# Gene Hackman and wife found dead, and dog **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [February 27, 2025, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861 "2025-02-27T08:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/101 "2025-02-28T09:14:34Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > The line is in there, exactly as delivered in the movie. May I quibble with screenplay vs delivery? Hackman absolutely sold an essentially deadpan comic line. Not many Americans even knew what espresso was in 1974, and called it “expresso” till Starbucks opened. If I watch that movie again - which will be somewhat depressing as only the director and one of the screenplay writers lives (and may he live 20 more years). Yet Marty Feldman, Wilder and Boyle did not do some improv/ad-libbing? As I wrote above, as that ‘espresso’ scene was a wide-shot with Boyle breaking the door and running off-screen while on fire, while Hackman/Blind Man is still smoking a cigar, was very likely done in one take. In 1974 there was (law or order that…) no animal control people on-set, and likely no pyrotechnic/fire people either. And very unfortunately, as I’ve not commented on cause of death, it does look like CO and it was days and weeks ago. That is very sad, not like Mel Brook’s famous quip: “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/102 "2025-02-28T10:51:01Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > My senior year in college, my roomamtes and I were likely suffering from low-level CO poisoning. Our crappy apartment leaked like a sieve - so we put up weatherstripping / plastic on the windows. > > And we were tired ALL THE TIME no matter how much we napped. One of my colleagues died like this about 10 years ago. I remember she complained about a non-stop headache for a couple of days, then didn’t come to work that Friday. We got an email the following Monday telling us that she had died, and coworkers who knew her well disclosed that was CO poisoning. That’s when the significance of her “non-stop headache” hit me. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/103 "2025-02-28T11:59:44Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > it does look like CO and it was days and weeks ago. Then give plausible explanations of why there wasn’t any evidence of it. For example if it was a cracked heat exchanger in a furnace, it would stay cracked and continue to output CO. If Gene left his car running in the garage to warm it up then the car would eventually run out of gas and the ignition switch would still be on. I am also surprised there weren’t people they regularly interacted with such as housekeeping services, even if they didn’t have a regular maid, along with friends, etc. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/104 "2025-02-28T13:03:56Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I am also surprised there weren’t people they regularly interacted with such as housekeeping services, even if they didn’t have a regular maid, along with friends, etc That surprises me too. A home that large would be a handful to keep up without housekeeping services. It’s so disturbing that it took two weeks to discover the bodies. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/105 "2025-02-28T13:19:27Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > And (as I found out) CO detectors wear out after about 10 years. You also have to replace them when you sell the house, regardless of how old they are (at least in some states). > [@Moonrise](#): > > I remember she complained about a non-stop headache for a couple of days, then didn’t come to work that Friday. A coworker and friend in Lisbon was telling me about the vacation he and his family had just returned from. He says “Ya know, it’s weird, but we were having headaches a lot before we left, and then it cleared up when we were traveling. Then after we got back they started up again.” Uh-oh. I immediately grabbed a couple of my maintenance guys and headed out to his place. It’s common in Europe to have flash heaters near any water outlet so you have instant hot water. The one in their kitchen had never been vented. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/106 "2025-02-28T13:46:17Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > Hackman absolutely sold an essentially deadpan comic line. Not to detract from Hackman’s overall skill/career, we recently rewatched YF (and Blazing Saddles). Found neither anywhere near as funny as I had remembered. I had been aware of folk extolling the greatness of GH’s espresso line. Had not recalled it as anything terribly funny, nor did it seem so on rewatching. Just wanted to point out the degree to which folk differ in they taste in/reaction to humor. (It is SO disappointing to rewatch something you remember so fondly as being the HEIGHT of comedy, only to keep thinking, **“Yeah, those are the funny lines I remembered. I thought there were more of them. Boy, there is a lot on unfunny filler in between those few good lines.”** ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/107 "2025-02-28T13:56:59Z")
well NOW the news is implying that CO has not been ruled out. I’m confident on ABC news last night, they heavily implied that CO was not a factor, hence my post earlier. I need to walk back my my statement that CO was NOT involved, since the updated news stories are doing the same. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/108 "2025-02-28T16:09:52Z")
> [@Moonrise](#): > > One of my colleagues died like this about 10 years ago. How awful 😢 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/109 "2025-02-28T16:13:12Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Not to detract from Hackman’s overall skill/career, we recently rewatched YF (and Blazing Saddles). Found neither anywhere near as funny as I had remembered. That can be true of many movies (as well as books and TV shows, of course). Social tastes evolve. Like in YF, where the monster drags Madeleine Kahn off and basically rapes her. I don’t think that scene would be made, today. Or the frequent use of the N word in Blazing Saddles. It worked, at the time, because it was still somewhat in popular use though considered quite offensive even then, and the shock value was a big part of it. Plus, as with YF, “I LIKE rape” in the “recruiting the criminals” scene. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/110 "2025-02-28T17:40:06Z")
> [@Moonrise](#): > > One of my colleagues died like this about 10 years ago. So did Weird Al Yankovic’s parents ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/111 "2025-02-28T17:47:11Z")
I remember when Weird Al’s parents died. He still performed that night, saying something about how his music made others happy and so performing might help him feel happy as well. (I believe that making others happy is one of the best things that one can do.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/112 "2025-02-28T18:17:14Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > If Gene left his car running in the garage to warm it up then the car would eventually run out of gas and the ignition switch would still be on. Ignition switch? Cars don’ got no steenkin’ ignition switch. Unless the late Mr Hackman drove a ~2005 car. Once it runs out of gas, the typical modern car will … within a couple minutes the main computer will power down the electrical system & go to sleep itself. If that controlled power-down doesn’t happen, odds are the battery will be drained in 24-36 hours. So an empty gas tank and a dead battery would be a tell for that scenario. BTDT. Oops. But not in an enclosed garage, so no people or animals were harmed in the making of that f\*\*\*-up ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/113 "2025-02-28T21:00:02Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Then those little sayings that were supposed to be clever: > “_Cute as a pail of kittens_”. > “_Everyone needs money. That’s why it’s called money_!” > “_Cute as a Chinese baby_.” > > Everything seemed artificial and forced. Mamet is an acquired taste, especially as a director, but if you say anything bad about _Glengarry Glen Ross_ I’m going to make you [_put that coffee down!_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elrnAl6ygeM&t=83s) Rebecca Pidgeon, on the other hand, never puts in more than an adequate performance. She doesn’t kill _Heist_ the way she did _The Spanish Prisoner_ but I never buy her as a _femme fatale_. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/114 "2025-02-28T21:07:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Ignition switch? Cars don’ got no steenkin’ ignition switch. Unless the late Mr Hackman drove a ~2005 car. Maybe you need to adjust that date a little. I have a 2014 Subaru with an ignition switch. My sense is the move from keys (even keys with electronics in them) to fobs took several years. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/115 "2025-02-28T21:14:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > BTDT. That’s probably not “better to drink tequila”. What do you mean here? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/116 "2025-02-28T21:26:14Z")
been there, done that. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/117 "2025-02-28T21:45:42Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The news stuff _Mrs FtG_ watches went on and on about _Hoosiers_ and such. Barely mentioned _The Conversation_ which I feel is his greatest work. He got much more “into character” in that one than any other, IMHO. Agreed. My fav Hackman movie. I also like that it starts with him on top of the City of Paris department store, where my mom shopped in the 40s. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/118 "2025-02-28T23:31:32Z")
solid update here: > **[Gene Hackman and his wife test negative for carbon monoxide after...](https://abcnews.go.com/US/authorities-searching-answers-after-gene-hackman-wife-mysteriously/story?id=119283154)** > > Authorities are searching for answers into the death of actor Gene Hackman, 95, who along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were mysteriously found dead in Santa Fe. no signs of CO poisoning, dog was locked in a kennel. other dogs were able to get out of the house… …so… I’m back to my first speculation from a couple of days ago. Its not inconceivable that he just died and she, in her distraught state, died of stress induced heart condition or something. its all a guessing game at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/119 "2025-02-28T23:34:27Z")
My prediction is Hackman died in his sleep as nonagenarians are wont to do, and his heartbroken wife killed herself, forgetting the dog was locked up and would run out of water. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/120 "2025-02-28T23:37:02Z")
Or the reverse. It’s not like women in their 60s never have heart attacks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861.md?page=7)