\nGene Hackman had advanced Alzheimer\u2019s and severe heart disease at time of d.e.a.t.h: \u2018In very poor health\u2019\n
Gene Hackman \u201cwas in very poor health\u201d before his death, which was caused by heart problems and advanced Alzheimer\u2019s disease, officials revealed on Friday.\n
New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell shared the details of Hackman\u2019s health in his final days at a press conference in Santa Fe alongside Sheriff Adan Mendoza.\n
According to Jarrell, the Oscar-winning actor died roughly a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer\u2019s.\n
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\u201cExamination of the brain showed advanced Alzheimer\u2019s disease as well as blood vessel changes in the brain,\u201d Jarrell said.\n
\u201cIt is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Hackman died on February 18,\u201d she continued, based on evidence of a \u201ccardiac event\u201d recorded by his pacemaker.\n
The medical examiner added that the autopsy and full body post-mortem CT examination carried out on Hackman\u2019s body showed the actor had \u201csevere heart disease,\u201d a history of heart attacks, severe changes of the kidneys due to chronic high blood pressure,\u201d and had undergone \u201cmultiple surgical procedures involving the heart.\u201d\n
However, there was no evidence of \u201cinternal or external trauma.\u201d\n
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The \u201cFrench Connection\u201d star \u201chad not eaten recently\u201d before passing away as there was \u201cno food in his stomach,\u201d Jarrell said at the press conference, though she shared that the actor\u2019s body showed no \u201cevidence of dehydration.\u201d\n
Though there had been speculation that both Hackman and Arakawa died from carbon monoxide poisoning, testing indicated neither had the poisonous gas in their systems at the time of their deaths, and only a \u201cminuscule\u201d gas leak was detected at their home.\n
Jarrell also said,\u201dThere were no other significant natural disease findings,\u201d and that pills found near Arakawa\u2019s body were a thyroid medication.\n
Hackman was 95.\n
Officials determined that Arakawa, 65, died from Hantavirus, a flu-like illness spread mainly by rodent feces and is not spread from person to person, according to the CDC.\n
Security camera footage showed Arakawa, a classical pianist, shopping at a local Sprouts Farmers Market on February 11 before later entering the gated community where she and Hackman lived.\n
\u201cNumerous emails were unopened on her computer on February 11,\u201d Sheriff Mendoza said. \u201cThere was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after February 11, 2025,\u201d he added, noting that it\u2019s reasonable to assume that was the day she died.\n
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Her body had become mummified by the time law enforcement found her.\n
The Sheriff acknowledged that Hackman was likely home with his wife for a week before he passed away.\n
Citing Hackman\u2019s Alzheimers, Jarrell noted, \u201cIt is quite possible he was not aware that she was deceased.\u201d\n
Both deaths were from natural causes.\n
Maintenance workers discovered Hackman and his wife\u2019s bodies on February 26 after they were unable to get in touch with the couple. One of the couple\u2019s three dogs was also found dead.\n
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Law enforcement arrived on the scene shortly after the workers contacted neighborhood security and confirmed the deaths the following day.\n
Hackman and Arakawa met in the 1980s and married in 1991. They lived a reclusive life in New Mexico and were rarely seen out in public before their deaths.\n
Conflicting accounts of Hackman\u2019s health emerged shortly after he passed.\n
His daughter Leslie Anne told TMZ that her father was \u201cin very good physical condition\u201d in the months leading up to his death. But a friend of Hackman\u2019s, who spoke to People, claimed the \u201cUnforgiven\u201d star\u2019s health was \u201cslipping\u201d and that he was \u201cessentially kind of homebound.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gene Hackman had advanced Alzheimer\u2019s and severe heart disease at time of d.e.a.t.h: \u2018In very poor health\u2019 Gene Hackman \u201cwas in very poor health\u201d before his death, which was caused by heart problems and advanced Alzheimer\u2019s disease, officials revealed on Friday. New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell shared the details of Hackman\u2019s health in\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":116908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-116905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/actor-gene-hackman-wife-betsy-99344338_8c44ab.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116912,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116905\/revisions\/116912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefinejournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}