Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | News | February 27, 2025
Update: Investigating police have determined, according to Page Six, that the death of Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, is suspicious in nature. According to police — via TMZ — the front door to their home was open.
“Deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence, and no obvious signs of a gas leak.”
It appears that both Arakawa and Hackman fell. There were scattered pills near the body of Arakawa, and Hackman’s glasses were on the ground near him. Hackman had been dead for around a day when his body was found; Arakawa had been dead for considerably longer based on decomposition. Carbon monoxide does not appear to be the cause of death, either.
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I woke up this morning, like many of you, to a phone alert that Gene Hackman had died. This did not come as a huge surprise — he was 95 years old and had retired from acting years ago. About once a year, a paparazzi photo of him with his wife would surface, and Hackman looked, well, like a 95-year-old man.
He was a very celebrated 95-year-old man, however, with one hell of a career. Born in 1930, Hackman rose to fame with The French Connection in 1971, winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of tough cop Popeye Doyle. Among his other notable films are The Conversation, Superman (as Lex Luthor), Hoosiers, and Unforgiven, for which he won his second Oscar. My generation, though, will likely always remember him most fondly for The Birdcage and The Royal Tenenbaums —- somehow released 24 years ago. Fun side note: In the 1950s, he and his friend Dustin Hoffman were voted “Least Likely to Succeed” by their peers at the Pasadena Playhouse.
I didn’t even know until today that Hackman became a novelist after retiring in 2004, writing three historical fiction novels with a co-author and two on his own.
Hackman was also married twice—first for three decades to Faye Maltese, with whom he had three children, and then to Betsy Arakawa in 1991, another thirty-year marriage. To be lucky enough to live long enough to have two thirty-year marriages!
Unfortunately, the weird postscript to what should have been a straightforward remembrance of a beloved acting figure is that Hackman was discovered alongside his wife and dog, who had also died. No foul play is suspected, but police are still investigating. It’s one of those situations where people will inevitably surmise one of two possibilities—one benign, one not-so-benign. Hopefully, as with the death of Michelle Trachtenberg, the investigation will conclude soon, and we can go back to honoring the life of a towering figure.
