Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa found dead with their dog in their home

Hollywood actor Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog have been found dead in their home in Santa Fe.

The Daily Mail has reported the cause of death has not been provided by local authorities, nor has time of death.

Gene Hackman posed in 1972 and then attending a magazine party in 2005. | Getty Images

Local media has reported that no foul play is suspected.

Hackman, 95, is a two-time Oscar winner. He won Best Actor for his role as Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in the acclaimed 1971 thriller The French Connection, and for Best Supporting Actor for his role as ‘Little’ Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Western epic Unforgiven.

Hackman was also renowned for his role as Lex Luthor in 1978’s Superman, starring alongside Christopher Reeve, and appearing in two subsequent sequels.

American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola hailed Hackman as a “great actor” who was “inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity”.

Coppola wrote and directed the Oscar-nominated 1974 mystery thriller The Conversation, which starred Hackman as a surveillance expert Harry Caul, who has a crisis of conscience when he suspects the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Alongside a photo of them working on the film, Coppola wrote in an Instagram post: “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.”

Hackman had also won two Baftas, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award in an acting career that spanned six decades.

Bafta were among those to pay tribute to Hackman, describing him as a “much-celebrated actor” who had an “illustrious career”.

A statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico said there was an “active investigation” into the deaths.

The police department said: “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.

“This is an active investigation. However, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.”

Born in California in 1930, Hackman left home at age 16 to enlist in the marine corps and served from 1947 to 1952 as a field radio operator and then as a broadcast journalist.

He went on to study journalism and television production at the University of Illinois, but later pivoted to pursue an acting career.

Hackman had a few TV and theatre roles before breaking through with his performance in 1967’s Bonnie And Clyde, which starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the titular roles, and landed him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

He also picked up Oscar nods for his role in 1970’s I Never Sang For My Father and 1988’s thriller Mississippi Burning.

The actor secured a new cohort of fans for his portrayal of supervillain Lex Luthor in the 1978 Superman film starring Christopher Reeve in the eponymous role and Marlon Brando as Jor-El, Superman’s biological father.

He reprised the role for its subsequent sequels, 1980’s Superman II and 1987’s Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.

Valerie Perrine, who portrayed his on-screen love interest Eve Teschmacher in the Superman films, described the late actor as a “genius” and “one of the greatest to grace the silver screen”.

She added: “I had the honour of working with him on Superman. His performances are legendary. His talent will be missed.”

Perrine signed off her tribute, writing: “Goodbye my sweet Lex Till we meet again. Valerie.”

Hackman acted opposite many Hollywood heavyweights in his time including Al Pacino in 1973’s Scarecrow, Gene Wilder in 1974’s Young Frankenstein and Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton in 1981’s Reds.

His other notable roles included the hit movies The Poseidon Adventure from 1972, 1974’s The Conversation and Runaway Jury in 2003.

He took a comedic turn playing a conservative senator in 1996’s The Birdcage alongside Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, who star as a gay couple.

Hackman also featured in the star-studded cast of Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, with Welcome To Mooseport in 2004 marking his last big screen appearance.

The actor found his feet on the stage in the early days of his career in the 1960s and performed in several Broadway theatres including at the Music Box Theatre for the comedy Any Wednesday.

He also appeared in Children From Their Games at the former Morosco Theatre, Poor Richard at Helen Hayes Theatre and The Natural Look at Longacre Theatre, before later returning in 1992 to perform Death And The Maiden at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.