Gene Hackman dead at 95

[Cotton]

 

[Foobio]

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and their dog were found dead in their New Mexico home, authorities said Thursday.

Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.

Hackman, 95, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.

The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the finest actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won for “The French Connection” in 1972 and “Unforgiven” two decades later. His death comes just four days before this year’s ceremony.


Hackman met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist who grew up in Hawaii, when she was working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s, the New York Times reported in 1989. They soon moved in together, and by the end of the decade had bought their home in Santa Fe.

The large Southwestern-style ranch in a gated community just outside New Mexico’s capital city sits on a hill with views of the Rocky Mountains.


Hackman was often seen around town and served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in the 1990s, according to the local paper, The New Mexican.
Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired about 20 years ago. His was the rare Hollywood retirement that actually lasted.

In his later years, he wrote novels.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage, but he and Arakawa had no children together. In 1999 they had adopted three German shepherds, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Hackman told the film magazine Empire in 2020 that he and Arakawa liked to watch DVDs she rented.

“We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” he said.

An email sent to his publicist was not immediately returned early Thursday.

Fonseca reported from Flagstaff, Arizona. Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles, and Sylvia Hui and Brian Melley in London contributed.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Great actor. Legend is correct. RIP.

 

[P_T]

Now I am just speculating, but his wife who looks to be Japanese, could have had extremely traditional beliefs, and in traditional Japanese society when the husband dies so does the wife. That's the way it looks anyway... Gene could have had a heart attack or a stroke and then his wife committed suicide. It is a shame either way... He was a great actor. RIP Lex Luthor!

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Now I am just speculating, but his wife who looks to be Japanese, could have had extremely traditional beliefs, and in traditional Japanese society when the husband dies so does the wife. That's the way it looks anyway... Gene could have had a heart attack or a stroke and then his wife committed suicide. It is a shame either way... He was a great actor. RIP Lex Luthor!

The dog died too.

My guess is carbon monoxide.

 

[Cotton]

The dog died too.

My guess is carbon monoxide.

It's a weird situation.

 

[P_T]

The dog died too.

My guess is carbon monoxide.

There were two other dogs in the house that were still alive... the dog that died was in the bathroom with his wife, maybe she took the dog with her?

The earlier reports said that there was no evidence of carbon monoxide.

They also said that most people that die of carbon monoxide don't drop dead on the spot, they most often die in their sleep.

I also assume that if it had been carbon monoxide, the first person to enter the house would have noticed it.

 

[Rev]

There were two other dogs in the house that were still alive... the dog that died was in the bathroom with his wife, maybe she took the dog with her?

The earlier reports said that there was no evidence of carbon monoxide.

I thought the dog was in its kennel.

 

[P_T]

I thought the dog was in its kennel.

This is why I normally don't trust early reports... the details vary. The report I heard was that the wife and the dog were in the bathroom with the door closed. Maybe the dog was in a kennel. They said there was a heater in the bathroom that had been knocked over, but would people with their money really have a kerosene heater in their bathroom? And would that emit enough carbon monoxide quickly enough to incapacitate both of them? Who knows.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Entertainment
Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were dead for some time, warrant shows
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and BRIAN MELLEY
Updated 6:44 PM CST, February 27, 2025

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe home, investigators said.

Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in an entryway, and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant affidavit. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.

Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds.

The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.

The gruff but beloved Hackman was among the most accomplished actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.


“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa,” his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. “We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife
According to the search warrant affidavit, a maintenance worker reported that the home’s front door was open when he arrived to do routine work Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies.

But in a 911 call, the maintenance worker said he was unable to get inside when the operator asked whether the people in the house were breathing.

“I have no idea,” the subdivision’s caretaker said. “I am not inside the house. It’s closed. It’s locked. I can’t go in. But I can see she’s laying down on the floor from the window.”

He and another worker later told authorities that they rarely saw the homeowners and their last contact with them had been about two weeks ago.

Hackman appeared to have fallen, a deputy observed. A cane was nearby.

Gene Hackman, the Oscar-winning actor whose roles ranged from reluctant heroes to conniving villains, was found dead along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and their dog. He was 95. What to know:

A search warrant shows that the three had been dead for some time when a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s New Mexico home.

Francis Ford Coppola, Viola Davis, Clint Eastwood, Bill Murray and others are paying tribute to the actor.
Hackman’s career spanned more than 40 years and a variety of roles, including his unforgettable role as Hickory Huskers coach Norman Dale in “Hoosiers.” Here are five notable films.

A dead German shepherd was found in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, police said. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said during a press conference Thursday that the dog was found in a kennel. Two healthy dogs were found on the property — one inside and one outside.

“There was no indication of a struggle,” Mendoza said. “There was no indication of anything that was missing from the home or disturbed, you know, that would be indication that there was a crime that had occurred.”

Results of autopsies conducted on both bodies are not available yet, sheriff’s officials said, noting that carbon monoxide and toxicology test results are pending.

The search warrant affidavit suggests that police appear to have a working theory that “some kind of gas poisoning” happened, but that they don’t know yet and aren’t ruling anything out, Loyola Marymount University law professor Laurie Levenson said.

“They don’t have clear evidence that it’s any type of homicide, but they’re asking for blunt instruments or other weapons that could be used,” said Levenson, who has no connection to the investigation. “It doesn’t also look like some kind of planned double-suicide.”

William & Mary Law School professor Jeffrey Bellin said the request for a search warrant was somewhat unusual because investigators who file one usually believe a specific crime was committed. In this case, no alleged crime was mentioned, Bellin said.

Police tend to overstate what they know, but this is the opposite, said Bellin, who also isn’t tied to the investigation.

“It just struck me as very careful in a way that search warrant affidavits often are not,” he said.

 

[P_T]

This is probably going to play out like an Agatha Christie mystery... Gene probably collapsed with some sort of medical ailment, his wife frantically went to the medicine cabinet for his pills (putting the dog in the closet to keep him out of the way), tripped over the heater, hit her head and lost consciousness and then succumbed to the fumes from the heater, or just died from the fall itself, and Hackman ended up dying from whatever medical emergency he was having. And since the dog was in the vicinity, it was probably suffocated too. A really unfortunate string of incidents. Or, because they said the process of mummification had begun (which takes several days) the dog could have just died of thirst.



Damn, this is going to give me nightmares just thinking about it.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

This is probably going to play out like an Agatha Christie mystery... Gene probably collapsed with some sort of medical ailment, his wife frantically went to the medicine cabinet for his pills (putting the dog in the closet to keep him out of the way), tripped over the heater, hit her head and lost consciousness and then succumbed to the fumes from the heater, or just died from the fall itself, and Hackman ended up dying from whatever medical emergency he was having. And since the dog was in the vicinity, it was probably suffocated too. A really unfortunate string of incidents. Or, because they said the process of mummification had begun (which takes several days) the dog could have just died of thirst.



Damn, this is going to give me nightmares just thinking about it.

Yeah if the dog was stuck in the kennel for an extended period of time it could have died for other causes. Pretty horrible regardless.

 

[Foobio]

 

[Genghis Khan]

"Was it easy" when your dad left at 13?

What the hell kind of question is that?

 

[Chocolate Lab]

"Was it easy" when your dad left at 13?

What the hell kind of question is that?

I think the main goal of interviews the last couple of decades or so is to try to get the subject to cry.

Why do people enjoy that? Does anyone besides the wimmens enjoy that?