As Gene Hackman and wife are found dead at their New Mexico home, who was Betsy Arakawa, did they have kids?

Gene Hackman, who won an Oscar for playing the lead role in the 1971 William Friedkin action movie The French Connection, and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico released a statement which read: “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.

“This is an active investigation-however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.”

Who was Betsy Arakawa?

Betsy Arakawa was a classical pianist who reportedly met Gene Hackman when she was working part-time in a gym. The couple married in 1991 and did not have children together.

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa were seen together in public for the first time in two decades in May 2024 when they were seen heading out of a restaurant in New Mexico. Gene Hackman’s last movie role was in the 2004 comedy Welcome To Mooseport and in the same year he told Larry King that he believed his acting career was over.

Where did Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa live?

Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa lived in Santa Fe in New Mexico. Their home was featured in Architectural Digest in 1990. When it came to furnishing their home in Santa Fe, Gene Hackman told Architectural Digest that “We bought a few things in Santa Fe. Other things came from auctions in New York, an antiques shop in Germany that Betsy and I found, and from Los Angeles. It's a nice combination of soft southwestern pieces and hard-edged antiques.”

Gene Hackman was married to his first wife, Faye Maltese, from 1956 to 1986. The couple had three children, son Christopher and two daughters, Elizabeth and Leslie.