# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/121 "2025-02-28T23:37:45Z")
I was wondering whether reliable testing for CO would be possible after the amount of time they were dead, and I see that it is. This awful three-way tragedy is turning into an intriguing mystery that may take a while to resolve. Yes, I’m including the dog. It’s likely that neither Hackman nor his wife suffered, but the dog almost certainly did. ---
**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, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/122 "2025-02-28T23:54:46Z")
Any chance that a bubble of CO2, or some other heavier-than-air gas, could’ve settled in their home? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/123 "2025-03-01T00:04:32Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > My prediction is Hackman died in his sleep as nonagenarians are wont to do But he was found in the mud room, not the bedroom. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/124 "2025-03-01T00:45:21Z")
Doesn’t everyone nap in the mud room? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/125 "2025-03-01T01:00:26Z")
Apparently I’m not wealthy enough to know what a mud room even is. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/126 "2025-03-01T01:04:02Z")
It’s a room or just a spot just inside the house where you take off your mud- or snow-covered shoes or boots. Basically it’s just meant to contain the mess. Not really a matter of being wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/127 "2025-03-01T01:04:12Z")
It’s just the little alcove by the outside door where you take off your wet shoes and coat so you don’t track it through the house. Sometimes it’s enclosed with another door. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/128 "2025-03-01T01:04:29Z")
Hmm. I would call that a vestibule. Guess I’ve never lived anywhere where the weather is severe enough to need one. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2025, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/129 "2025-03-01T01:05:37Z")
Ideally there’s a seat or bench with perhaps storage for the outside clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/130 "2025-03-01T01:06:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Hmm. I would call that a vestibule. A mud room often has a bench so you can take off your shoes, storage for weather related clothing and places to hang your clothes. I think of a vestibule as being a lot less specialized ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/131 "2025-03-01T01:46:50Z")
Dairy farmers have something similar, which they also call the mud room (though “shit room” is the more informal usage) _Gene_ Hackman _Jean_ Harlow _Born_ in the 1930s _Died_ in the 1930s My money is on kidney failure ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/132 "2025-03-01T01:49:59Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Apparently I’m not wealthy enough to know what a mud room even is. I’ve seen them but never had one. Although I sure could use one now! ---
**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:** [March 1, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/133 "2025-03-01T01:51:30Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > My money is on kidney failure They both died of kidney failure? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/134 "2025-03-01T01:52:22Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > 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_. Her performance in Heist was also strained amd artificial. _“Let it go”_ _“Walk away from it”_ LIke she was supposed to be some free spirit or something. A criminal but also a free spirit. I just didn’t buy it. Hackmans smirk in the very last 3 seconds though was classic! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/135 "2025-03-01T02:20:24Z")
Jean Harlow died of kidney failure (although the rumor mill blamed it on her bleaching her pubic hair, as it would) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/136 "2025-03-01T02:29:21Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > Hmm. I would call that a vestibule. > > A mud room often has a bench so you can take off your shoes, storage for weather related clothing and places to hang your clothes. I think of a vestibule as being a lot less specialized The usage is probably regional. Around here a “mud room” is a small room between the side door of the house and the main interior, and/or may also have a door into the garage. As the name suggests, it’s a place to leave snowy boots and hang up coats before entering the house. It sometimes also doubles as a laundry room. A vestibule is a more formal thing between the front main entrance and the interior. Most modern houses don’t have them, but the mud room is very common. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/137 "2025-03-01T02:37:13Z")
“Mud room” was a very common term where I mostly grew up (New Hampshire). People had to have a place to remove and store boots, scarves, heavy coats, gloves, etc. Our mud room was just inside the main door. There was a facing coat closet and a boot rack on the left, with hooks above the boot rack for hats and scarves. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2025, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/138 "2025-03-01T02:58:37Z")
From watching British home renovation shows, they seem to call it a boot room. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2025, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/139 "2025-03-01T03:07:04Z")
The blind man in Young Frankenstein: > **[WebM Test II - Blind Priest Scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXGzO2aDDRU%2F)** > > The monster (Peter Boyle) gets burned several times by the blind priest (Gene Hackman).Ripped to a .vob using mplayer.(mplayer dvd://1 -dumpstream -dumpfile ... ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861/140 "2025-03-01T03:29:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. When my father died my band was booked for that weekend in a bar. The first night was one day after his death. It made my feel a bit better to be out working. Kept my mind off of things. So I get it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-hackman-and-wife-found-dead-and-dog/1014861.md?page=8)