Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, was found dead along with his wife of 34 years, Betsy Arakawa, 63, at their New Mexico home on Wednesday. Early reports suggested there was no immediate indication of foul play, but the official cause of deaths haven’t been revealed.
Who was Betsy Arakawa?
Betsy Arakawa, a classical pianist, married Gene Hackman in 1991, after dating since the 80s. Born in Hawaii, Arakawa met Hackman in a gym in California where she was working part-time even as she was trying to make a career out of her classical music training.
Hackman, who retired from his cinema career in the mid 2000s, remained out of the public eye for a few years now, and Arakawa too kept a rather low profile.
Gene Hackman was previously married to Faye Maltese for 30 years from 1956 to 1986 before starting a marital life with Betsy Arakawa in 1991. Notably, the legendary actor clarified that he didn’t abandon Maltese for Arakawa, and it was just a couple drifting apart.
Arakawa was the stepmother to Hackon’s three kids: son Christopher Allen and daughters Leslie Anne and Elizabeth Jean, whom he shared with Faye.
Although Betsy Arakawa stayed away from the spotlight for as much as possible, she was an integral part of Gene Hackman’s transition from acting to a life without being in front of the camera. After retiring from acting, Hackman wrote three historical fiction novels along with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan. He also wrote two novels on his own, and Arakawa was known to be very objective about his work.