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Actor Gene Hackman And His Wife Found Dead In Their Home
The bodies of Oscar-winning American actor Gene Hackman, his spouse Betsy Arakawa, and their dog have been discovered in their residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
During his more than 60-year career, Hackman won two Academy Awards for his work on The Unforgiven and The French Connection.
The county sheriff’s office said deputies had found the 95-year-old actor and Arakawa, 64, deceased on Wednesday afternoon at around 1:45 p.m. at their residence on Sunset Trail.
“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,” said a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico.
During a long career that began in the early 1960s, Hackman, a former Marine with a raspy voice, had appearances on television, the stage, and in over 80 films.
His breakthrough performance as the brother of bank robber Clyde Barrow in the 1967 film “Bonnie and Clyde” won him his first Oscar nomination. Additionally, in 1971, he received a nomination for best supporting actor for “I Never Sang for My Father.”
In filmmaker William Friedkin’s thriller “The French Connection,” he played the rumpled New York detective Popeye Doyle, who is following international drug smugglers. The role guaranteed him fame and an Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 1993, he was again awarded an Oscar for best-supporting actor as a cruel sheriff in Clint Eastwood’s western “Unforgiven.” In 1988, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of an FBI agent in the historical drama “Mississippi Burning.”
Working with a visage that he characterized to the New York Times in 1989 as that of “your everyday mine worker,” Hackman may seem on screen as either amiable or dangerous.
An actor with a method, he developed a role by drawing on his own experiences. His personas, which included Superman’s bitter enemy Lex Luthor, and a small-town basketball coach in the 1986 sports movie “Hoosiers,” were occasionally gritty and brutal.
He claimed the roles offered to him were too grandfatherly and retired in his seventies. In 2004, he played a significant role in the comedy “Welcome to Mooseport.”
Hackman, who lived outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was married twice and had three children with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese, who passed away in 2017. The children were Christopher, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne.
He wedded Arakawa in 1991.
The actor was one of the best-loved stars in Hollywood. May his soul and that of his wife rest in peace, Amen.
Gentle Reminder: Be careful not to assume that your strength is the reason you are standing. The one whom God keeps is the one who is kept.
Chychy Jonas
