Police Find Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy Arakawa Dead at Their New Mexico Home
Gene Hackman, a powerhouse actor who built up an incredible collection of memorable roles across generations, has died.
According to authorities, the 95-year-old two-time Oscar winner and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, 63, were discovered dead at their New Mexico residence on Wednesday during a welfare check. Their dog was also found dead in the home, according to the Associated Press who cited a representative from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Officials don’t suspect foul play.
Complex has reached out to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
The San Bernardino-born Hackman began developing his artistic voice in the early 1960s with various roles in film, television, and theater. This eventually led to an Oscar-nominated supporting performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, followed by another nomination in the same category for his role as Gene Garrison in I Never Sang for My Father, released in 1970.
With The French Connection, directed by William Friedkin, Hackman scored his first Oscar playing Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, a character inspired by a real NYC detective. Hackman grabbed his second Academy Award in 1993 for Supporting Actor after starring alongside Clint Eastwood in the groundbreaking anti-Western Unforgiven.
Hackman’s standout performances in The French Connection and Unforgiven also earned him Golden Globe victories, as did his hilarious role in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums. Welcome to Mooseport, a comedy pairing Hackman with funnyman Ray Romano, became the actor’s final film appearance, as he effectively retired after its 2004 release.
Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Hackman in the iconic 1974 neo-noir thriller The Conversation, honored his former collaborator as “a great artist” in a tribute posted on Instagram early Thursday.
“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,” said the Godfather and Apocalypse Now filmmaker. “I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution.”
Hackman, previously hitched to Faye Maltese, with whom he had three kids, started dating Arakawa in the ’80s before eventually settling down together in Santa Fe. According to a New York Times article from 1989, Hackman first met Arakawa, a pianist, when she was working part-time at a fitness center in California. By 1991, they had tied the knot.
“It’s a great life, absolutely,” Hackman, then in his 60s, told Charlie Rose in a 1999 interview when asked how he felt about reaching the peak of acting while also exploring other creative pursuits like writing and painting. “I think that I’ve been really privileged to have been given the opportunity to do some of the things that I’ve done.”
Hackman’s impressive career, defined by his quiet confidence and authentic presence in every role, stretched across more than 40 years and included countless other unforgettable films such as Night Moves, Superman, Reds, Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning, Crimson Tide, The Birdcage, The Firm, Enemy of the State, and Runaway Jury.
RIP.
