Causes of death released for Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, wife

​​​​​​​By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - Authorities released the causes of death Friday for Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, according to media reports.

The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator said Hackman, 95, died of heart disease and complications caused by Alzheimer's. Hackman had long suffered from the disease.

Medical officials said Arakawa, 64, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease that humans can contract from contact with rodents like rats and mice, especially when exposed to their urine, droppings and saliva. The disease cannot be spread from person-to-person.

Both were found in separate rooms of their Santa Fe home on Feb. 26 under mysterious circumstances which authorities called suspicious, even though they said at the time that they did not suspect foul play. Investigators said there did not appear to be any communication from Hackman or Arakawa with family and friends since Feb. 11.

Hackman's daughters, Elizabeth and Leslie, as well as their granddaughter, Annie, told USA Today that they were "devastated by the loss."

"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," they said. "We will miss him sorely."

Hackman won his first Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1971 film The French Connection. He played Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a New York police detective in pursuit of a wealthy French heroin smuggler.

Hackman's second Oscar came two decades later, where he took home the golden statuette for Best Supporting Actor in the 1992 movie Unforgiven, directed by Clint Eastwood, who also starred in the film. Hackman played a villainous sheriff, "Little" Bill Dagget, alongside Eastwood's main character, William "Will" Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after becoming a farmer.

"There was no finer actor than Gene. Intense and instinctive. Never a false note," Eastwood said in a statement to USA Today. "He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much."

Hackman was also nominated for three other Academy Awards for roles in Bonnie and Clyde, I Never Sang for My Father and Mississippi Burning. In addition, he was well-known for his villainous character Lex Luthor in the Superman and Superman II movies.