When and how did Gene Hackman meet Betsy Arakawa? A look into the couple’s life and relationship

Two-time Oscar-winning Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead on Wednesday, February 26.

The two had been married for over 3 decades, having tied the knot in 1991. They remained together until their deaths, with Hackman being 95 at the time, and Arakawa, 63.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy,” Elizabeth, Leslie and Annie Hackman said in a statement to Us Weekly. “He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa met while she was working part-time for a fitness center in California. They began dating shortly after the former separated from his first wife, Faye Maltese.

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Everything we know about Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's reclusive relationship:

As reported by Us Weekly, during an interview with the Florida South Sun-Sentinel in 1985, Hackman asserted that he did not leave his first wife and mother of his children for "a younger woman."

“We just drifted apart. We lost sight of each other. When you work in this business, marriage takes a great deal of work and love,” Hackman said of his divorce.

By 1989, The New York Times broke the news that “for the last five years,” Hackman had “been living quietly with a 28-year-old woman named Betsy Arakawa, a classical pianist he met while she was working part-time in a California fitness center.”

By 1990, the pair had moved into their new home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they stayed until their demise. During a 2020 interview with Empire magazine, Hackman reflected on his life in retirement with his wife. He revealed that they enjoyed watching “DVDs that my wife rents,” adding, ”We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce.”

In the wake of her father's demise, Leslie Hackman said in a statement to the Daily Mail:

"Despite his age, he was in very good physical condition,' she revealed, while adding that her father did not have any major surgeries these last few months. He liked to do Pilates and yoga, and he was continuing to do that several times a week. So he was in good health."

She went on to reveal that his death was "not terribly shocking because he was 95." She also revealed that as she lived in California, it had been a "few months" since she saw her dad.

"We were close. I hadn't talked to them for a couple months, but everything was normal and everything was good," she shared.

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At the time of writing, the exact cause of death of both Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa remains unknown.