The bodies of 95-year-old Gene Hackman and 63-year-old Betsy Arakawa were discovered in their New Mexico home.
Before word of their passing spread last year, Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were seen together in public for the first time in twenty years.
On February 26, the 95-year-old Superman actor and Arakawa, 63, were discovered dead at their New Mexico home with their dog.
According to a statement from Santa Fe County, “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.”
“We do not currently believe that foul play was a factor, but this is an ongoing investigation.”
In March 2024, Gene Hackman made a rare public appearance.
Last March, Hackman and his spouse appeared in public for the first time in twenty-one years.
The couple, married since 1991, is shown in photos exiting a Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The two-time Oscar winner was spotted leaning on his cane with his other hand while clinging to his wife’s arm.
Arakawa, who is originally from Hawaii, reportedly met the Royal Tenenbaums actor at a fitness center in Los Angeles where she worked part-time. In 1984, they began dating.
In 1986, Hackman filed for divorce from his first wife, Faye Maltese, whom he had wed in 1956.
Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne were their children together.
In 2004, Hackman took a break from acting.
After quitting from performing in 2004 owing to health issues, the movie actor, who was well-known for his parts in Behind Enemy Lines and Mississippi Burning, essentially disappeared from the public eye.
“A stress test I took in New York was actually the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the actor told Empire in 2009.
“The doctor told me that I shouldn’t be putting any stress on my heart because it wasn’t in the right condition.”
Hackman made 79 feature film appearances between 1961 and 2004.
The renowned actor received four Golden Globes, two Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, and a Screen Actors Guild award during that time.
Francis Ford Coppola, the filmmaker of The Godfather, who collaborated with Hackman on The Conversation in 1974, has been spearheading the tributes.
The passing of a great artist, such as Gene Hackman, an actor who was inspirational and majestic in his work and complexity, is always cause for both celebration and grief. He remarked, “I celebrate his existence and contribution, and I mourn his loss.”