The China Mail - Police probing 'suspicious' deaths of Hollywood giant Gene Hackman, wife

The bodies of Hackman, 95, and his classical pianist wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, along with that of a pet dog, were discovered at their property in New Mexico on Wednesday.

Authorities initially reported there were no signs of foul play, but a search warrant said a detective believed the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation."

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's office said on Facebook it would hold a press conference with the fire department at 3 pm local time (2200 GMT) on Friday.

Police officers called to the home by maintenance workers found the door unlocked and open, and pills scattered next to Arakawa's body, which was in the bathroom.

It appeared Arakawa had been dead "for some time," with the body in a state of decomposition, the warrant noted.

Hackman's body was found in another room, fully clothed, with sunglasses next to his body, apparently having fallen suddenly.

A German Shepherd was found dead in the bathroom, and two other healthy dogs were at the house.

Hackman's daughter Elizabeth Jean told entertainment outlet TMZ that carbon monoxide poisoning may be to blame for the deaths of the couple, who married in 1991.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told a previous press conference that an initial inspection by the local fire department had not found high levels of the gas, but no conclusions had been drawn yet.

"This is an investigation, so we're keeping everything on the table," he said, adding that there was no sign of a struggle.

Initial autopsy findings showed "no external trauma to either individual," the sheriff's office said in a written update.

Carbon monoxide and toxicology tests have been requested but results are still pending and no cause of death has been determined, it said.

Hackman's family was "devasted by the loss", according to a media statement issued by his daughters and a granddaughter.

"He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa," daughters Elizabeth and Leslie Hackman and granddaughter Annie Hackman said.

"We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss," they added.

Hackman, a two-time Academy Award winner, was credited for intense performances of everyman characters inspired by his troubled upbringing, notching up dozens of movie credits extending into his 70s.

He is perhaps best known as 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."

- 'Inspiring and magnificent' -

Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola on Thursday mourned his death.

"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.

Clint Eastwood, who starred alongside Hackman in "Unforgiven," told Variety: "There was no finer actor than Gene. Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much."

Not blessed with leading man good looks, Hackman drew on his talents and versatility, taking on a series of gritty roles and delivering thoughtful, intelligent performances.

"I wanted to act, but I'd always been convinced that actors had to be handsome," the actor once said.

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.

He also served an unpleasant stint in the US Marines, which he joined at 16 by lying about his age. But he later used his personal turmoil to flesh out his characters.

Acting success came relatively late in life. 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."

On graduation, Hackman found 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 on track for stardom.

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.

"It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on screen," Hackman 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."

C.Smith--ThChM