Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy Arakawa’s Shocking Causes of Death Revealed

It is now officially known that the esteemed Oscar-winning actor, Gene Hackman, passed away due to natural causes, with advanced Alzheimer’s disease being a significant contributing factor.

It’s reported that Hackman died a week following his wife Betsy Arakawa, who succumbed to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) as confirmed by a New Mexico medical expert. In simpler terms, Hackman passed away one week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, due to a rare virus known as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome.

A week following their discovery deceased at their Santa Fe residence along with their pet dog, the official causes of their deaths were announced. Authorities suspect Arakawa passed away seven days before her husband, and Dr. Heather Jarrell from the New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office stated at a news conference that it was “plausible to infer” that Hackman died on February 18th.

After the autopsy examinations conducted after their passings, it became apparent that Arakawa might have had Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), an uncommon lung disease that can be acquired by coming into contact with rodent feces, urine, or saliva.

Dr. Jarrell mentioned that she found no indications of injury and concluded that the woman’s demise was due to natural reasons. However, she did stress that instances of Hemorrhagic Pfeiffer Syndrome (HPS) are exceptionally uncommon.

136 instances of a particular disease have been documented in New Mexico over the past five decades, and around 42% of these cases ended fatally. Researchers are still working to understand how Arakawa acquired the illness, as he is currently the sole individual in the state diagnosed with HPS in 2025.

According to Dr. Jarrell, Hackman’s heart condition was quite severe, which eventually led to his passing. Additionally, he mentioned that the actor struggled with persistent high blood pressure.

According to Dr. Jarrell, given Hackman’s severe Alzheimer’s, it might have been entirely plausible that he wasn’t conscious of the fact that his wife had passed away.

As a movie buff, I noticed that Hackman didn’t seem to be struggling with thirst, but Dr. Jarrell confirmed he hadn’t eaten anything in a while. Interestingly, Hackman also tested negative for HPS, a condition that spreads through inhaling polluted dust, not by person-to-person contact.

When their bodies were found, one of the couple’s three dogs was discovered dead inside its crate. The cause of the dog’s death remains undetermined. Arakawa had picked up this dog from the vet on February 9th, following a procedure. Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County suggested that the procedure might be why the dog was kept in a crate at home, while the other two dogs were not crated.

In the world of cinema, Hackman amassed an impressive collection of awards, including two Oscars, two BAFTAs, four Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. His fame stemmed from iconic roles like those in Superman (1978) and its follow-up Superman II (1980), as well as The French Connection and Mississippi Burning.

Arakawa was a renowned classical pianist, and they got married in 1991. Hackman, on the other hand, has three children – Christopher, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne – with his former wife Faye Maltese, who sadly passed away in 2017.

Read More

2025-03-08 14:36