Alert – Gene Hackman’s Unforgiven co-star Clint Eastwood pays emotional tribute to star after his shock death at 95

Gene Hackman’s longtime friend and Unforgiven co-star Clint Eastwood has paid an emotional tribute to the actor following his shock death aged 95.

The bodies of Oscar-winner Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, were found partially mummified at their $3.3 million Santa Fe mansion, with pills strewn in their bathroom on Wednesday. Their causes of death remain a mystery.

Eastwood, 94, who directed and starred in the 1992 Western alongside Hackman, lauded his ‘dear friend’ in a heartbreaking statement to Variety.

He said: ‘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.’

Hackman won his second Oscar in the Supporting Actor category for his role as  brutal sheriff ‘Little’ Bill Daggett in Unforgiven.

The star had initially turned down the part as his two daughters had told him they didn’t like him making so many violent films.

Gene Hackman’s longtime friend and Unforgiven co-star Clint Eastwood has paid an emotional tribute to the actor following his shock death aged 95 – pictured at the 1993 Oscars

The bodies of Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, were found partially mummified at their Santa Fe mansion. Their causes of death remain a mystery.[Gene and Betsy in 2003]

It took the best efforts of its director and star Eastwood to change his mind. 

The film also won Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood and and Best Film Editing for Joel Cox. 

Hackman won the Best Actor Oscar for the 1971 film French Connection 

His last film was the 2004 political comedy Welcome to Mooseport and this time his retirement was permanent. 

The couple, who had been married since 1991, were found alongside their dog.

Elsewhere, celebrities including George Takei, comedian Dara O’Briain, rancis Ford Coppola and presenter Lorraine Kelly were among the famous names leading the heartfelt tributes for the star and his partner.

Taking to X on Thursday morning, George, known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek, posted a touching tribute to the late actor.

He shared: ‘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. 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.’

Eastwood, 94, who directed and starred in the 1992 Western alongside Hackman, lauded his ‘dear friend’ in a heartbreaking statement – Hackman pictured in his Oscar winning role

Harrowing details of the 911 call made after Gene Hackman and wife Margaret Arakawa were found dead have emerged. Hackman and Margaret are pictured together in Santa Fe in March 2024

Filmmaker Frances Ford Coppola, who worked with Gene in the 1974 film The Conversation, wrote on Threads: ‘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.’ 

Investigators fear Hackman and Arakawa may have lain dead in the house for up to two weeks.

Both were found decomposed and partially-mummified. The cold, dry air of the New Mexico desert climate likely helped preserve their skin and tissues.

The couple’s bodies appear to have taken hours to identify, with news of their deaths not released until after midnight Thursday morning.  

Hackman was found dead a mud room just off the couple’s kitchen.

His sunglasses and cane were on the floor next to him, sparking speculation he may have died from a fall.

Arakawa was found dead on the floor of the couple’s bathroom. An open bottle of prescription pills was found partially scattered on a countertop nearby.

Neither showed any sign of wounds. It remains unclear how they died and who died first. 

The results of an autopsy could take four to six weeks to be published, local officials have said.  

Hackman and Arakawa are pictured with Hackman’s daughters Leslie and Elizabeth at a Beverly Hills movie premiere in 1996  

One of the couple’s three pet dogs, a German Shepherd, was found dead in a closet just off the bathroom where Arakawa was found.

Their two other dogs survived.  

A sheriff who arrived on the scene initially deemed the deaths as possibly suspicious, but Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office now say they do not believe there was any foul play. 

Hackman’s daughter Elizabeth was among those who speculated her father and stepmom may have been killed by carbon monoxide poisoning earlier today.

It has since emerged a firefighter was called out to the house after the bodies were found and discovered no sign of a gas leak. 

Hackman was one of Hollywood’s most famous and prolific actors and enjoyed a lengthy Tinseltown career.

He won a best actor Oscar in 1972 playing a hard-bitten cop in iconic thriller The French Connection.

Hackman went on to win a best supporting actor Oscar in 1993 for Western classic Unforgiven.

He stared in dozens of memorable movies including Bonnie and Clyde, The Poseidon Adventure, Superman, Mississippi Burning, Postcards from the Edge, The Firm, Get Shorty, The Birdcage and The Royal Tenenbaums.