Oscar-winning U.S. actor Gene Hackman, wife found dead at home: media reports

Oscar-winning U.S. actor Gene Hackman and his long-time wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead inside their home in New Mexico, media outlets reported on Thursday.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said the couple was found dead on Wednesday afternoon, adding that there was no immediate indication of foul play, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican and Sky News.

Mendoza did not provide a cause of death.

The media reports said the couple, who were married since 1991, died along with their dog.

Hackman, who had turned 95 late last month, was once voted as likely to flop in showbiz but instead went on to win two Oscar awards.

Arakawa was a 63-year-old classical pianist.

Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola on Thursday mourned the loss of Hackman.

"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," Coppola wrote in a post on Instagram.

"I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution."

Hackman is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the tough and vulgar New York cop Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the 1971 crime thriller "The French Connection" -- for which he won an Oscar for best actor.

He won another golden statuette two decades later for best supporting actor for his portrayal of the brutal small-town sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett in the 1992 western "Unforgiven."

Throughout his acting career, Hackman drew on his talents and versatility, taking on a series of gritty roles and delivering thoughtful, intelligent performances.

"It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on screen," the actor once said.

"I think of myself, and feel like I'm quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that."

- Unlikely star -

Born in Illinois during the Great Depression, Hackman came from a broken family.

His father left when he was 13, waving enigmatically as he drove away one day, and his mother later died in a fire.

Hackman later used his personal turmoil as fuel to flesh out his characters.

He was an unlikely star, coming to acting relatively late in life after dabbling in a series of jobs, and only attracting attention in his 30s.

According to Hollywood legend, after his enrollment at the Pasadena Playhouse in California in the late 1950s, he and a fellow student, one Dustin Hoffman, were voted the "least likely to succeed."

Upon graduation, Hackman earned work off-Broadway and began to turn heads.

He earned his first Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in "Bonnie and Clyde."

That landmark 1967 film, in which Hackman played Clyde's brother Buck Barrow, put him firmly on track for stardom.

Hackman notched up dozens of film credits in his career, working well into his 60s and 70s although he stayed out of the limelight, instead writing and painting.

Into the 21st century, he starred in "The Heist" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" in 2001, the latter winning him his third competitive Golden Globe, before announcing his retirement in 2008.

© Agence France-Presse