Gene Hackman, his wife and dog found dead in their New Mexico home – National | Globalnews.ca
The investigation into the death of Gene Hackman, his wife and dog has found no signs of foul play or gunshot or other wounds, and the gas company is assisting with the probe in a sign that authorities could suspect carbon monoxide poisoning is to blame.
The couple and their dog were found dead during a wellness check Wednesday in their New Mexico home, authorities said Thursday.
Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.
Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare early Wednesday afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said. She said there was no indication that any of them had been shot or had other types of wounds.
The New Mexico Gas Co. is working with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation, spokesperson Tim Korte told The Associated Press.
Chris Ramirez, spokesperson for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, which runs the state’s medical examiner operations, declined to comment on whether any conclusions had been reached on the cause and manner of deaths of Hackman and Arakawa.
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 routinely showed up on Hollywood list of greatest American actors of the 20th century. He could play virtually any kind of role, from comic book villain Lex Luthor in Superman to a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favourite Hoosiers.
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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.
Tributes quickly poured in from Hollywood.
“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,” director Francis Ford Coppola wrote on Instagram.
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 bought their home in Santa Fe.
The large Southwestern-style ranch in a gated community just outside New Mexico’s capital city sits on a hill with views of the Rocky Mountains.
The 2,300 square-foot home on one acre (0.4 hectares) 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 also 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. In 1999 they had adopted three German shepherds, according to the Baltimore Sun.
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 Associated Press email sent to his publicist was not immediately returned early Thursday.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
