Gene Hackman pursued an active lifestyle in the time leading up to his death despite his advanced age, according to his daughter, Leslie Anne Allen.
“He liked to ride his bicycle and he was still doing Pilates at 95 [years old],” Leslie told Us Weekly.
“We are very saddened about the news. It’s kind of shocking that his wife passed with him.”
Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home on Wednesday, February 26, along with one of their dogs. Police were called to their residence for a welfare check after a neighbor expressed concern for their wellbeing.
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Leslie said that she last spoke to her father about two months ago.
“We were going to do a DNA test through Ancestry.com because we didn’t know if he was German or not,” she recalled.
Leslie, 58, is the youngest of the late actor’s three kids, whom he shared with ex-wife, Faye Maltese. The two also had son Christopher, 65, and daughter Elizabeth, 63.
Although she said The French Connection star was in “good health,” Leslie also revealed to Us that her father’s memory had started to decline.
“He was doing ok. His wife told me that his memory was fading and he recently had a birthday and apparently his wife had to remind [him] three times it was his birthday,” she said. “But everyone was ok.”
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After news of Gene’s death broke, Leslie released a statement along with her sister Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s daughter, Annie, confirming the news and expressing their grief.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy,” they said in a statement to Us. “He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”
Police confirmed to Us that they do not suspect foul play in Gene and Arakawa’s deaths, though an investigation is ongoing and no cause of death has been determined.
“On February 26, 2025, at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased,” the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement shared with Us. “Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time, however, [the] exact cause of death has not been determined.”
With reporting by Andrea Simpson.
