David Meltzer
Gene Hackman’s daughter Leslie Anne Hackman gave insight on her father’s health prior to the actor, 95, being found dead—alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their dogs—at home on Feb. 26.
Gene Hackman daughter Leslie Anne Hackman knew her father to be in prime health.
In fact, according to Leslie, the Oscar-winning actor, 95, was active before he was found dead in his Santa Fe home, alongside his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and one of their dogs on Feb. 26.
“Despite his age,” Leslie told the in an interview published Feb. 27. “He was in very good physical condition. He liked to do Pilates and yoga, and he was continuing to do that several times a week. So he was in good health.”
In addition to Leslie, Gene was the father of Christopher and Elizabeth, whom he shared with his ex-wife Faye Maltese. In 1991, the French Connection actor married Betsy, who was a classical pianist, and who Leslie credits for keeping him in such good shape in his later years after he retired from acting.
“They had a wonderful marriage. And I give credit to his wife, Betsy, for keeping him alive,” Leslie said. “Betsy took very, very good care of him and was always looking out for his health. So, I am appreciative to her for that, and I’m very saddened by her passing.”
Authorities have been working to determine the cause of Gene and Betsy’s death. The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office previously told NBC News that “foul play is not suspected a factor,” but their deaths have been deemed, “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”
Hours after the news of her father’s death was announced, Leslie shared her thoughts on the initial investigation.
I think I’m very anxious to find out what happened and I just don’t know how long they had been deceased,” she told up US WEEKLY Feb. 27. “[The authorities] don’t know yet either.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza offered a bit more insight on the specific items found at the scene of the couple’s death, which included an open prescription pill bottle that was near Betsy’s body, first mentioned in an affidavit.
“That’s obviously very important evidence at the scene,” Adam told Today’s Savannah Guthrie on the Feb. 28. “That information was collected, that information was passed to the office of the medical investigator to help them make a determination. So we’re looking at that specifically and other medications that were possibly in the residence. So that is something of concern.”
Adam also noted that the timeline of Gene and Betsy’s death is unclear.
“It’s very difficult to put a timeline together,” he said. “it appears [they had been deceased for] several days possibly even up to a couple weeks”
According to Adam, who is the lead investigator on the case, “the autopsy report is going to be key to this investigation,” but investigators remain “pretty confident that there is no foul play, just based on the lack of evidence of foul play.”
Keep reading to look back on Gene’s life and career…
