Hollywood is paying tribute to screen legend Gene Hackman after he and his wife were tragically found dead in their home.
The Oscar-winning actor and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found unresponsive during a welfare check inside their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Wednesday around 1:45 p.m.
Hackman was 95, and Arakawa was 63.
One of the couple's three dogs was also sadly found dead in the home.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila confirmed to the Huffington Post via email:
“Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time however exact cause of death has not been determined."
However, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by several media outlets, their deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation."
The two-time Academy Award winner's career spanned over four decades and brought us memorable performances in such films as I Never Sang for My Father; The Poseidon Adventure, Mississippi Burning, The Firm, The Quick and the Dead, The Birdcage, Enemy of the State, Behind Enemy Lines, The Royal Tenenbaums and Runaway Jury.
He was commercially famous for portraying Lex Luthor in Superman (1978) and its sequels Superman II (1980) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Tributes honoring the actor and venerated colleague came pouring in on social media.
Actor Nathan Lane, who starred in The Birdcage with Hackman in 1996, wrote:
“Gene was my favorite actor, as I think I told him every day we worked together. Getting to watch him up close, it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest."
"You could never catch him acting. Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger. He was as brilliant in comedy as he was in drama and thankfully his film legacy will live on forever."
"It was a tremendous privilege to get to share the screen with him and remains one of my fondest memories. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman.”
Commenters joined Lane in his grief by reflecting on Hackman's wonderful performance.
The Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria, who also appeared in The Birdcage, wrote:
"It was an honor and an education working with Gene Hackman. Mike Nichols said of his genius character acting: 'He always brought just enough of a different part of the real gene to each role he played.' ”
"Sending all my love to his family & friends," he concluded.
Director Francis Ford Coppola, who worked with Hackman on the 1974 thriller, The Conversation, said:
"The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity."
"I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution," he added.
The post was flooded with comments from fans conveying the same sense of heartbreak.
@francisfordcoppola/Instagram
@francisfordcoppola/Instagram
Beloved Star Trek icon George Takei took to Bluesky and described Hackman as "one of the true giants of the screen."
He continued:
"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," wrote the 87-year-old.
Fans agreed with Takei.
English filmmaker Edgar Wright, who's known for such movies as Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver, summed up the late luminary with two words, writing, "The greatest…"
Other Hollywood stars who paid tribute included Tom Hanks, who said, "There has never been a 'Gene Hackman Type,' and that " There has only been Gene Hackman"; and Viola Davis, who called Hackman, "One of the greats," adding, "God bless those who loved you. Rest well, sir."
In addition to his two Oscars, Hackman won two BAFTAs, four Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
BAFTA President Prince Williams wrote a statement upon hearing the sad news, which read in part, "Hackman was a true genius of film who brought each and every character to life with power, authenticity and star quality."
The Guardian's film critic, Pete Bradshaw, said that Hackman's death "marks the end of one of the greatest periods of US cinema: the American new wave."
He continued:
"Hackman was the gold standard for this era, ever since Warren Beatty gave him his big break with the role of Buck Barrow in Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde."
Bradshaw also noted that Hackman "was the character actor who was really a star; in fact the star of every scene he was in – that tough, wised-up, intelligent but unhandsome face perpetually on the verge of coolly unconcerned derision, or creased in a heartbreakingly fatherly, pained smile."
Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman. You will be missed.
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