Gene Hackman Honored by Morgan Freeman at Oscars 2025, 4 Days After Actor Is Found Dead: ‘I Lost a Dear Friend’

Gene Hackman’s legacy is being honored at the Oscars 2025.

The late actor received a special tribute from longtime friend and former costar Morgan Freeman during the 97th Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2, just four days after Hackman was found dead.

“Well, this week, our community lost a giant and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman,” said Freeman, 87, as he spoke ahead of the ceremony’s wider In Memoriam segment.

“I had the pleasure of working alongside Gene on two films, Unforgiven and Under Suspicion, and like everyone who ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer and a man whose gifts elevated everyone’s work,” Freeman continued. “He received two Oscars, but more importantly, he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”

“Gene always said, ‘I don’t think about legacy. I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work,’ ” Freeman added. “So I think I speak for us all when I say, Gene, you’ll be remembered for that and for so much more.”

“Rest in peace, my friend,” he concluded.

Freeman and Hackman were best known for working together in Clint Eastwood‘s Unforgiven, which earned Hackman an Oscar in 1993 for Best Supporting Actor. They reunited to star alongside one another in Under Suspicion in 2000.

After learning the news of Hackman’s death, Freeman wrote on Instagram, “One of the personal highlights of my career was bringing the French Film Gardé a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman. And of course … Unforgiven. Rest in peace, my friend.”

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Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their New Mexico home on Wednesday, Feb. 26, along with one of their dogs. Authorities shared in initial reports that there were no immediate signs of foul play or carbon-monoxide poisoning.

Following further review of the scene, police later concluded that suspicious findings — including a knocked-over heater, an open pill bottle and dogs running around the house — warranted a “thorough search and investigation,” per Variety.

In 2004, Hackman retired from acting and took a step back from the spotlight. He and Arakawa, who had been married since 1991, settled down in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they lived a quiet life.

The pair were last pictured together in March 2024, during a rare outing for lunch in Santa Fe. Images showed Arakawa holding onto Hackman’s arm as they walked around.

According to Sheriff Adan Mendoza, the couple was likely dead for some time before being discovered on Wednesday.

Because there were no immediate signs of carbon-monoxide poisoning and “no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence,” per an affidavit obtained by PEOPLE from a Santa Fe detective, officials noted other findings stood out.

“[The pill bottles are] obviously very important evidence at the scene,” Mendoza said. “That information was collected, that information was passed to the office of the medical investigator to help them make a determination.”

“So we’re looking at that specifically and other medications that were possibly in the residence. So that is something of concern,” he added, further sharing that a toxicology report “could take up to three months or even possibly longer.”