Posted on 02/28/2025 6:07:02 AM PST by Red Badger
Actor Gene Hackman, 95, was found dead inside his home today along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 63, and their dog. The initial report was that the couple perished through carbon monoxide poisoning, but that was quickly updated as something seems off about how the bodies were discovered. Reportedly, Hackman and his wife had been dead for quite some time, their bodies mummified, with pills all over the place, and the front door was open. The couple hadn’t been seen or heard from in about two weeks (via NY Post):
Authorities said the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation” after finding the door to the couple’s home was “unsecured and opened” and an open orange prescription pill bottle and pills scattered around the room where Hackman’s wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, and one of their German shepherd dogs were discovered.
Deputies noted that it appeared Arakawa had “obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet” when she was found on the floor of a bathroom near the home’s entry, according to the report.
The door into the couple’s $3.3 million Santa Fe, New Mexico, home, which sits on six acres and is over 8,000 square feet, was left ajar — but there was no sign of forced entry or theft, according to the report.
Authorities also noted in the report that a black space heater was found near Arakawa’s head. A responding officer said “he suspected the heater could have fallen in the event the female abruptly fell to the ground,” the affidavit said.
The couple’s deceased dog was located about 10 to 15 feet away from Arakawa inside the bathroom’s closet, deputies wrote in the report.
Meanwhile, Hackman’s body was located in what deputies believe was the mudroom near a pair of sunglasses. Officers wrote in the report that it appeared he had “suddenly fallen.”
We’ll know more after the autopsy.
It’s such a blow. Hackman was a Hollywood icon with a storied career. From playing a hard-nosed NYPD detective Popeye Doyle running down French drug smugglers in The French Connectionm for which he won an Oscar, to a former spook helping a DC-area attorney, played by Will Smith, escape rogue agents at the National Security Agency in Enemy of the State, Hackman was able to play them all. He earned his first Oscar nomination for a supporting role in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde. He helped survivors of the Poseidon reach safety after the luxury liner capsized upon being slammed by a tidal wave, showed off his comedic chops in Young Frankenstein, had a nasty vendetta against the Man of Steel, and led a rural Indiana high school basketball team to a state championship.
Hackman later worked for a law Firm with only one client: the mafia. He soon got into a tussle with his executive officer, played by Denzel Washington, in Crimson Tide, which involved deploying nuclear missiles. Got into drag at The Birdcage, got involved in a nasty sex scandal and murder plot in Absolute Power, and did I forget to mention his role in Unforgiven, also starring and directed by Clint Eastwood? He also did voice-over work in 1998’s Antz, playing the militaristic Gen. Mandible.
Get Shorty, Wyatt Earp, Mississippi Burning, The Conversation, A Bridge Too Far—his resume is one of the greats.
Hackman’s last major film was 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport, where the late actor admitted that project was likely his final role in movies.
I know he was 95, but what a blow.
I’m sorry that he died and about the fact that it was in his own home. I hope he was going for his gun. I’m sorry about his wife and the dog. He was a good actor and I admire him living in his own home at 95. It’s an inspiration. New Mexico, I always think immigrants.
But if you ever read the comic book Superman, you would know that he was a terrible choice to play Lex Luthor. Almost as bad as Christopher Reeve playing Superman in the first place. In fact the entire series was mediocre. Casting a soy boy as Superman and a curly haired guy as Lex Luthor made for a disappointing movie. One does not forget such things. Cavill was at least a physical presence as Superman and the Lex Luthor in the TV series Smallville was a better Luthor.
Now when you talk about capturing the essence of a comic book character, Chris Hemsworth as Thor! Indisputable.
Checkout Scarecrow. A 1973 movie with Al Pacino. Good stuff.
Daughter said that she had not talked to him in two months. What a great kid!/s
We lost Frau Blücher in 2021
*neigh*
I will always remember him from “The French Connection,” probably his biggest role.
Still, this is very very sad. An elderly couple in my church barely escaped carbon monoxide death in their motorhome - our old motorhome had an alarm in it, but I always cracked the windows at night.
Apparently, the deaths were not due to CM poisoning but we won’t know until the autopsies, and that usually takes a very long time.
I also LOVED Tom Hiddleston as Loki!
I’m not sayin’ it’s aliens ...
... but it’s aliens.
Popeye Doyle from the French Connection
The dead dog in the closet is a clue................
lol
It’s got nothing to do with deserving.
But maybe Clint will see him in hell :)
(for anyone freaking out, it’s from a movie)
Does anyone know what “mummification” they are referring to? Isn’t this the same as rigor mortis?
I think that would count as murder.
But a special type of New Mexican murder.
Skin dried and tough, moisture desiccated....................
Absolute Power was my favorite of him playing the President and his “activities” that caught Clint Eastwood’s attention. Great suspense movie...
it depends if the door was closed to the closet. It is possible that the space heater and the pills and other things could have been knocked over by dog after their death.
I thought dogs eat people after their dead if they are hungry in the house trying to find food before someone saves them.
It’s been several years since I heard this story, but IIRC, he asked Mel Brooks if he could play the blind guy in Young Frankenstein right after he starred as Popeye Doyle in the French Connection. I think he was only paid $1,000 for that role.
Wow, thanks. Don’t hear that term very often in news stories.
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