This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Legendary actor Gene Hackman, a two-time Oscar-winner who's known for his roles in "The French Connection" and "Unforgiven," has been found dead in his home in Santa Fe, beside his dead wife classical pianist Betsy Arakawa and their dead dog.

He was 95, she was 63.

Fox News reported the suspicious circumstances were under investigation, but authorities said "foul play" appeared not to be involved.

"On February 26, 2025 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased," the Santa Fe County Sheriff's office said in a statement.

Hackman took on a long list of wide-ranging roles from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

His was in "Bonnie and Clyde," "Young Frankenstein" and "Superman."

Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the 1974 "The Conversation" in which Hackman appeared, 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 was born Jan. 30, 1931 in San Bernardino, Calif., and grew up in Danville, Ill., where his father worked as a pressman.

Fox reported, "When Gene was 13, his father waved goodbye and drove off, never to return. The abandonment was a lasting injury to Gene. His mother had become an alcoholic and was constantly at odds with her mother, with whom the shattered family lived (Gene had a younger brother). At 16, he 'suddenly got the itch to get out.' Lying about his age, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines."

He served from 1947 to 1952 as a broadcast journalist and field radio operator, seeing assignments in Qingdao, China, and Shanghai.

He later worked at radio stations in Florida and Illinois, then moved to New York to study painting, before finally switching to acting.

His first marriage, the Fay Maltese, lasted from 1956 to the 1980s, and resulted in a son and two daughters.

His latter years were spent at his ranch in Santa Fe.