Gene Hackman

1930–2025

Gene Hackman Now: Oscar Winner Died from Heart Disease at Age 95

After a nine-day investigation, we finally have answers about Gene Hackman’s cause of death. Authorities announced on March 7 that Hackman died from heart disease about a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, passed away from hantavirus in a separate room. The two-time Academy Award winner suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s disease, which investigators believe is the reason he didn’t report his wife’s death.

Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, were found dead inside the couple’s New Mexico home on February 26. One of their dogs also died. Authorities said they didn’t suspect foul play at the time but launched an investigation to determine what happened.

Deputies went to the home after a maintenance worker called 911 and discovered that Hackman, Arakawa, and the dog had been dead for some time when they arrived. Arakawa was found in a bathroom with pills, an open pill bottle, and a space heater nearby. Hackman was in a mud room, and the dog was in a bathroom closet near Arakawa. Based on the actor’s pacemaker data, investigators believe he died around February 18.

Hackman, who starred in such films as The French Connection and Hoosiers, retired from acting in 2004. He had been married to Arakawa since 1991.

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was known for his versatility onscreen in movies such as The French Connection, Mississippi Burning, and Hoosiers. After dropping out of high school to join the Marines, Hackman studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse Theatre in California. His breakout film was Bonnie and Clyde, a biographical drama about the infamous real-life criminals. Hackman played nearly every type of role: detectives, politicians, government officials, criminal masterminds, sports coaches, fathers, and military men. Some of his most famous performances include Popeye Doyle in The French Connection and Lex Luthor in Superman. He retired from acting in 2004, citing health issues, and died decades later in February 2025 at age 95.

FULL NAME: Eugene Alden Hackman
BORN: January 30, 1930
DIED: c. February 18, 2025
SPOUSES: Faye Maltese (1956–1986) and Betsy Arakawa (1991–2025)
CHILDREN: Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius

Eugene “Gene” Hackman was born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California. His middle name was Alden, though some sources say Allen. As a child, he moved to Illinois with his parents where his father worked as a newspaper press operator. His dad abandoned the family when Hackman was in his early teens.

When he was 16 years old, Hackman dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He lied about his age in order to enlist. During his time in the service, Hackman worked as a radio operator and finished his high school education. After being discharged in 1951, Hackman tried to find his way, living in Illinois and New York while working a variety of jobs. He studied journalism and TV production for a time as well.

Hackman eventually decided on acting and studied at California’s Pasadena Playhouse Theatre in the 1950s. Dustin Hoffman was one of his fellow students, and the two became friends and shared the dubious distinction of being voted “least likely to succeed” by their peers.

Returning to New York, Hackman landed his first off-Broadway role in Chaparral in 1958. He became friends with actor Robert Duvall and, for a time, roomed with his former acting classmate Dustin Hoffman. After struggling for several years, Hackman landed his first movie role as a cop in 1961’s Mad Dog Coll.

He made his Broadway debut two years later in Children From Their Games, which was quickly followed a role in A Rainy Day in Newark. Hackman was also part of the original cast of Any Wednesday, which debuted in 1964. After seeing him on Broadway, director Robert Rossen cast Hackman in the drama Lilith (1964) with Warren Beatty.

Beatty proved instrumental in Hackman’s big career breakthrough. He helped Hackman land a supporting role in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which starred Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the infamous criminal couple. Hackman played Clyde’s brother, Buck Burrow, who joins his sibling and his lady on their bank robbery spree. The role brought Hackman plenty of critical attention and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Three years later, Hackman garnered another Best Supporting Actor nod from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his work on I Never Sang for My Father (1970). In the film, he played a professor trying to forge a relationship with his estranged father (played by Melvyn Douglas) after his mother’s death.

Stardom and an Oscar after The French Connection

Gene Hackman won an Academy Award for his role in The French Connection in 1971.

Next up was the flick that solidified his status as a bona fide screen star: The French Connection (1971). Hackman played Detective Popeye Doyle in this hit thriller directed by William Friedkin and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.

After the success of The French Connection, Hackman took on a variety of films. He joined such classic stars as Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Roddy McDowall, and Shelley Winters for the disaster-at-sea saga The Poseidon Adventure (1972). The next year, he teamed up with Al Pacino for the drama Scarecrow (1973). Hackman went on to star in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974), in which he played a surveillance expert who gets caught up in one of his projects. His portrayal of the measured and precise professional loner Harry Caul remains another one of his highly praised performances.

Hackman returned as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection II in 1975, and that year he also starred in Bite the Bullet, Night Moves, and the notorious flop Lucky Lady, co-starring Liza Minnelli and Burt Reynolds.

The Oscar winner scored a success with his portrayal of super villain Lex Luthor in 1978’s Superman, which starred Christopher Reeve as the legendary man of steel. Hackman reprised his role in two sequels, Superman II (1980) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).

Reuniting with Warren Beatty, Hackman had a small role in Reds (1981), which was based on the true story of a politically radical journalist named John Reed. He followed that effort by playing a retired colonel who goes to Vietnam to find his son in Uncommon Valor (1983). He earned praise for his performance, but the film itself received lackluster reviews.

Hackman continued to explore different genres and types of characters for the remainder of the decade. With Hoosiers (1986), he tackled the role of a new coach who leads a small-town basketball team to victory. He then played a sinister secretary of defense in No Way Out (1987), also with Kevin Costner.

Later Work: Mississippi Burning and Unforgiven

Hackman delivered another strong turn in Mississippi Burning (1988). In this historical dramatic thriller based on a true story, he played an FBI agent investigating the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964, a performance that earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Not long afterward, Hackman experienced chest pains and underwent an angioplasty. He considered retirement for a while but eventually returned to his craft.

Working with fellow acclaimed actor Clint Eastwood, Hackman netted an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven (1992). In this western, he played a cruel sheriff pursued by Eastwood, who also won an Oscar for Best Director. Taking on a different kind of morally questionable character, Hackman played Tom Cruise’s mentor in The Firm (1993), a film adaptation of a John Grisham novel.

In 1995, Hackman played seasoned combat submarine captain Frank Ramsey opposite Denzel Washington’s Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter in the thrilling drama Crimson Tide. That same year, he starred as John Herod, a vicious mayor of a wild frontier town opposite Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, and the then up-and-coming actor Leonardo DiCaprio in the western The Quick and the Dead. In 1996, he starred in another Grisham adaptation, The Chamber, as a convicted murderer and racist facing execution. The film struck out with critics and moviegoers alike, but Hackman had better luck that year as a conservative senator in the comedy The Birdcage with Robin Williams.

The 2000s began with Hackman appearing as Coach Jimmy McGinty in football comedy The Replacements, opposite Keanu Reeves and Jack Warden. That same year also found him starring alongside Morgan Freeman in the crime thriller Under Suspicion. In 2001, Hackman headlined the ensemble cast of Wes Anderson’s offbeat family comedy The Royal Tenenbaums. Anjelica Huston co-starred as his estranged wife, and Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson played their adult children. That year, Hackman also starred in Heartbreakers as a wealthy widower targeted by a gold-digging mother and daughter, played by Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt. In 2003, Hackman got a chance to work with old friend Dustin Hoffman in Runaway Jury, which also starred John Cusack. He played a jury consultant working for a gun manufacturer in a suit that Hoffman’s client has brought against the company.

Hackman’s final movie was the light-hearted comedy Welcome to Mooseport (2004), in which he starred as a former president who campaigns against a local (Ray Romano) to become mayor of a small town. While promoting the film, Hackman appeared on The Larry King Show and said that he didn’t have another movie lined up, adding that his film career was “probably all over.” He cited the stress of acting and health issues related to his heart as reasons for stepping away.

Although retired from film acting, Hackman began a thriving second career as a novelist. He co-wrote four books with Daniel Lenihan: Wake of the Perdido Star (1999), Justice for None (2004), Vermillion (2004), and Escape from Andersonville (2008). He went on to deliver two solo efforts, Payback at Morning Peak (2011) and Pursuit (2013).

Gene Hackman and his second wife, Betsy Arakawa

Gene Hackman and his first wife, Faye Maltese

Hackman was married to Betsy Arakawa, a classical pianist, for nearly 35 years. According to The New York Times, the pair met while Arakawa was working part-time at a gym in California. They married in 1991. The couple didn’t have any children together but were known to have German shepherds as pets.

His marriage to Arakawa was the actor’s second. He was previously married to Faye Maltese from 1956 through 1986. The couple had three children together—Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie—before divorcing.

Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in separate rooms inside the couple’s New Mexico home in late February 2025. They were 95 and 63 years old, respectively. A maintenance worker and neighborhood security guard discovered their bodies and alerted authorities on February 26. One of the couple’s dogs was also found dead inside a crate.

Despite the macabre scene, there were no signs of foul play. Still, authorities launched an investigation to determine what happened. Based on his pacemaker’s data, investigators believe Hackman died on February 18. His cause of death was heart disease, and he also suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s disease. Arakawa is believed to have died nearly a week earlier, on February 12, from hantavirus. She had a doctor’s appointment that day but didn’t show. Their dog Zinna likely died of dehydration and starvation.

Celebrity Net Worth estimated Hackman’s total fortune around $80 million at the time of his death. His will stipulated that his estate would be given to his wife after he died. Because she preceded him in death, it’s possible his children, who weren’t listed as beneficiaries, will inherit the actor’s possessions.

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