Oscar Winning American Actor Gene Hackman Dies Due To Heart Disease After Wife Succumbed To Hantavirus | Report

Oscar-winning American actor Gene Hackman, who was in the later stage of Alzheimer’s, passed away due to heart conditions. As per several media reports, his demise happened to occur just a few days after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, succumbed to a rare syndrome spread by mice. Her autopsy report results were released on Friday in New Mexico. Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy and one of their dogs were found dead in different rooms of their Santa Fe residence. The actor’s heart disease and the hantavirus pulmonary syndrome that led to his wife’s death were revealed during a press conference at the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office.

The results showed that his wife died days before he died. When a reporter asked Sheriff Adan Mendoza if the actor’s Alzheimer’s had somehow hindered him from perceiving his wife’s death. To which she said, “I would assume that is the case.” 

Heather Jarrell, chief medical investigator at the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator said, “It’s quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased.” 

As per reports,  Betsy Arakawa is believed to have died around February 11, said the authority, citing the date of the last email she had sent. Last week, Sheriff Adan Mendoza told the media that a pathologist determined the last signal from Hackman’s pacemaker was from February 17. Which is reportedly the last day of his life. 

Notably, Gene Hackman is known for his work in The French Connection, Unforgiven, Mississippi Burning, Superman, The Conversation, The Quick and the Dead, Hoosiers, Enemy of the State, The Replacements, The Firm and Under Suspicion to name a few. Gene was married to Betsy Arakawa in 1991. Before Arakawa, he was married to Faye Maltese from 1956 to 1986.