The world has been rocked by the death of Gene Hackman, whose body was found with his 63-year-old wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa.
Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner who starred in films including The French Connection, Unforgiven and The Royal Tenenbaums, was 95.
The couple, who had been married since 1991, were found in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, along with their pet dog. Two healthy dogs were also on the property.
According to a police search warrant the actor, his wife and their dog were found in separate rooms and appeared to have been “dead for some time”.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza initially said that foul play was not suspected, although a search warrant affidavit has since ruled their deaths “suspicious” enough to require further investigation.
Hackman’s daughter Elizabeth Jean had earlier speculated that carbon monoxide poisoning may have been the cause, but the affidavit adds that there was “no obvious signs of a gas leak.”
According to the Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, the couple died around midnight on Thursday (27 February).
Mendoza told The Santa Fe New Mexican: “I want to assure the community and neighbourhood that there’s no immediate danger to anyone.”
Since retiring from acting in 2004, Hackman had been open about his health struggles, revealing in 2009 that his doctor wanted him to quit Hollywood due to the stress on his heart.
Hackman told Empire: “The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York. The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress.”
The actor previously told CNN interviewer Larry King that he had angioplasty surgery to heal his angina in the 1990s.
Angioplasty is a medical proecdure that restores blood flow to the heart muscle after the coronary arteries become blocked.
“I try to take care of myself,” he said at the time. “I don’t have a lot of fears. I have the normal fear of passing away. You know, I guess we all think about that, especially when you get to be a certain age.
“I want to make sure that my wife and my family are taken care of. Other than that, I don’t have a lot of fears.”
Hackman had three children – Christopher, Elizabeth and Leslie – with his first wife, Faye Maltese. The pair were married from 1956 to 1986. Maltese died in 2017.
