Oscar-winning US actor Gene Hackman, wife found dead at home

Two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead in their home in the US state of New Mexico, the Santa Fe New Mexican website said on Thursday.

The website quoted Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza as saying the couple had died along with their dog, and that there was no immediate indication of foul play.

The local police were not immediately available for comment.

Hackman was an intense character actor who won Academy Awards for the violent 1971 drug saga "The French Connection" and the 1992 western "Unforgiven".

The former Marine appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage during a lengthy career that started in the early 1960s.

Living outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, he was married twice and had three children. Hackman married Arakawa, a 63-year-old pianist, in 1991.

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