In 1956, an aspiring young actor named Gene Hackman joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, struggling to find a way into a field he’d been fascinated with since childhood.

Days after the grim discovery at their Santa Fe, N.M., home, the circumstances surrounding the death of Gene Hackman; his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and one of their dogs remain a mystery.

The Oscar-winning actor was found dead on February 26 at his New Mexico home alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa. Hackman was 95; Arakawa was 65.

"He loved being an actor, and hated all the stuff that surrounds being an actor." That, for film director Barry Sonnenfeld, is how he'll remember Gene Hackman, who has died at the age of 95. The endless hours in hair and makeup,