Legendary actor Gene Hackman has died. Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were all found dead in their home in the US state of New Mexico. Hackman was 95.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the passing just after midnight Thursday local time. He said there was no immediate indication of foul play, but a cause of death hasn’t been provided. An investigation is ongoing.
The sheriff said: “All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant.”
Hackman is a Hollywood icon. The famed former marine turned character actor appeared in over 80 films and won two Oscars for his role as Detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in William Friedkin’s “The French Connection” in 1971 and Sheriff ‘Little Bill’ Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s famed western “Unforgiven” in 1992.
His career stretched from the 1960s through to the early 2000s and included countless memorable roles from Lex Luthor in Richard Donner’s “Superman” and several sequels, and Harry Caul in Coppola’s “The Conversation,” to Coach Norman Dale in “Hoosiers” and Senator Keeley in Mike Nichols’ “The Birdcage”.
He scored Oscar nominations for this roles as FBI Special Agent Rupert Anderson in “Mississippi Burning,” Gene Garrison in Gil Cates’ “I Never Sang for My Father,” and Buck Barrow in “Bonnie and Clyde”.
To an older generation he was known for his roles in “The Poseidon Adventure,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “Downhill Racer,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Uncommon Valor,” “Night Moves,” “Lucky Lady,” “Reds,” “No Way Out,” “Narrow Margin,” “Class Action,” “Loose Cannons” and “Postcards from the Edge”.
To a younger generation he had memorable turns in “The Firm,” “Enemy of the State,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Quick and the Dead,” “Heartbreakers,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Heist,” “Get Shorty,” “Wyatt Earp,” “Absolute Power,” “Hoosiers,” “Antz,” “The Replacements,” “The Mexican,” “Behind Enemy Lines” and “Runaway Jury”.
Hackman was married twice and had three children. He and Arakawa, a pianist, were together for over 33 years.
Source: ABC
