What to know about the lives and deaths of Hollywood icon Gene Hackman
and wife Betsy Arakawa
[February 28, 2025]
By JESSE BEDAYN
Gene Hackman, a Hollywood giant and two-time Oscar winner, was found
dead along with his wife and dog in their New Mexico home Wednesday,
though investigators believe they may have been dead for some time and
the cause of death has yet to be revealed.
Hackman, 95, was a prolific actor who performed as an array of heroes
and villains in films including “The French Connection,” “Hoosiers” and
“Superman" from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.
Questions swirl around the deaths as details of the scene trickle out.
Here is what we know:
What we know about the deaths
Investigators in Santa Fe, New Mexico, have not said whether they have
determined the cause of death.
According to a search warrant affidavit, a maintenance worker called
police after finding the bodies Wednesday. He reported the home’s front
door was open when he arrived to do routine work.
In a 911 call, the maintenance worker said he could see Hackman's wife,
63-year-old Betsy Arakawa, laying on the floor through a window but he
was unable to get inside.
Hackman's body was discovered in the home's entryway and Arakawa was
found dead next to a space heater in a bathroom. On a countertop near
Arakawa, pills were scattered next to an open prescription bottle,
according to the search warrant.
Police said they found the body of a German shepherd in the bathroom
closet. Two other dogs were found alive on the property.
No foul play was suspected, authorities said, though a search warrant
showed investigators thought the deaths were "suspicious enough in
nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”
The New Mexico Gas Co. tested gas lines at the home but didn't find any
signs of problems at the time, according to the warrant.
An investigator noted people may not show signs of poisoning if they are
exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide, but also there weren't signs of
a leak.
Results of autopsies conducted on both bodies were not available
Thursday, authorities said.
What was Hackman famous for?
Hackman appeared in a broad range of movie roles dating back to 1961,
when he debuted in “Mad Dog Coll." Through the next four decades, his
roles including arch nemesis Lex Luthor in the “Superman” movies and the
iconic coach in “Hoosiers" helped put Hackman on a Hollywood pedestal.
Hackman's performance as an obsessed and amoral cop in the 1971 film
“The French Connection" earned an Oscar for best actor in a leading role
and was considered one of his defining roles. Hackman swung another
Oscar for playing a sadistic sheriff in 1992's “Unforgiven."
Hackman demurred from the pomp of celebrity and was considered an
actor's actor who focused on the job and not on his image, dodging
social circuit appearances beyond some award ceremonies.
As a boy, films offered Hackman an escape from a tumultuous homelife
with an abusive father who left the family when Hackman was 13.
How is Hollywood reacting?
Sympathy and admiration for Hackman poured in from Hollywood legends
including director Francis Ford Coppola, actor-director Clint Eastwood
and actor Bill Murray.
Murray worked with Hackman on director Wes Anderson’s 2001 film “The
Royal Tennenbaums.” Hackman gave young directors such as Anderson a hard
time but brought skill to the set, Murray said.
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Santa Fe County Sheriff deputies arrive at the Santa Fe Summit gated
community where actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa passed
away were earlier found dead, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Santa Fe,
N.M. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)
 “I watched him once do, like, 25
takes where he did it perfectly with an actor who kept blowing it
every single time,” Murray told The Associated Press. “He was a
great one. He was a great actor.”
Actor Cary Elwes called Hackman a “force of nature.”
“Growing up on his movies was an absolute thrill for me," Elwes said
on Instagram. "To observe his remarkable facility and humanity in
every role was something to behold."
Everything you ever wanted to learn about acting can be found in any
of Hackman’s performances, actor Steve Toussaint posted on
Instagram.
″‘The French Connection.’ ‘Crimson Tide,’ ‘The Conversation.’ Gosh!
I could go on,” Toussaint wrote.
Who was his wife?
Arakawa was born in Hawaii in December 1959 and grew up in the
state. She studied piano while growing up in Honolulu and, as an
11-year-old sixth grader, performed in youth concerts in front of
thousands of first and second graders at the Honolulu International
Center Concert Hall, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported in 1971.
Arakawa attended the University of Southern California from 1981
through 1983, the university said in an email.
While in Los Angeles, she was a cheerleader for the Los Angeles
Aztecs, a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer
League, and worked as a production assistant on the television game
show “Card Sharks,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported in 1981.
The classically trained pianist met Hackman while working part-time
at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They soon moved in together
and relocated to Santa Fe by the end of the decade.
Arakawa was vice president of Pandora’s, a home decor and furnishing
store in Santa Fe, according to New Mexico business records.
Where were Hackman and his wife living?
Their Southwestern-style ranch sits atop a hill with views of the
Rocky Mountains far from Hollywood. The area is known as a preferred
location among artists and a retreat for celebrities.
The home was featured in a 1990 article by Architectural Digest. The
four-bedroom, 8,700-square-foot (808-square-meter) structure on 6
acres (2.4 hectares) had an estimated market value of a little over
$4 million, according to Santa Fe County property tax records.
Hackman often was seen around the historic state capital. His
hobbies included painting, deep-sea diving and, later in life,
writing novels. The couple enjoyed watching DVDs that Arakawa would
rent, Hackman told the film magazine Empire in a 2009 interview.
In his later years, Hackman was seen far less in public. Papers
reported sightings of Hackman in mundane scenarios, such as when The
New York Post detailed the former actor pumping gas and getting a
chicken sandwich at Wendy's in 2023.
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Associated Press reporters Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Mead
Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, contributed to this report.
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