The actor Gene Hackman died at the age of 95. According to the local police, the legendary interpreter and the wife, Betsy Arakawathey were found lifeless on Wednesday afternoon, Around 13:45 local timein their home of Santa feNew Mexico.
Their dog was also found lifeless. The actor’s wife, a classic pianist, was 63 years old. An investigation has been opened on the case, but the authorities have not yet made known details on the causes and the exact moment of the couple’s death.
It is not yet clear whether it was a suicide or a murderbut the sheriff Adan Mendoza, who confirmed the news to the “Santa Fe New Mexican”, said: “There are no details at the moment that suggest a murder”. The agents intervened in the house of the couple “to investigate the death of two elderly and a dog”, finding the bodies of a man “of about 90 years and a 60 woman”. The identity of Hackman and his wife was confirmed a few hours later. At the moment, it is not clear who gave the alarm.
Hackman and Arakawa had been married since 1991 and lived in a residence called Old Sunset Trail, located north-east of Santa Fe.
Born on January 30, 1930 in San Bernardino, California, Gene Hackman had closed his extraordinary actor career for some years. Winner of two Oscar prizes, he had obtained numerous awards, including two Bafta, four Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
The first Oscar arrived in 1971 for the role of Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in “The violent arm of the law”. The second, in 1992, for the interpretation of the sheriff “Little Bill” Daggett in “The ruthless” of Clint Eastwood. Among his most famous roles also that of Buck Barrow in “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967), the FBI agent in “Mississippi Burning” (silver bear in Berlin in 1989), Lex Luthor in the films of “Superman” and the comic role in “I Tenenbaum”.
In 2008 he had officially announced the withdrawal from acting, explaining to “Empire”: «The drop that made the vase overflow was actually an effort test I did in New York. The doctor told me that my heart was not in conditions that had to submit it to stress ».
Hackman had married for the first time in 1956 with Faye Maltese, from whom he had had three children: Christopher, Elizabeth and Leslie. After the divorce in 1986, he had married Betsy Arakawa in 1991.
In recent years he had retired to a reserved life, rarely leaving in public and dedicating himself to writing, also publishing two novels.
