home for a new spot in New Mexico, where they had resided ever since.
Hackman is survived by three children, Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne, with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese.
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