Gene Hackman would have died “a long time ago” without Betsy Arakawa, says a friend

Gene Hackman thought that his wife Betsy Arakawa was the reason why he lived as long as he was doing, according to one of the actor’s longtime friends.

“She was very protective towards him,” Tom Allin Tom Allin said at the New York Times d’Arakawa, who was apparently the only goalkeeper in the Oscar, before his shocking death.

Maintenance workers discovered Hackman and his wife’s body at the Maison du couple de Santa Fe, in New Mexico on February 26, after being able to get in touch with the couple.

Allin, who shared a 20 -year -old friendship with Hackman, recalled Hackman once he told him that he would have died “a long time ago” without Arakawa taking care that he had maintained a healthy diet.

“She was really dealing with him,” he said about the concert pianist, remembering how Hackman’s 90th anniversary in January 2020, shortly before the Cavid-19 pandemic, he saw Arakawa mix soda water in the actor’s wine.

He also mentioned that he could say that Hackman’s health was declining. The couple had an annual tradition in which Hackman would cook dinner for Arakawa’s birthday. In 2023, she returned home by anticipating a meal, but Hackman had forgotten their usual custom.

At a press conference held on Friday, officials revealed that Hackman, 95, died of a heart disease, Alzheimers’ advanced disease being a contributory factor. The star of “French Connection” “was in very poor health” before his death, said Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner of the New Mexico.

The actor “had not eaten recently” before dying because there was “no food in his stomach,” added Jarrell, although she noted that his body showed no “proof of dehydration”.

Based on the recorded data of his cardiac stimulator, Hackman probably died on February 18, about a week after his wife’s death of Hantavirus, an influenza disease widespread mainly by rodent excrement that attacks the lungs. According to the CDC, the Hantavirus is not distributed from one person to another.

The sheriff recognized that Hackman was probably at home with his wife for a week before his death.

Citing the Alzheimers of Hackman, Jarrell noted: “It is quite possible that he does not know that she had died.”

Friday, Hackman had a caregiver other than Arakawa, the sheriff of the County of Santa Fe, Adan Mendoza, said: “At this stage, there is no indication that there was a guard at home.”

Arakawa, 65, was seen for the last time alive on February 11, when security cameras spotted her to go to a farmer market, a CVS pharmacy and a dog food store. She would have worn a facial mask, which she has often done to avoid bringing disease home to her husband.

Leslie Anne Allen, Hackman’s daughter whom he shared with his late ex-wife Faye Maltese, said about her father’s marriage to Arakawa, “They had a wonderful marriage. And I give credit to his wife, Betsy, for keeping her alive. »»

“(Betsy) took great care of him very well and still was looking for his health,” said Leslie Anne, 58. “So I am grateful for her for that, and I am very saddened by her death.”

Hackman and the close friends of Arakawa, Barbara Lenihan, 75, of Santa Fe and her husband, the author Daniel Lenihan, 79, recently told the post that the couple was increasingly “insular” in recent years.

“They were a bit island and it was good, it had become more difficult for them to have people,” said Barbara.

Barbara also told people that her health “really slipped” in the “last months”.

The son of the Aaron couple added: “Betsy tried to keep it a little active and committed.”

“She was still trying to keep it as active and committed and healthy as possible.”