Aww…she had a beautiful voice. I loved her duets with Donnie Hathaway (who sadly passed away too young).
And only 39 years old…
Such a talent. So young. Life is unfair.
Such a treasure - the amount of impactful movies is many. Amazing he’s not made one in 20+ years.
Something is amiss though (like carbon monoxide) - it’ll be interesting to learn the why. He lived a long wife though but his wife didn’t.
“Hackman was found dead with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and their dog when deputies performed a welfare check at their New Mexico home around 1:45 p.m. Thursday, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.”
An update:
“SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple’s Santa Fe home, according to investigators.
Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 63-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa.
Denise Avila, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds.
The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn’t find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff’s detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.”
The New York Times is reporting that the dead German Shepherd was found inside the bathroom closet. That sounds very suspicious, unless the closet door was open and the dog normally slept there.
Gene Hackman’s death and that of his wife Betsy are certainly odd. Two other dogs were found alive on the property.
Pills were found near Betsy’s body and they were scattered on the floor. My hunch is that the dog who died ate some of the pills and they made him ill so he crawled away to a quiet place to die. Stories suggest that the two people were dead several days before their bodies were discovered and I think the dog was probably really hungry and therefore ate the pills.
The news said the dog was in a crate. I don’t know if dead for ‘quite some time’ means days or weeks.
Something was said in a report about the wife possibly falling and hitting her head. We wondered if maybe he tried to get to her and also fell. Regardless of what happened, it’s just so sad.
Didn’t the news say they were found in different rooms?
Yes all very sad.
And it sounds like it was a while before they were found based on the description of decomposition (ugh).
All very sad. I was surprised at his age that there weren’t more helpers that might have seen something sooner. Visiting nurse, food delivery, health aide, dog walker, daily family or friend checkin by phone,etc.
But his wife was young (around my age, so don’t say she wasn’t young!). It might not have been unusual not to hear from them regularly, and she was young enough that I expect that she would not have needed assistance in daily living.
I bet the Oscar producers are working hard today reediting their memorial segment for Sunday night adding Gene Hackman.
Dolly Parton’s husband passed away
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/dolly-partons-husband-carl-dean-dead-at-82-words-cant-do-justice/ar-AA1AbkPQ?ocid=BingNewsBrowse
About 18 years ago, my husband and I sat next to them in a restaurant in Nashville. We were the only two tables there because it was a really weird time, like 2pm or something. Anyway, Dolly chattered away the whole time, she even talked to me while I was walking by to go to the restroom, and her husband just sat silently and grinned at her the entire time. They seemed perfectly suited, I’m sad for her.