Gene Hackman, His Wife, And Their Dog Found Dead In New Mexico Home

Posted February 27, 2025 by with 6 comments

What the fuck:

Legendary actor, two-time Oscar winner and author Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their home in the Santa Fe Summit community northeast of the city.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed just after midnight Thursday the couple had died, along with their dog.

[Santa Fe New Mexican]

[Variety]

As of late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning, there’s been no cause of death reported for the couple and their dog, and the sheriff says there were no signs of foul play. There will obviously have to be an explanation in the hours ahead. Hackman was 95, but his wife was only 63. Maybe it was carbon monoxide poisoning? Whatever the cause, this is just awful.

Hackman was a two-time Academy Award winner, taking Best Actor for The French Connection and Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven. He was great in dozens of other roles, most memorably (for me) in No Way Out, Mississippi Burning, Hoosiers, The Firm, and The Birdcage, which earned him a SAG award. A very humble Hackman winning at the Oscars in 1972 and 1993:

With the Oscars three days away, I hope they’ll have time to put him in the In Memoriam package. People always get left out, but he was a major star for four decades, so they’ll hopefully edit whatever they’ve already done and add him in. Here’s a clip from The Birdcage:

And his unforgettable work in Mississippi Burning:

It was after midnight here in the U.S. when the news broke, but Sky News in London had this report since it’s already morning there:

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