Oscar award-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, 64, were found dead on Wednesday afternoon in their home outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.
According to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, the actor and his wife were also found with their dog, but the cause of death is not known at this time. The couple were also found in different rooms with Hackman in a mudroom, and Arakawa found in a bathroom next to a space heater.
“Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time. However, (the) exact cause of death has not been determined,” the sheriff’s office shared in a statement.
Hackman's daughter told TMZ the family believes it could have been carbon monoxide poisoning.
But according to a search warrant obtained by the outlet, a detective wrote in his affidavit that the deaths appeared "to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation because the reporting party found the front door of the residence unsecured and opened, deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence, and no obvious signs of a gas leak."
Authorities indicated it could have been at least a day and the warrant stated that Arakawa's body was showing signs of decomposition.
A spokesperson for the New Mexico Gas Company told the Associated Press they were working with deputies in the investigation.
The investigation into the deaths remains ongoing at this time.
Hackman was known for his iconic roles in several film classics, including “The French Connection,” “The Conversation,” and “Unforgiven.”
To a younger audience, he may be better known as the comic book villain Lex Luthor, which he portrayed in three “Superman” films.
Hackman won the Best Actor Oscar for portraying Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection. He also won a Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Little Bill Daggert in Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film Unforgiven.
However, he was nominated for a few other roles, including the one he played in 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde” and 1970’s “I Never Sang for My Father.”
Hackman studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, where he met fellow actor Dustin Hoffman.
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Arakawa was a well-renowned pianist, and the two had been married since 1991.
Cynthia Littleton, the Co-Editor-in-Chief at Variety, told L.A.'s Morning News that Hackman was versatile actor who could play almost any role.
"Just these titles, Bonnie and Clyde, The Conversation, The French Connection, these movies defined their era," she said. "And he was just, I mean, just magical in terms of taking people into taking viewers into a situation, into a character."
Several actors have taken to social media to pay their respects to Hackman, including Star Trek actor George Takei, who posted that “we have lost one of the true giants of the screen.”
“Gene Hackman could play anyone, and you could feel a whole life behind it,” he wrote. “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.”
“His performances are legendary. His talent will be missed. Goodbye my sweet Lex Till we meet again,” Valerie Perrine, who played alongside Hackman as his on-screen girlfriend in the “Superman” films, wrote.
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