
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their New Mexico home, local law enforcement said Thursday, as officials—who referred to their deaths as “suspicious”—reported finding Arakawa with pills scattered on a nearby counter.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Hackman, 95, Arakawa, 64, and one of their dogs, a German shepherd, were found dead when police entered their home for a welfare check at about 1:45 p.m. local time Wednesday, Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila told Forbes.</p>



<p>No one else was inside the home and no foul play is suspected, according to the sheriff’s office.</p>



<p>Deputies were sent to Hackman’s home just outside of Santa Fe after a concerned neighbor called about the couple, the sheriff’s office told local TV affiliate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-in-santa-fe-home/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">KOB</a>, and Sheriff Adan Mendoza&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/us/gene-hackman-wife-dead-new-mexico.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;the New York Times an associate of Hackman and his family placed an emergency call after they discovered their bodies.</p>



<p>Two alive dogs were also found within the home, Mendoza said.</p>



<p>Hackman was found on the floor in the home’s mud room—a space where shoes are left before entering a house—while Arakawa was found lying on her side in a bathroom, where unspecified pills were scattered on a nearby counter by an opened prescription bottle,&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/actor-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-home-sheriff/story?id=119242578" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according&nbsp;</a>to ABC News, citing a search warrant affidavit.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-was-gene-hackman-s-cause-of-death">What Was Gene Hackman’s Cause Of Death?</h2>



<p>Details about how Hackman and Arakawa died were not disclosed, but the search warrant affidavit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/us/gene-hackman-wife-dead-new-mexico.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reportedly</a>&nbsp;said their deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation” because of “circumstances surrounding” the scene. Elizabeth Jean Hackman, Hackman’s daughter,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tmz.com/2025/02/27/gene-hackman-family-suspects-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-death/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;TMZ that while law enforcement is unsure about their cause of death, she believes they likely died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Both the Santa Fe City Fire Department and the New Mexico Gas Company found no signs of carbon monoxide leaks within the home, ABC News reported. The search warrant affidavit also indicated Hackman appeared to have fallen suddenly and both he and Arakawa—whose body showed signs of decomposition—“showed obvious signs of death.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">Big Number</h2>



<p>2. That is the total number of Academy Awards Hackman won in his career, including “Best Actor” for his leading role in the 1971 action and crime drama “The French Connection” and “Best Supporting Actor” for his work in the 1993 western “Unforgiven.” In total, Hackman was nominated for an Oscar five times.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">Crucial Quote</h2>



<p>Director Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Hackman in the 1974 film ‘The Conversation,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.threads.net/@francisfordcoppola/post/DGkjPl-xAEx?xmt=AQGzLsFSfidFMp1QIdylndCN6DGhgrBLZ6zfeXzs1n01Unc" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">paid tribute to the actor</a>&nbsp;on Threads, saying: “The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.” On X, Edgar Wright&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/edgarwright/status/1895036854472450072" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">hailed</a>&nbsp;Hackman as “The greatest…” Star Trek actor George Takei&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1895044356848918793" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">tweeted</a>: “We have lost one of the true giants of the screen. Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it. He could be everyone and no one, a towering presence or an everyday Joe.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Hackman, an actor who starred in films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/19/magazine/hollywood-s-uncommon-everyman.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reportedly</a>&nbsp;met Arakawa in the mid-1980s as she worked at a California gym. Arakawa, a classically trained pianist from Hawaii, moved in with Hackman just outside of Sante Fe near the Rocky Mountains. They built a new 2,300-square-foot home in 2000 with a market value of just over $1 million, the Associated Press&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gene-hackman-found-dead-f6c106e92987aeaaab7b35c1b956a5c8" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>. Hackman, who largely remained out of the public eye since his retirement, had three children—including Elizabeth Hackman—with his ex-wife Faye Maltese, who died in 2017. He was airlifted to a hospital after he was hit by a car in 2012, though he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/gene-hackman-hit-car-flna1c9379797" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">suffered</a>&nbsp;only minor injuries.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/sheriff-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-in-santa-fe-home-no-foul-play-suspected/article_2ea8855a-f4b8-11ef-b501-73232a2b5213.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Sheriff: Gene Hackman, wife found dead in Santa Fe home; no foul play suspected</a>&nbsp;(Santa Fe New Mexican)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/gene-hackman-dead-french-connection-actor-95-893902-1236148755/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gene Hackman, Oscar-Winning Star of ‘The French Connection,’ Dies at 95</a> (The Hollywood Reporter)<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/"></a></p>


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Actor Gene Hackman And His Wife Found Dead With Pills Scattered Nearby, Police Say