Two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, 64 and their dog were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their home outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office says.
In an email to CBS News early Thursday, the office said, “Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time. However, (the) exact cause of death has not been determined.”
“This is an active and ongoing investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office,” the statement added.
Hackman was a consummate actor renowned for playing complicated figures in such classics as “The French Connection,” “The Conversation” and “Unforgiven,” and who also delighted superhero fans as the comical villain Lex Luthor in three “Superman” films.
Hailed as one of the best actors of the era before retiring from the screen in 2004, Hackman moved easily among genres, from heart-wrenching family stories (“I Never Sang for My Father”), crime dramas (“Bonnie and Clyde,” “Mississippi Burning”), thrillers (“The Conversation,” “No Way Out”), and triumphant tales of sports (“Hoosiers”) to comedies (“Get Shorty,” “The Royal Tenenbaums”).
Rough-hewn and flinty, a movie star without stereotypical movie-star looks, Hackman gave even his humorous roles a slightly sinister, unpredictable edge.
