SANTA FE: Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead 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, was found dead with his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog when deputies preformed a welfare check at the home around 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.
The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as both villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.
He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven” 21 years apart. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.
The couple’s home is in a gated community just outside New Mexico’s capital city. Hackman moved to the area in the 1980s, where he was often seen around town and served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.
Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.
In his later years, he wrote novels from the hilltop ranch that provided a view of the Rocky Mountains.
An email sent to his publicist was not immediately returned early Thursday.