Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa deaths: New details emerge
FILE – Actor Gene Hackman arrives with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, for the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 19, 2003. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
LOS ANGELES – Actor Gene Hackman, who was found in his New Mexico home along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of severe heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor, and media reports Wednesday show new details about when Arakawa died.
Dr. Heather Jarrell, New Mexico’s chief medical investigator, told reporters earlier this month that Arakawa, 63, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease spread by exposure to rodent excrement.
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Hackman, 95, is believed to have died around Feb. 18, based on data from his pacemaker, Jarrell said. Arakawa is believed to have died about a week earlier, with Feb. 11 considered the last date she was known to be alive.
However, new details show Arakawa died after Feb. 11. According to media reports, Arakawa made three phone calls to Cloudberry Health on Feb. 12 and received a call from the clinic later that same day.
She was asking for medical advice and had a doctor appointment scheduled on Feb. 12. She called the health clinic and complained about congestion, but did not have any signs of respiratory distress or shortness of breath, the BBC reported.
According to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, Arakawa is said to have exchanged emails with a massage therapist, visited a grocery store, pharmacy and pet store, and returned home around 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 11, data from a garage clicker shows.
Autopsies conducted on the pair found no signs of internal or external trauma or carbon monoxide poisoning. Jarrell noted that Hackman showed signs of significant heart disease, including evidence of prior heart attacks, previous heart surgeries and chronic high blood pressure. Hackman tested negative for hantavirus.
Pills that were found in the home near Arakawa’s body were thyroid medication that was not found to have played any role in her death, Jarrell said.
The couple were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on Feb. 26.
Deputies responded to the home in response to a 911 call from a caretaker who said he could see the bodies in the home, although he did not go inside. He can be heard telling a dispatcher the couple were “not moving” but he couldn’t tell if they were breathing.
Hackman’s family issued a statement saying 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. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”
Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner, had roles in some of the most popular and celebrated movies in Hollywood history. He played Lex Luthor in “Superman” in 1978, high school basketball coach Norman Dale in “Hoosiers” in 1986, and the conservative senator Kevin Keeley opposite Robin Williams in “The Birdcage” in 1996.
His most celebrated roles came playing law enforcement figures in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven.” He won his first Academy Award for his role as New York City police Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in 1971’s “The French Connection,” and his second 20 years later playing corrupt Sheriff “Little Bill” Daggett in director Clint Eastwood’s 1992 Western, “Unforgiven.”
Hackman had other memorable roles throughout his acting career, including a conflicted surveillance expert in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 suspense thriller “The Conversation”; an FBI agent who pushes ethical boundaries while investigating the murders of three civil rights workers in the 1988 drama “Mississippi Burning”; and Capt. Frank Ramsey, the rigid nuclear submarine commander in 1995’s “Crimson Tide,” opposite Denzel Washington.
After appearing in nearly 80 films over 40 years, Hackman’s final role was in the 2004 political satire “Welcome to Mooseport.” He received five Academy Award nominations as well as two BAFTA Awards out of five career nominations.
Hackman was nominated for eight Golden Globe awards and won three, in addition to being presented with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2003 for his “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.”
Hackman was married twice, the first time for 30 years to Faye Maltese, with whom he had three children. They divorced in 1986. He married Arakawa, a classical pianist 30 years his junior, in 1991. He is survived by his son and two daughters. (CNS)
