On Wednesday, 26 February, 2025, Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead at their Santa Fe, New Mexico home, following a wellness check by authorities. Also deceased was a German Shepherd, one of several dogs owned by the couple. Foul play was initially ruled out, but evidence at the scene was inconclusive, and police now classify the deaths as “suspicious.” Search warrants were issued for the property to resolve the cause of death, which could extend to accident or suicide, but reporting indicates that the couple may have been dead for some time before discovery.
A five-time Oscar nominee, Gene Hackman won Best Actor for his portrayal of Popeye Doyle in “The French Connection” (1971) and Best Supporting Actor as Sheriff “Little Bill” Daggett in “Unforgiven” (1992). Despite determining at age 10 that he wanted to be an actor, Hackman’s road to the silver screen was a long one. He lied about his age to enlist in the US Marines at age 16, served four years, then knocked about New York City with a series of jobs, and began journalism studies before moving to California to pursue his childhood dream.
In 1956, he joined the Pasadena Playhouse, where he befriended fellow aspiring actor Dustin Hoffman; the two were unpopular with the group, and jointly voted “Least Likely to Succeed.” Rejection spurred them both to greater efforts, and Hackman returned to New York, where he shared living space with Hoffman from time to time, being cast in bit parts on TV and stage until a breakout role with Sandy Dennis in the Broadway production of “Any Wednesday” finally brought him recognition and critical acclaim in 1964.
Broadway success opened doors in Hollywood, but it was another half-decade until Hackman truly made his mark, nominated as Best Supporting Actor in 1970 for “I Never Sang for My Father.” He lost that award to Ben Johnson in “The Last Picture Show,” but a year later it was Hackman onstage in the spotlight, accepting his Best Actor Oscar for “The French Connection.”
Hackman went on to create an impressive body of work, with both popular successes and critical accolades, in such iconic roles as Lex Luthor in the “Superman” franchise, “Mississippi Burning,” “The Conversation,” “The Firm,” and of course “Unforgiven,” which brought him his second Oscar win. Later in his career, Hackman chose to focus on comedic roles, which he defined as harder than drama and therefore more challenging; a personal favorite for me was “The Bird Cage” in 1996, with Robin Williams and Dianne Wiest. He received a Golden Globe for his work in the 2001 comedy, “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Hackman essentially retired from acting in 2004, with rare small appearances afterward, and began to focus on writing, producing three historical fiction novels over the next decade.
Born 30 January 1930 at 7:45 AM PST in San Bernardino, California (Rodden Rating AA), Eugene “Gene” Hackman’s own PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) conform to the typical pattern of connection to the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Mercury. Asteroid Eugenia 45 (feminine form) at 21 Aquarius conjoins both the Moon at 19 Aquarius and the 27 Aquarius Ascendant. Asteroid Hackman 55397, a point named for him, falls at 9 Aries, semisquare the Ascendant and sextile the 10 Aquarius Sun.
Likewise, his career path was also laid out plainly, with asteroid Actor 12238 at 0 Virgo conjoined the 27 Leo Descendant and opposed the Ascendant, also trine career-minded Saturn at 7 Capricorn. Actor further conjoins Neptune at 2 Virgo, ruling films, and squares a prescient cluster of asteroids Academia 829, Nike 307 and Victoria 12 at 27 Taurus, 4 and 8 Gemini. Academia represents the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which sponsors the Oscars, while Nike and Victoria are named respectively for the Greek and Roman goddesses of victory, suggesting Academy Award success. Actor widely squared the 9 Sagittarius MC, ruling career, status and place in the world, is another indicator that Hackman would be a noted stage and screen performer.
As well, both Nike and Victoria are at station, making “winning” a strong element of Hackman’s character (Hackman was nominated for various acting awards 40 times over the course of his career, with 34 wins). Nike turned direct January 15, and Victoria followed suit on January 26; both remain at their station degrees for his birth. Nike and Victoria are further enhanced by Angular placement on the 9 Gemini IC. Not to be outdone, asteroid Oskar 750 (alternate spelling) at 0 Pisces exactly opposes Actor, and forms a T-Square with the victory stellium.
Also at station, asteroid Doylehall 90817, turning direct on February 6; it is the only minor body utilizing “Doyle,” and here reflective of his first Oscar-winning role as Popeye Doyle. Stationary points indicate persons, places, or character elements that will be of special import and influence in the biography.
Both Hackman’s Oscar wins were represented in the skies for his victories. When he accepted his Best Actor statuette at the 44th Academy Awards on 10 April 1972, Jupiter (luck, positive outcomes) at 8 Capricorn had asteroids Nike and Doylehall in tow from 4 and 6 Capricorn, all clustered on Hackman’s natal 7 Cap Saturn, which also rules peer recognition and success, and squared natal asteroid Hackman at 9 Aries. Transit asteroid Eugenia at 17 Gemini closely squares transit Hackman at 19 Virgo, together forming a wide T-Square with transit asteroid Oskar at 29 Pisces. Oskar was more closely squared natal Doylehall at 26 Gemini.
Twenty-one years later, Hackman was back in the limelight, accepting Best Supporting Actor for “Unforgiven” at the 65th Academy Awards on 29 March 1993. Transit asteroid Actor had just stationed at 7 Sagittarius a week prior, conjunct Hackman’s natal MC and trine natal asteroid Hackman, also exactly T-Squared transit asteroids Academia at 7 Virgo and Nike at 7 Pisces, all aligned with the natal Actor/Neptune-Nike/Victoria-Oskar T-Square. The transit Sun at 9 Aries exactly conjoined natal Hackman, placing him in the spotlight once more. Transit Hackman at 21 Taurus opposed powerful, transformative Pluto at 25 Scorpio, in a T-Square with the natal Moon/Eugenia/Ascendant grouping, further personalizing these energies to Hackman. A transit pairing of Jupiter at 9 Libra with asteroid Oskar at 7 Libra squared natal Saturn at 7 Capricorn, Oskar exactly, conveying career (Saturn) luck (Jupiter) and enhanced celebrity (Jupiter). A T-Square is formed by the opposition with natal Hackman.
If reporting about partial decomposition of the bodies is accurate, we may never know the exact date of Gene Hackman’s death, but the chart for the discovery of the remains well reflects his passing. Authorities entered the Santa Fe home at approximately 1:45 PM MST on February 26, 2025, finding Hackman’s body in a mud room, and that of his wife of 34 years, Betsy Arakawa, in a bathroom. A crated German Shepherd was also found dead.
Remarkably, despite the lag in time from death to discovery, the moment finds a stationary asteroid Hackman at 2 Cancer in a precise T-Square with the transiting MC/IC axis at 2 Aries/Libra, with the MC further conjoined by asteroid Anubis 1912, named for the ancient Egyptian deity governing funerary rites, at 0 Aries. The eponymous Hackman had turned direct on February 15, indicating a major turning point for its namesake, certainly something for which death qualifies. [Breaking news: Hackman’s pacemaker last recorded an event on February 17, two days after the station, with asteroid Hackman conjunct asteroid Lachesis 120 (Fate who determines the span of life) at 28 Gemini and square Anubis at 26 Pisces.]
Three possible causes of death are also associated with this pattern: first, TNO Ixion 28978, named for the first murderer in Greek myth, opposes from 7 Capricorn (exactly conjoined natal Saturn, ancient lord of death), suggesting possible homicide; second, asteroid Arachne 407, named for mythic figure who kills herself, widely squares from 11 Libra, opening up the possibility of suicide. The third option, an accidental gas leak of some kind (whether that be natural gas, carbon monoxide or some other airborne toxin), seems at this point to have been ruled out by authorities, but is nevertheless represented in potential by the appearance of asteroid Leakey 7958 (for “leak”), which not only opposes Hackman exactly from 2 Capricorn, but is also returning to its natal place at 3 Cap, reemphasizing its inborn potential in the chart. [Breaking: Hackman’s remains tested negative for carbon monoxide.] Hackman is also semisquare asteroid Atropos 173 at 20 Leo, named for the Greek Fate who severs the thread of life at death.
Mars at 17 Cancer is exactly conjunct the Ascendant for the discovery, which could point to a violent death, though so far no suggestion of this has been made. However, a square to asteroid Eugenia at 15 Aries underscores the possibility of foul play, as well as demise from other Mars-related causes, such as head trauma or blood loss (though it’s hard to see how that could apply to all three victims). There is also a T-Square formed by Eugenia’s square to asteroid Rip 7711 (RIP) at 12 Capricorn, opposed Mars.
The Moon at 22 Aquarius has just made its monthly Return to its natal place, again signifying a “fresh start,” however grim, also conjoining natal Eugenia and the Ascendant; the Moon can also signal a health crisis generally, and its opposition to Atropos at 20 Leo could suggest a fatal one. The Sun at 8 Pisces is exactly opposed asteroid Actor at 8 Virgo, placing actors in the spotlight generally, which is the case, with Hackman’s death announced just days before this year’s Academy Awards ceremony on March 2, when the Sun and Actor will still be within orb of opposition. A connection to Hackman personally is seen in the Sun’s conjunction with natal asteroids Oskar andOsiris 1923, named for the Egyptian god of the dead, at 0 and 4 Pisces, and opposed natal Actor and Neptune at 0 and 2 Virgo. Together, this symbolizes a spotlight (Sun) on confusion (Neptune) surrounding the death (Osiris) of an Academy Award-winning (Oskar) actor (Actor).
Other connections from the transit sky to Hackman’s nativity include transit asteroid Hackman at 2 Cancer squared a grouping of natal asteroid Rip (death), asteroid Lachesis (lifespan) and Uranus (accidents; sudden, or unexpected events) at 0, 1 and 8 Aries; transit Requiem 2254 (funeral mass for the dead) at 17 Gemini opposed its natal degree of 19 Sagittarius; transit Atropos at 20 Leo opposed natal Moon and Eugenia at 19 and 21 Aquarius; transit Rip at 12 Capricorn conjoined natal Saturn (death) at 7 Capricorn; transit Osiris at 17 Pisces squared natal Requiem; and transit Anubis at 0 Ares conjoined natal Hackman at 9 Aries.
As always, activation of multiple astrological death indicators is a prominent factor in a passing, but in this case, with the cause still uncertain, the cosmos has provided several celestial red herrings.
Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, whose website AlexAsteroidAstrology.com offers a trove of info on the role of asteroids in personal and mundane astrology. He is the author of The Black Hole Book (available on Amazon.com) and The Urban Wicca, former editor of “The Galactic Calendar,” and past president of The Philadelphia Astrological Society. His pioneering work with Black Holes in astrological interpretation began in 1991, when his progressed Sun unwittingly fell into one. Alex’s books and writings are available on his website. Alex can also be reached for comment or services at .
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