One of the most versatile and beloved actors in Hollywood history has died. Gene Hackman, who played parts ranging from comedy to drama, from character work to leading men, and won two Oscars during his long and acclaimed career, was found dead on Wednesday. He was 95 years old.According toVariety, Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog, were all discovered dead on Wednesday at the familys home in New Mexico. Their report claims there is no immediate indication of foul play, per authorities, though the Sheriffs office did not immediately provide a cause of death.Born in California in 1930, Hackman enlisted in the Marines when he was still a teenager, then studied television production and journalism via the G.I. Bill at the University of Illinois. By the mid-1950s he was an aspiring actor, one of a whole generation of up-and-coming talents who began making waves in the New York theater scene in the 1960s. He did some work in television (and at one point he was up for the role of Mike Brady onThe Brady Bunch), and then got his breakthrough and his first of five Academy Award nomination as the older brother of Warren Beattys Clyde in the watershed 1967 filmBonnie and Clyde.READ MORE: Actors Who Criticized Their Own TV ShowsBy the start of the 1970s, Hackman was one of the most respected and popular actors in Hollywood. He won his first Oscar for 1971sThe French Connection, another hugely popular and influential movie. (It also won the Oscar for Best Picture that year.) In the film, directed by William Friedkin, Hackman played tough New York cop Jimmy Popeye Doyle. Hackman later reprised the role in a sequel, 1975sFrench Connection II.AfterThe French Connection, Hackman was a fixture in movie theaters until his retirement from acting in 2004. The list of Hackmans famous work reads like a list of the best and biggest movies of the last few decades of the 20th century:The Conversation,The Poseidon Adventure,Superman: The Movie,Superman II,Hoosiers,Mississippi Burning, The Firm, Get Shorty,Crimson Tide,The Birdcage,The Royal Tenenbaums,and on and on.Hackman won his second Oscar in 1992, this time as a supporting actor, for his role as Little Bill Daggett in Clint EastwoodsUnforgiven.Hackman formally retired in 2004, following his role in the comedyWelcome to Mooseport.He spent the next 20 years enjoying retirement and writing Hackman became an author in 1999 and then wrote several more novels over the next 15 years. Although he narrated several documentaries, he never acted in a fiction film again afterWelcome to Mooseport.Despite two decades of retirement, the strength of Hackmans body of work meant that people continued to rememberand talk about him and to hope he might come out of retirement for one final role right up until the day he died. Now that hes gone, I suspectHackmans reputation will only grow, if its even possible for someone whos already considered one of the greatest actors of his generation to improve their reputation from there.Get our free mobile appMovies We Love Because Theyre Always On CableThere's something fun about surfing through TV channels later at night and happening upon something youve never seen before.Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky