Clint Eastwood has paid a heartfelt tribute to the "intense and instinctive" Gene Hackman.
The French Connection actor, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and one of their three dogs were found dead by a maintenance worker at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday. Hackman was 95 and Betsy was 64.
Local investigators initially reported there were no obvious signs of foul play. But in a search warrant, police officers insisted the deaths were "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation".
In a statement to Variety on Thursday, Eastwood remembered Hackman, whom he directed and starred alongside in the 1992 Western movie, Unforgiven.
"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," he said.
Meanwhile, Nathan Lane, who appeared opposite Hackman in the 1996 comedy, The Birdcage, described him as his "favourite actor".
"Gene Hackman was my favourite actor, as I think I told him every day we worked together on The Birdcage," he told People. "Getting to watch him up close it was easy to see why he was one of our greatest. You could never catch him acting. Simple and true, thoughtful and soulful, with just a hint of danger."
Meanwhile, Dustin Hoffman - who co-starred in 2003's Runaway Jury with Hackman - labelled the artist as a "giant among actors".
"I met Gene in acting school, at the Pasadena Playhouse, when he was 27 and I was 19. We used to play congas together on the roof, trying to be like our hero Marlon Brando," he recalled to the same outlet. "And Gene was like Brando, in that he brought something unprecedented to our craft, something people didn't immediately understand as genius: He was expelled from our school after three months for 'not having talent.' It was the first time they ever did that. He was that good. Powerful, subtle, brilliant. A giant among actors. I miss him already."
And in an Instagram post, Gwyneth Paltrow shared a photo from the set of 2001's The Royal Tenenbaums, featuring Hackman and co-star Luke Wilson. She simply added a broken heart emoji.
Hackman, who retired from acting in 2004, is survived by three children from his first marriage to Faye Maltese.
After the couple divorced in 1986, the Bonnie and Clyde star wed classical pianist Betsy in 1991.
