Authorities said there were no obvious signs of foul play but the circumstances of their deaths warranted further investigation.

Actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died several days and possibly two weeks before their bodies were discovered on Wednesday inside their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the county sheriff said on Friday.

But over the next 50-odd years, Hackman would become the greatest, coolest, earthiest star of what’s now known as New Hollywood: an everyman who defined a generation of moviemaking better than anyone else.

The everyman actor with movie star charisma shined brightest in “The Conversation" and “Hoosiers.” Most people have a favorite Gene Hackman performance. I have two. The actor, a chameleonic everyman with a movie star’s charisma,

He played a complicated hero in “The French Connection” and an arch-villain in “Superman.” Here are some of Hackman’s career highlights.