Betsy Arakawa
Betsy Arakawa | |
|---|---|
| File:Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa.jpg Arakawa with her husband, Gene Hackman | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Betsy Machiko Arakawa |
| Born | December 15, 1959 Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Died | c. February 12, 2025 (aged 65)[1][2] Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Genres | Classical |
| Instruments | Piano |
Betsy Machiko Arakawa Hackman (December 15, 1959 – c. February 12, 2025) was an American classical pianist and businesswoman. Born in Hawaii, she was the second wife of actor Gene Hackman and resided with him in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she ran a small business until her death at age 65.[3]
Early life and education
Betsy Machiko Arakawa was born on December 15, 1959, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was of Japanese descent.[4][5] She attended Kahala Elementary School.[6] As a child, she studied piano with Ellen Masaki and performed at the Honolulu International Center Concert Hall at age eleven.[6] According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, she performed the final movement of Joseph Haydn's Keyboard Concerto in G major with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.[6]
Arakawa studied social sciences and communication at the University of Southern California from 1981 to 1983.[3][4] She later completed a master's degree in liberal arts at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[3]
Career
During a summer break, Arakawa served as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Aztecs, a professional soccer team, and worked as a production assistant on the television game show Card Sharks.[7]
Arakawa met Hackman in the 1980s while working part-time at a Los Angeles fitness center.[3] In 1989, she performed at the Altenheim Geriatric Center in Forest Park, Illinois, which was used as a German nursing home in The Package, a film starring Gene Hackman.[8][9]
In April 1990, their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was featured in Architectural Digest magazine.[10] Arakawa collaborated with Hackman on making the home "light and soaring", drawing on a unique blend of local pueblo and colonial styles.[10] Their home also had a separate studio building, which had Arakawa's grand pianos on one side and Hackman's art studio on the other.[10]
After dating for seven years, they married on December 1, 1991.[11] After they married, she stopped performing in concert.[3] In Hackman's later life, he wrote and published three historical novels, which Arakawa assisted with by typing up and editing his manuscripts.[3]
In 2001, Arakawa co-founded with Barbara Lenihan a linens and home furnishings store, Pandora's in Santa Fe, which she ran until her death.[3]
Death
Arakawa was last seen alive at a CVS Pharmacy on February 11, 2025 and returned to their gated community at 5:15 pm.[12] On February 12, 2025, Arakawa called a physician, who runs a private health clinic in Santa Fe, and made an appointment for that afternoon, but did not show up.[2] Arakawa died in their home a short time later from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.[13]
Arakawa, Hackman, and one of their three dogs were found dead at their home in Santa Fe, on February 26, 2025, after a maintenance worker grew concerned the couple did not answer the door.[14] Arakawa was found in the bathroom near a portable heater, along with a prescription bottle and scattered pills on the bathroom countertop close to her body.[15] At a press conference on March 7, 2025, investigators announced her cause of death as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease passed from rodents, and that she had died about a week before her husband.[2][16][17]
References
- ↑ Hackman and wife died of natural causes several days apart, officials say
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Moots, Sumiko; Romero, Dennis (2025-03-17). "Calls to medical clinic show Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman's wife, was alive longer than previously believed". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Wolfe, Jonathan (February 27, 2025). "Betsy Arakawa, a Classical Musician and the Wife of Gene Hackman, Dies at 65". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 28, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2025. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bedayn, Jesse; Billeaud, Jacques (February 28, 2025). "What to know about Hollywood icon Gene Hackman's and his wife's deaths". AP News. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
- ↑ Hayes, Kelly (February 27, 2025). "Gene Hackman, wife Betsy Arakawa found dead in Santa Fe home: What we know". Fox TV Stations. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Concert Star". Honolulu Star Bulletin. April 3, 1971. p. B-5. Retrieved February 27, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Chapman, Don (August 24, 1981). "Hawaii Report". Honolulu Advertiser. p. A-3. Retrieved February 27, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Getting Savaged: Black community leaders involved with saving..." Chicago Tribune. March 6, 1989. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ↑ Yam, Kimmy (February 27, 2025). "Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman's wife, was a businesswoman, former pianist and decades-long companion". NBC News. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Briese, Nicole (March 10, 2025). "All About Gene Hackman's Wife, Classical Pianist Betsy Arakawa, Who Died Alongside the Actor and Their Dog". People. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ↑ Shelley, Peter (2018). Gene Hackman: The Life and Work. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-4766-7047-8. Search this book on
- ↑ Jervis, Rick. "A mask, a cane and a frantic dog: Inside the final hours of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
- ↑ Stahl, Jay. "Gene Hackman cause of death released". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2025. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Moreau, Jordan (February 27, 2025). "Gene Hackman and Wife's Death Ruled 'Suspicious' in Search Warrant: 'No Obvious Signs of a Gas Leak' and 'Thorough Investigation' Required". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ↑ "Death of Hackman and wife 'suspicious enough' for investigation, police say". BBC. February 27, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ↑ "Actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa died of natural causes about a week apart". BBC News. 2025-03-07. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
- ↑ Brown Chau, Nicole (2025-03-17). "Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa, called medical concierge service before she died, authorities say". CBS News. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
External links
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- Musical artist
- 1959 births
- 2025 deaths
- Musicians from Honolulu
- Musicians from Santa Fe, New Mexico
- American women classical pianists
- 20th-century American women pianists
- University of Southern California alumni
- St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni
- American classical musicians of Japanese descent
- American women musicians of Japanese descent
- Respiratory disease deaths in New Mexico
- Classical musicians from Hawaii
- Infectious disease deaths in New Mexico
