Police investigation underway as Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa are found dead – latest updates

Gene Hackman enraptured fans in his iconic roles ever since he stormed to fame as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, kicking off his four-decade long career.

In the 20 years since his shock 2004 retirement, his classic Hollywood repertoire has continued to leave fans in awe as he left quite an impact on the film industry despite starting a new reclusive life out of the spotlight.

Born on January 30, 1930, Hackman first enlisted in the army after lying about his age at 16, serving for four-and-a-half years before pursuing acting after briefly living in New York.

As Hollywood mourns the loss of the acting great and his beloved wife, let us take a look back at Hackman’s greatest moments on screen:

A police statement read: ‘On February 26 2025 at approximately 1.45pm, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased.

‘Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time – however, exact cause of death has not been determined. This is an active and ongoing investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.’

George Takei, known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek, posted a touching tribute to the late actor.

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. That’s how powerful an actor he was. He will be missed, but his work will live on forever.

Hackman and Arakawa shared their Santa Fe home with their German Shepherds.

While Hackman was filming The Replacements in Baltimore, two stray dogs wandered onto the set.

The actor had them brought to a local shelter, which named the dogs Gene and Keanu – after Hackman and his costar Keanu Reeves.

Gene and his wife went on to adopt the one named after him.

It has not been reported which of their dogs was found alongside them.

Tributes have started pouring in for the Hollywood legend and his wife Betsy Arakawa following the news of their deaths.

Comedian Dara O’Briain and presenter Lorraine Kelly were among the famous names leading the heartfelt tributes for the star and his partner.

Taking to X this morning, Irish funnyman Dara penned: ‘Ah, Gene Hackman. The finest screen actor ever, I think. Not a single duff performance, in a long, long career. And the best delivery ever of a single word: when he says “Cigars!” In Young Frankenstein.’

Meanwhile, appearing on Good Morning Britain as the news broke, Lorraine shared: ‘That is a real shocker, I was just reading about what an amazing actor he is, when you think of the movies that he’s been in…French Connection, everybody remembers that! Wonderful, wonderful film! I had no idea he was 95! That’s really really sad.’

The host continued: ‘He’s an absolute icon, brilliant. He was so funny in Birdcage… he could do drama, he could do comedy, he could do absolutely anything.’

Gene Hackman knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of 10 but some people seemed to think he was wasting his time.

His classmates at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where Hackman studied acting in his mid-20s, cruelly voted him ‘Least Likely To Succeed’.

Given that he shared the award that year with his lifelong friend, Dustin Hoffman, the sceptics couldn’t have been more wrong.

He won a Best Actor Oscar playing hardboiled detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection and Best Supporting Actor as brutal sheriff ‘Little’ Bill Daggett in Unforgiven.

But he could switch off the menace he did so well to play an eccentric family patriarch in 2001 comedy The Royal Tenenbaums (for which he won a Golden Globe) or ham up the villainy as Lex Luthor in the Superman movies.

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The couple married in 1991 after moving to their New Mexico home together in 1990.

They reportedly began dating in the mid-80s, reportedly after they met at a gym in California.

Arakawa, who is said to have been born in Hawaii in the early 1960s, was pursuing a career in classical music at the time while working shifts in the gym.

She was a skilled musician who was classically trained as a pianist.

Hackman later insisted that their relationship began after his divorce from his first wife Faye Maltese, who he was married to from 1956 to 1986.

The couple had a love for German Shepherds, at one point owning three after adopting one in 1999.

Tragically, their beloved dog was found dead alongside them.

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Hackman divorced his first wife, Faye Maltese, in 1986 after spending 30 years together and raising three children.

Five years later, he walked down the aisle with Arakawa, a retired classical pianist 30 years younger than him.

The pair reportedly met at a fitness center in Los Angeles.

In an interview with Empire in 2020, the retired actor said he enjoyed watching DVDs that Arakawa rented.

‘We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,’ he said.

‘Friday night is set aside for a Comedy Channel marathon, with particular attention paid to Eddie Izzard. The speed of thought is amazing.’

Hackman and Faye Maltese pictured in the 80s:

Hackman and Arakawa pictured in 1992:

Police arrived at the couple’s home at a gated community on Wednesday afternoon.

Hackman and his wife had lived in Santa Fe since 2004.

Heartbroken film buffs have taken to social media to pay tribute to Hackman.

‘RIP Gene Hackman – an unmissable screen presence,’ one read.

Another said: ‘A colossus, a once-in-a-generation gravitational force of an actor.’

‘He was truly one of the finest actors ever to grace the screen and there will never be another like him. RIP and thanks for the amazing performances’ a third posted.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico said there is an ‘active investigation’ into the deaths

The police department said: ‘We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.

‘This is an active investigation – however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.’

The last photos of Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, have been revealed, following the news of their deaths on Thursday.

The couple, who had been married since 1991, were found alongside their dog. Local media has reported that no foul play is suspected.

Hackman began his acting career nearly 70 years ago, joining the Pasadena Playhouse in 1956, where he befriended fellow aspiring actor Dustin Hoffman.

He eventually moved to New York in 1963 and began performing in several Off-Broadway plays and smaller TV roles.

The thespian truly made his name in the 1970s, when he was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for the 1970 flick, I Never Sang For My Father.

the following year he officially became a leading man, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as New York City Detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection.

He went on to have consistent work, including in disaster film The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) before landing the role of supervillain Lex Luthor in 1978’s Superman: The Movie.

In the 1980s he starred in several films including Reds (1981), Under Fire (1983), Hoosiers (1986), No Way Out (1987) and Mississippi Burning (1988).

The 1990s brought him his second Oscar as he earned the Best Supporting Actor gong for his work as sadistic sheriff ‘Little’ Bill Daggett alongside Clint Eastwood in 1992’s Unforgiven.

He rounded out that decade by also starring in Narrow Margin (1990), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), The Firm (1993), The Chamber (1996), Wyatt Earp (1994), The Quick And The Dead (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995,) Absolute Power (1997), The Birdcage (1996) and Enemy Of The State (1998).

Hackman continued to be active in the early 2000s with roles in Behind Enemy Lines (2001), Heist (2001), Runaway Jury (2003), and even earned the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums.

Hackman told Reuters in 2008: ‘I haven’t held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I’m not going to act any longer.’

‘I’ve been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don’t want to do it any longer.’

He also explained his passion for writing novels, saying ‘I like the loneliness of it, actually. It’s similar in some ways to acting, but it’s more private and I feel like I have more control over what I’m trying to say and do.’

‘There’s always a compromise in acting and in film, you work with so many people and everyone has an opinion. … I don’t know that I like it better than acting, it’s just different. I find it relaxing and comforting.’

In 2011, he was asked by GQ if he would ever come out of retirement to do one more film, to which Hackman responded: ‘If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people.’

He has not stayed completely away from the industry, however, as he has narrated two Marine Corps documentaries: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima (2016) and We, The Marines (2017).

Last year, he and Betsy, a 63-year-old classical pianist, were seen out and about for the first time in two decades.

Hackman was spotted holding onto his wife’s arm for balance as the pair grabbed a bite at Pappadeaux’s Seafood Kitchen in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Before the dinner date, Hackman enjoyed a cup of coffee and some apple pie from a local Speedway store.

The couple’s outing marked the first time they were seen together in public for 21 years, with the last time being at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, where he won the Cecil B. deMille award.

Bonnie and Clyde, 1967: The actor was first propelled into the spotlight when he starred in Bonnie and Clyde, where he played Buck Barrow

The Conversation, 1974: Hackman played a surveillance expert who gets into trouble when his recordings reveal a potential murder.

Under Suspicion, 2000: Alongside Monica Bellucci and Morgan Freeman, Hackman played Henry Hearst, a tax attorney who is questioned over the murders of two girls.

The actor starred in a slew of beloved movies and TV shows like Superman, The French Connection and Get Shorty, to name a few.

But in 2004, he announced that he was done being an actor. He packed up his things, left Los Angeles for the quiet of New Mexico – and he never looked back.

Some initially thought that the shocking decision had to do with his marriage.

It turns out, the Oscar-award winning actor actually quit acting because of the severe stress he was under, which became too much to handle after he started to have issues with his heart.

Born in California on January 30 1930, Hackman had just turned 95 in late January.

He was known for being a reclusive person, having not starred in a movie since 2004, when he played Monroe ‘Eagle’ Cole in the political satire Welcome to Mooseport.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza did not provide a cause of death, nor did he say when the couple might have died, when asked by local media.

The Sheriff confirmed just after midnight that the couple had died, along with their dog.

He said there was ‘immediate indication of foul play’ in their deaths.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live blog.

Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead in their Santa Fe home.

The couple, who had been married since 1991, were found alongside their dog. Local media has reported that no foul play is suspected.

Hackman had just turned 95 in late January. Born in California on January 30 1930, the actor had enlisted in the army after lying about his age at 16, serving for four-and-a-half years.

After moving back to California following his military service, he decided to pursue acting after briefly living in New York.

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