From Hollywood light, actor Gene Hackman painted, pilates and bike in the community of Santa Fe, NM, where he and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were woven in the fabric of the local community.
Friends said Hackman had come to cherish the simpler life far from the paparazzi and the tremor of the business machine. In Santa Fe, he made friends, participated in community events and dinner in local restaurants.
“He was a fairly discreet individual even if he was someone who had incredible stories to tell about Hollywood and other celebrities,” said longtime friend Stuart Ashman. “He was just an ordinary guy.”
But this peaceful anonymity did not follow the Oscars winner in death.
Last week, Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead at home, as well as one of their three dogs. Investigators have excluded carbon monoxide poisoning, but expect toxicology results. They endeavor to rebuild a chronology of the couple’s last days of the couple via telephone recordings, emails and other means.
The couple has been described as private but neighboring by those who have known them over the years.
Ashman was one of these people – friendly with the double winner of the Oscars almost 30 years ago after the two sat next to the other at a community arts meeting. Ashman was director of the New Mexico Museum of Arts at the time, while Hackman had a seat on the board of directors of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, where he served from 1997 to 2004.
“He said his name to me and I said,” Of course, I know who you are “, said Ashman. “He just smiled this big smile and our friendship left there.”
For two years, Ashman was the part -time egg supplier from Hackman, offering him the occasional dozen of the chickens he raised. One day, Hackman made the favor with a landscape painted from a river lined with trees. When Ashman first refused to take it, Hackman politely insisted.
“Gene said to me,” You have given me eggs for two years. I think a painting is a fair trade ”, recalls Ashman.
The two would also discuss between the pilates classes, where they shared the same personal instructor.
“She said:” Gene, are you here to work or do you want to visit Stuart? “,” Said Ashman laughing.
A Gene Hackman landscape painting he offered to his friend Stuart Ashman.
(Thanks to Stuart Ashman)
Ashman said that years ago, Hackman had discussed the rental of a house in Florida Keys in winter and perhaps meeting after their vacation, but the pandemic occurred, and that the men separated.
The longtime friend Doug Lanham did not consider Hackman as a movie star, but as half of Gene and Betsy, the couple who always helped in the community.
Their friendship also started by chance. The couple went to their restaurant, Jinja Bar & Bistro, in the early 2000s, and ended up chatting with Lanham and the other owners, said Lanham. The subject of Arakawa cooking skills appeared.
Lanham invited Arakawa to come the next day, when the kitchen tastes new recipes. Arakawa apparently had some ideas.
“The next day, here is Betsy who looks so wonderful and confident,” said Lanham. “And here is the gene behind Betsy, lugging a cooler with all the food that Betsy was going to prepare for everyone.”
Finally, the couple put a financial interest in the restaurant. Over the years, Hackman has contributed his works which are now leaning inside, including a large room which occupies a large part of a wall of 5 feet per 13 feet.
Initially, Hackman was intimidated at the scale of this play, said Lanham.
Gene Hackman speaks during the great opening ceremony of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in 1997 in Santa Fe.
(Georgia O’Keeffe Museum)
“You made all these films which are great and we obtained this little wall on which we simply want to put a work of art. I have never heard you say that you can do nothing, ”said Lanham who teased Hackman on a few beers.
But three weeks later, Hackman called for restaurant owners at his artist studio. There, they found a bunch of tropical leaves suspended from threads on the ceiling which he used as models and on the rear wall a large triptych paint of a woman looking at a sunset in a frame of the South Pacific.
While Arakawa was amazed at the room once she was shown, Hackman was much more moderate, said Lanham. Customer’s reaction was generally positive, but there were also criticisms.
“You see them cross their arms and look at the mural and go:” It’s a kind of (Paul) Gauguin, look at the color. And then I would go: “Oh, it’s a go-gène. Look at this color ” said Lanham.
The couple has slowed down in recent years, according to reports.
Arabawa and Hackman’s friends, Daniel and Barbara Lenihan, with their son Aaron, told People magazine that Hackman was “mainly linked to the house” and had stopped cycling in his neighborhood. He had shown his age in recent months while his wife was “in perfect health,” the family told the magazine. She tried to keep it active and engaged, in particular by making puzzles and yoga on zoom.
“They seemed to be partners in real life, really, very close to each other, and they were both incredibly nice,” Aaron Lenihan told people. “They were reserved, but they were real, (and) very fun.”
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