Gene Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner for “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven,” and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their Santa Fe, N.M. home. The office of Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed their deaths to Variety after midnight Thursday. There is no immediate indication of foul play, per authorities, though the Sheriff’s office did not immediately provide a cause of death. Hackman was 95. Arakawa was 63.
On Wednesday, Sheriff’s deputies visited the home of Hackman and Arakawa, who married in 1991. The couple who found dead, alongside their dog, in their residence in a gated community.
“All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant,” the sheriff told the Santa Fe New Mexican. The statement came before authorities had positively identified the pair, per the publication. “I want to assure the community and neighborhood that there’s no immediate danger to anyone.”
Considered one of the great screen performers of the latter part of the 20th century, Hackman was not graced with movie-star looks, but the tall, likable actor had an amiable grace, easy humor and a surprisingly wide range that made him equally believable in roles as lower-class losers and high-powered executives. Iindeed, he played the president of the United States, albeit a homicidal one, in 1997’s “Absolute Power” and a former president in “Welcome to Mooseport.”
Like the great character movie stars of an earlier era, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, Hackman transcended his limitations by the sheer force of his presence, becoming as identifiable and admired as some of his higher-paid contemporaries such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman. And only the last named had the ability to tackle comedy and tragedy with Hackman’s ease.
After years of struggle on stage and television, Hackman broke out with his role as Clyde Barrow’s explosive older brother in the 1967 film “Bonnie and Clyde,” which brought him his first Oscar nomination in support — Pauline Kael dubbed his performance the best in the film. He did an about-face as Melvyn Douglas’ timid son in “I Never Sang for My Father” and drew a second Oscar nom.
But his role as Popeye Doyle, the rogue cop in 1971 Oscar winner “The French Connection,” defined him, nabbing him an Academy Award as best actor. Hackman went on to make enough choose roles in enough bad films to doom most actors (from “March or Die” to “Banning” and “Bat 21”) and reportedly turned down assignments in “Ordinary People,” “Apocalypse Now” (the Robert Duvall role), “Network” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in salary quibbles.
He always had a surprise up his sleeve, as in films like “The French Connection II,” “The Firm” and even “The Poseidon Adventure.”
Hackman delivered an impressive array of performances that have only grown in stature over time. His Harry Caul in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” is every bit as strong and well delineated now as when the film debuted in 1974. The same is true of his stoic promoter in the Michael Ritchie ski film “Downhill Racer.”
Hackman was memorable as a journalist caught in the intrigue of Central American revolution in Roger Spottiswoode’s “Under Fire”; he shone in Arthur Penn’s suspenseful “Night Moves”; and he was cracklingly funny as the canny Lex Luthor in the “Superman” films. The actor brought strength to the basketball coach in “Hoosiers” and wry humor to the FBI agent in “Mississippi Burning” (which brought his fourth Oscar nomination and his second in a leading role).
Into his early 70s, even after he was burdened with heart trouble, he scored with impressive characterizations in roles both big and small. His onscreen confidence seemed to grow, not diminish with age — the true sign of a great performer. He often stole scenes from bigger stars, as he demonstrated opposite Meryl Streep in “Postcards From the Edge.” His acting abilities sometimes seemed deeper than more well-known names, as he showed opposite Tom Cruise in “The Firm.” And when he was pitted against formidable opponents such as Denzel Washington in “Crimson Tide” and Nick Nolte in “Under Fire,” there were fireworks.
In 1993, he won a second Oscar in support for his performance as a vicious sheriff in Clint Eastwood’s best picture Oscar winner “Unforgiven.”
And when he got even half a chance, as with “Hoosiers,” “Mississippi Burning” or “Another Woman,” he was never less than memorable.
In 1990, he was sidetracked with heart trouble. But he soon rebounded with a wonderful extended cameo in Mike Nichols’ “Postcards From the Edge.” By the time of “Unforgiven,” in 1993, there was no denying him another Oscar. And he continued to persevere with fine work in ‘The Firm” and “Geronimo.”
In 1992 Hackman starred on Broadway, after an absence of decades, in Ariel Dorfman’s “Death and the Maiden.”
He was very busy on the bigscreen in 1995: In the submarine thriller “Crimson Tide,” he turned in a first-rate toplining performance; he was just as good as the scathingly comic scalawag producer in “Get Shorty”; and he was an enjoyable villain in the Sharon Stone Western “The Quick and the Dead.” He scored a comic bulls-eye in “The Birdcage” the following year as an uptight right-wing U.S. senator. He joined Paul Newman and Susan Sarandon in turning in strong performances in Robert Benton’s autumnal noir “Twilight” in 1998.
Hackman starred as a jewel thief trying for a big haul in his last job in David Mamet’s 2001 “Heist,” played the shifty dad seeking to reconcile with his family in Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums,” starred in “Runaway Jury” (his third John Grisham adaptation) and then retired after the middling comedy “Welcome to Mooseport” in 2004.
Eugene Alden Hackman was born in San Bernardino, Calif., though he grew up in Danville, Ill. At age 16, he lied about his age and joined the Marine Corps. He was stationed in Shanghai, Hawaii and Japan. In the military Hackman served as a DJ and newscaster for his unit’s radio station despite a phobia about microphones.
After the military he studied journalism briefly at the U. of Illinois and then moved to New York to study radio techniques under the G.I. Bill. After working at several radio stations, he went to California, where he studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. His first production was “The Curious Miss Caraway,” starring Zasu Pitts. But neither he nor classmate Dustin Hoffman was given much chance of success.
He returned to New York in 1956 and took a variety of odd jobs while working in summer theater and studying with George Morrison. On Broadway he starred in Irwin Shaw’s “Children From Their Games” in 1963; the play closed after four performances but won him the Clarence Derwent Award as most promising new actor.
After almost a decade pounding the boards, Hackman scored in Muriel Resnik’s “Any Wednesday” alongside Sandy Dennis and Jason Robards Jr. He stayed with the hit comedy for six months before getting above-the-title billing in Jean Kerr’s “Poor Richard,” which was not a hit but brought him good notices nonetheless.
Director Robert Rossen had seen his stage work and rewarded Hackman with his film debut in a small role in 1964’s “Lilith,” which led to parts in “Hawaii,” “A Covenant With Death,” “Banning” and “First to Flight.” Throughout the ’60s Hackman honed his craft on television, appearing on “The U.S. Steel Hour,” “The Defenders,” “Naked City,” “The F.B.I.” and “The Invaders.” He excelled in CBS Playhouse’s 1968 production of “My Father and My Mother.” By then he already had an Oscar nomination under his belt for “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Hackman wrote three novels with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan: “Wake of the Perdido Star” (1999), “Justice for None” (2004) and “Escape From Andersonville” (2008); 2011’s “Payback at Morning Peak” was a solo effort.
Hackman is survived by his children, Christopher, Elizabeth and Leslie.