Gene Hackman remembered by Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Sinise, Paul Feig

Tributes began pouring in for Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman on Thursday after the news of his death broke. 

Hackman was found dead alongside his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, and their dog in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on Wednesday afternoon.

Hackman was 95 at the time of his death, and his wife 63.

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Luke Wilson, who acted in the movie “The Royal Tenenbaums” with Hackman, shared a tribute with Fox News Digital.

“Marine. Actor. Legend. Gene Hackman could do it all. He stands alone on the mountain with Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson.”

Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Hackman in the 1974 thriller, “The Conversation,” mourned his loss on social media. 

“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 wrote on Instagram with a photo of Hackman on a movie set.

Actor Antonio Banderas shared his condolences to Hackman and his wife.

“A very sad day for the cinema’s family. Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have passed away,” he wrote on Instagram with the photo of the two. “My deepest condolences to friends, family and cinema lovers. RIP.”

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade spoke with actor Gary Sinise about Hackman’s death and acting with him in “Quick and the Dead.” Sinise called Hackman his role model, as he spent two days doing a photo shoot for Esquire with the legendary actor. He said Hackman’s work in “Scarecrow” with Al Pacino was his “favorite of all time.”

“Gene was an amazing human being and an amazing actor. I’m very saddened by what’s happened,” Sinise shared on “The Brian Kilmeade Show.” “Getting to spend time with him was a true honor and privilege.”

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Sinise mentioned Hackman supported his role when he starred in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Director Edgar Wright called Hackman, “The greatest…” on X.

Director Paul Feig called Hackman’s death “so awful,” as he paid a heartfelt tribute to the late actor.

“Gene was such an inspiration to so many of us who love movies. So many brilliant roles. His performance in ‘The Conversation’ alone changed the way I looked at acting and what actors could bring to a role. Such an amazing career. RIP Mr. Hackman.”

Hollywood actor Viola Davis took to Instagram and wrote, “Loved you in everything! ‘The Conversation,’ ‘The French Connection,’ ‘The Poseidon Adventure,’ ‘Unforgiven’ —tough yet vulnerable. You were one of the greats. God bless those who loved you. Rest well, sir.”

“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,” “Star Trek” actor George Takei wrote on X Thursday morning. “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.”

The Santa Fe police confirmed that foul play is not suspected as a factor in the deaths at this time, but the cause of death has not been determined. An investigation is ongoing.

“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 told Fox News Digital early Thursday morning. 

Hackman was best known for his Oscar-winning performances in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven.” He appeared as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

Hackman also had a breakout performance in “Bonnie and Clyde,” a comic interlude in “Young Frankenstein,” a turn as the comic book villain Lex Luthor in “Superman” and the title character in Wes Anderson’s 2001 “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

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Eugene Alden Hackman was born Jan. 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California, and grew up in Danville, Illinois, where his father worked as a pressman for the Commercial-News. His parents fought repeatedly, and his father often used his fists on him to take out his rage, according to The Associated Press. The boy found refuge in movie houses, identifying with Errol Flynn and James Cagney as his role models.

With a high school degree he earned during his time as a Marine, Hackman enrolled in journalism at the University of Illinois. He dropped out after six months to study radio announcing in New York. After working at stations in Florida and his hometown of Danville, he returned to New York to study painting at the Art Students League. Hackman switched again to enter an acting course at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Hackman’s first starring film role came in 1970 with “I Never Sang for My Father,” as a man struggling to deal with a failed relationship with his dying father, Melvyn Douglas.

In 1956, Hackman married Fay Maltese, a bank teller he had met at a YMCA dance in New York. They had a son, Christopher, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Leslie, but divorced in the mid-1980s. In 1991, he married Betsy Arakawa, a classical pianist of Japanese descent who was raised in Hawaii.

When not on film locations, Hackman enjoyed painting, stunt flying, stock car racing and deep sea diving. In his latter years, he wrote novels and lived on his ranch in Sante Fe on a hilltop looking out on the Colorado Rockies.

Fox News Digital’s Gregory Norman-Diamond, Christina Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.