Actor Gene Hackman, the two-time Oscar winner whose acting career spanned more than six decades, has died. He was 95 years old.
Hackman and his wife, 64-year-old Betsy Arakawa, were found dead inside their Santa Fe home. Authorities do not suspect foul play at this time, but have not yet released a cause of death.
Gene Hackman, the prolific and versatile two-time Oscar-winning actor whose career spanned five decades, has died at 95.
He and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, were found dead in their home Wednesday afternoon, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said, adding that foul play 'is not suspected.'
Universally lauded for his acting skill, Hackman's everyman quality enabled him to embody a broad range of characters in multiple genres -- from the preening, comical villain Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve in 1978's 'Superman,' to a disgraced high school basketball coach looking for redemption in the 1986 drama 'Hoosiers,' to an ultra-conservative senator forced to dress in drag to escape the paparazzi in the 1996 Robin Williams comedy 'The Birdcage.'
His career began in 1961, with an uncredited roll in the true crime drama 'Mad Dog Coll', and he was on several television shows throughout the 1960s including 'East Side/West Side' and 'The Trials of O'Brien.'
But Hackman best known for his wide ranging cinematic career, including films such as 'The Conversation' (1977), 'Mississippi Burning' (1988), 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (2001), and a turn as comic book villain Lex Luthor in 'Superman' (1978), 'Superman II' (1980), and 'Superman IV' (1987).
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He was nominated for an Academy Award a total of five times. He won twice, once for his role as Detective Jimmy Doyle in 'The French Connection' (1971) and again for his role as Sheriff Bill Daggett in 'Unforgiven' (1992).
RIP Legend!!! pic.twitter.com/4911c40DGg
— Agent Z (@ZiggyTheAvatar) February 27, 2025
He was one of Hollywood's legends.
HUGE news for "Hoosiers" fans.
— Anna Darling (@AnnaDarlingTV) February 27, 2025
Such an iconic actor in a movie that defined many of our lives. Praying for the family after the loss of Gene and his wife. https://t.co/6n6gjzewTJ
Hackman starred in 'Hoosiers' alongside Barbara Hershey and Dennis Hopper.
Many people spoke of the impact 'Hoosiers' had on their lives.
This is heartbreaking. I loved his acting so much. His role as Norman Dale in Hoosiers shaped so many of my thoughts about leadership in life. I was literally telling @msmallmon yesterday about how important that movie and his role in it was/is in my life. https://t.co/xGtLEzrSjk
— Evan Cohen (@EvCoRadio) February 27, 2025
Fans also appreciated his storied career:
Aside from the very sad circumstances of his death, Gene Hackman was one of the all-time great actors and brilliant in everything he ever did from French Connection and Unforgiven to Mississippi Burning, The Conversation and Superman. We’ve lost a giant of the big screen. pic.twitter.com/usA27asrdP
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 27, 2025
He was one of the giants.
Remembering Two Time Oscar-Winner Gene Hackman In Photos:
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) February 27, 2025
As Lex Luthor in 'Superman', 1978
See photos of his best work through the decades: https://t.co/owYNkD39yE pic.twitter.com/vjXmaUy0A4
Deadline has a wonderful collection of photos.
This is just AWFUL news. https://t.co/wxRyMfjGWA
— Robert Meyer Burnett, Viceroy of Verisimilitude (@RMBee) February 27, 2025
Yes, it is.
Hackman's is survived by three children from his first marriage to Faye Maltese, Christopher, Elizabeth Jean and Leslie Anne. The couple divorced in 1986 and Maltese passed away in 2017. Hackman married Arakawa in 1991.
Our condolences to their family, friends, and loved ones.
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