Gene Hackman, wife and dog are found dead at home

[Chuchoter]

Legendary Hollywood star Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead in their Santa Fe home.
The couple, who had been married since 1991, were found alongside their dog. Local media has reported that no foul play is suspected.
Hackman had just turned 95 in late January. He was known for being a reclusive person, having not starred in a movie since 2004, when he played Monroe 'Eagle' Cole in the political satire Welcome to Mooseport.
Born in California on January 30 1930, the actor had enlisted in the army after lying about his age at 16, serving for four-and-a-half years.
After moving back to California following his military service, he decided to pursue acting after briefly living in New York.
RIP

Superb actor.

Especially the dog? Over the two humans who died? I find that surprising.

The humans presumably died very quickly compared to the dogs death which would have taken several days. Not a nice way to go.

I do not think we know enough to know whether one or both of the couple died quickly.

I will leave it there, as anything else is off topic.

I think he fell and died, and she took her own life. The dog died from eating Betsy’s tablets.

WTF

The dog was in a crate (this has been corrected from the original warrant which stated the dog died in a closet). Indications are that GH had been dead since 17/2 (his pacemaker stopped on that date) and that BA had been dead a similar amount of time (no such precision on that as yet).

Thus the most likely scenario is that the dog died from dehydration.

Even people who eat animals probably don't think it's ok to starve/dehydrate them to death over several days.

No one thinks that the dog’s death is “OK”.

But human deaths are sadder, IMO. Apparently, YMMV.

I'm not going rank deaths by sadness or anything but I can see why a drawn out tortuous death of an animal might seem worse than a 95 year old man dying in a fall.

What a tragic situation.

Sounds like she felt unwell, went to the bathroom for medication where she collapsed and died. He discovered her and the shock caused his heart to stop - reportedly, he had heart issues (pacemaker) and was very elderly as we know. The dog later died of starvation/dehydration - maybe this dog was more vulnerable due to being smaller or older than the others?

Not callous, just idiotic

Gene Hackman was one of the world's finest and most famous actors.

I despair of the ignorance sometimes.

@AInightingale has proper embarrassed themselves with that comment!

@Areolaborealis The dog later died of starvation/dehydration - maybe this dog was more vulnerable due to being smaller or older than the others?

My understanding is that the dog who died was in a container/cupboard and unable to roam around, and the other two were able to access the outside so were able to get water.

Very sad for all concerned.

& the poor pooch 😔

I think this is what could have happened, too, although I've just seen the dog was in a cage. It's very sad and tragic for all of them.

This is a bizarre debate to be having.

This is a nice article from a couple that they were friends with, and sheds some light on how reclusive GH and BA seemed to be, preferring emails to phone calls.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/02/us/gene-hackman-betsy-arakawa-santa-fe/index.html

yeah, this sounds plausible. Also, he was found in the boot room where the coats and shoes are. So I wonder if he was putting shoes on to
go outside and get help, maybe if they had a nearby neighbour or people
working nearby? But you'd think he'd use a mobile phone for this. He reportedly had dementia so maybe first instinct was to go outside and shout for help?

But you'd think he'd use a mobile phone for this.

There was limited cell reception at the house.

Plus… he was 95. My 80-something mother never chose to learn use a mobile phone though she had no problems with dementia.

And dementia or no, reception or no, a first instinct might be to seek or shout for help rather than find a phone if you didn’t know where it was stashed etc.

i dont spose we will ever know

that is a very nice article

The investigation into this is now closed and they’ve shared their findings.
No foul play.

Poor man, he must have been desperately confused.

So very sad that she died young of a lung condition.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89ydyjewjlo.amp