Suggest

We celebrate the self-awareness, empathy, and wisdom of women in midlife.

Death

Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy Arakawa’s Deaths Shock Fans

CultureCelebs
By Craig Garrett
February 27, 2025 | 2:09 p.m. CST
gene-hackman-and-wife-betsy-arakawas-deaths-shock-fans
Photo by Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock

Film fans around the world are mourning the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, with many taking to social media to share tributes.

Videos by Suggest

The actor, who passed away at 95 alongside his wife at their home in New Mexico, earned an impossibly huge fanbase throughout his decades-long career. The outpouring for the beloved actor was immediate.

“Gene Hackman is an actor everyone admired, and is a screen icon whose work will live forever,” one fan wrote on X. “Passing at 95 is a good long life, but the circumstances in this case are truly heartbreaking,” they added.

“We learn to appreciate economy as we age, revisiting those artists who consistently say more with less,” another fan began on X. “Maybe that’s why his work seemed to loom larger with each year. Other actors did it with more flash and eccentricity. He was content to simply do it better. RIP, Gene Hackman.”

Yet another fan recalled the hilarious cameo role Hackman has in a ’70s Mel Brooks classic.

“The reason Gene Hackman in Young Frankenstein so much is the way he says “cigars!” and then looks at the film crew after he says it. He transforms into a little imp, right in front of our eyes,’ they wrote alongside the famous scene.

Colleagues, Co-stars and Friends Also Pay Tribute to Gene Hackman in Wake of His Passing

Of course, the film industry also took to social media as news of Hackman’s death spread.

“One of the personal highlights of my career was bringing the French Film Gardé a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman,” Morgan Freeman wrote on X. “And of course… Unforgiven. Rest in peace, my friend.”

EGOT winning actress Viola Davis took to Instagram to express her admiration, saying, ‘Loved you in everything!’ while highlighting some of his most iconic films.”“The Conversation, The French Connection, The Poseidon Adventure, Unforgiven — tough, yet vulnerable. You were one of the greats. God bless those who loved you,” she wrote.

Gwyneth Paltrow shared a photo on Instagram from the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, featuring her with Gene Hackman and Luke Wilson. She captioned the screen grab with a broken heart emoji.

Francis Ford Coppola, the director of Hackman’s 1974 film The Conversation, also paid his respects.

“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration: Gene Hackman, a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity,” Coppola wrote alonside a behind the scenes snapshot of the two on set.

Ed Wood screenwriter Larry Karaszewski also took to X to share his favorite Hackman performance from The Conversation.

Meanwhile, revered writer Joyce Carol Oates paid tribute with an off the beaten path film recommendation from the beloved actor.

“Scarecrow (1973) with Gene Hackman [and] Al Pacino is possibly the most underrated wonderful film of all,” she wrote on X. “[It’s] never mentioned in lists of films by these actors but one of their strongest & certainly most touching,” she added.