Gene Hackman, the intense character actor who won two Oscars in a more than 60-year career, died of unknown causes alongside his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, and their dog at home, the sheriff's office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said on Thursday (February 27).

US actor Gene Hackman, wife found dead at home

Gene Hackman, intense, 'uncommon' everyman actor

The 95-year-old actor and Arakawa, 64, were found dead in separate rooms on Wednesday afternoon, the Santa Fe County sheriff's office said in a statement.

"Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time, however exact cause of death has not been determined," the statement said. The sheriff's office applied for a search warrant on Wednesday evening, telling the judge the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation."

The warrant application said the maintenance worker who discovered the bodies had found the home's front door ajar, although there were no signs of forced entry, and that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak or a carbon monoxide leak. Those possibilities were still under investigation. Detectives were awaiting autopsy reports and toxicology test results.

Audio from the 911 call released on Thursday by Santa Fe County revealed that the worker could not access the home but that he could see a woman on the floor through the window.

Sheriff's deputies found Hackman in the kitchen, and Arakawa and the dog in a bathroom, with scattered pills from an open prescription bottle on the bathroom counter. Both Hackman and Arakawa appeared to have suddenly fallen to the floor and neither showed signs of blunt force trauma, the affidavit said.

Hackman, a former Marine known for his raspy voice, appeared in more than 80 films, as well as on television and the stage during a lengthy career that started in the early 1960s.