Gene Hackman, who rocketed to fame in 1971 with his Oscar-winning role of hard-nosed New York City narcotics cop Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in "The French Connection," has been found dead at his home in New Mexico together with his wife, Betsy Arakawa. The cause of death has not been provided, but investigators say there was no immediate indication of foul play.

Best known for playing cantankerous, often volatile characters who exude a virile and dangerous energy, Hackman was one of a generation of young actors who shook up Hollywood in the 1970s with his gritty, raw approach to performing.

Born Eugene Alder Hackman on January 30, 1930, Hackman came to acting late. He was 30, after he had been discharged from the US Marine Corps (he had signed up aged 16, trained as a radio operator, and did tours as a disc jockey in the Pacific), that he began to take acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California. There he met another actor hopeful with less-than-movie-star looks: Dustin Hoffman. Both were voted "least likely to succeed" by their classmates. Undeterred, they moved out to New York to pursue stage work, for a time rooming together with a certified public accountant named Peter Falk. Hackman drove a moving van to pay........

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