How Hollywood ruined Gene Hackman’s first marriage to loyal bank clerk – before he got a second chance with Hawaiian pianist Betsy Arakawa
Gene Hackman – who along with wife was found dead in his Santa Fe home – was married twice in his life.
The Hollywood legend, 95, had been with Betsy Arakawa, 64 – more than 30 years his junior – since 1991.
And the late star, perhaps best known for his role as Buck in Bonnie and Clyde, was said to live a ‘peaceful life’ with the Hawaiian classical pianist he fell in love with.
However, his romance with first partner Faye Maltese, a bank clerk, was understood to be much more tumultuous.
The couple had three children together – Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne Hackman.
However, the actor’s busy schedule meant he was ‘gone so much’ while trying to make his big break – putting a strain on relations. In 1986, they got divorced.
The pair first met in 1955 – when Gene was only 25 and nowhere near success. As reported by the New York Times Magazine in 1989, he and the ‘pretty and dark-haired’ secretary at Rockefeller Center initially crossed paths at a Y.M.C.A. dance in the Big Apple.
Their first few years as a young family were marked by struggle – the couple lived in a ‘cold water walk up’ – meaning there is no hot water supply available – in the city.
Gene Hackman – who along with wife was found dead in his Santa Fe home – was married twice in his life. Pictured with first wife Faye
The Hollywood legend, 95, had been with Betsy Arakawa, more than 30 years his junior, since 1991
Gene Hackman – who along with wife (both pictured) was found dead in his Santa Fe home – was married twice in his life
However, Gene, speaking to the outlet admitted that as success in theatre, Broadway and the screen came, he became ‘selfish’.
‘You spend so many years wanting desperately to be recognized as having the talent and then when you’re starting to be offered these parts, it’s very tough to turn anything down,’ he revealed.
‘Even though I had a family, I took jobs that would separate us for three or four months at a time. The temptations in that, the money and recognition, it was too much for the poor boy in me. I wasn’t able to handle that.’
In 2011, Gene also discussed how his dreams of grandeur caused a rift with his children, when asked what advice he’d want to pass onto his son by GQ.
He answered: ‘I lost touch with my son in terms of advice early on. Maybe it had to do with being gone so much, doing location films when he was at an age where he needed support and guidance.
‘It was very tough for me to be gone for three months and then come home and start bossing him around.’
As reported by the Chicago Tribune via Nicki Swift , it was marrying Betsy that rekindled Gene’s relationship with his children, and encouraged him to start inviting them over
However, it appears that towards the end of his life, the star managed to make amends.
In 2020, Closer reported that despite past regrets, Gene is close with his kids and grandkids.
‘He wishes he’d been around more for his children, but now he’s close with them and their kids,’ and insider added.
Speaking to the Irish Independent in 2000, he reflected further: ‘It’s tough being the son or daughter of a celebrity.
‘I couldn’t always be home with them when they were growing up and then, living in California, they’ve had my success always hanging over their heads.’
He and Betsy were understood to live an idyllic life in their Santa Fe home – where they were keen to decorate the property unique to their own styles.
‘We bought a few things in Santa Fe,’ Gene told Architectural Digest in 2022. ‘Other things came from auctions in New York, an antiques shop in Germany that Betsy and I found, and from Los Angeles. It’s a nice combination of soft southwestern pieces and hard-edged antiques.’
In an interview with Empire in 2020, the retired actor also said he enjoyed watching DVDs that Betsy rented.
‘We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,’ he said.
‘Friday night is set aside for a Comedy Channel marathon, with particular attention paid to Eddie Izzard. The speed of thought is amazing.’
As reported by the Chicago Tribune via Nicki Swift, it was marrying Betsy that rekindled Gene’s relationship with his children, and encouraged him to start inviting them over.
While not much is known about the classical pianist who won over Gene’s heart, the actor had revealed that they started dating in the mid-80s.
In an interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, via People, he however stressed that he did not leave Faye for her.
Gene Hackman, seen here with Estelle Parsons, was found dead alongside his wife
The legendary actor had recently turned 95
Hackman won two Oscars in his lifetime
‘By the way, I did not leave my real-life wife for a younger woman,’ Gene remarked, when discussing his similarities to his character Harry Mackenzie in 1985’s Twice in a Lifetime.
‘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.’
Gene and Betsy, as he recounted to the New York Times Magazine, met while she was working part-time at a fitness centre.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza did not provide a cause of death, nor did he say when the couple might have died, when asked by local media.
Two-time Oscar winner Hackman had just turned 95 in late January. He was known for being a reclusive person, having not starred in a movie since 2004, when he played Monroe ‘Eagle’ Cole in the political satire Welcome to Mooseport.
The actor was first propelled into the spotlight when he starred in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, and he went on to star in a slew of beloved movies and TV shows like Superman, The French Connection and Get Shorty, to name a few.
But in 2004, he announced that he was done being an actor. He packed up his things, left Los Angeles for the quiet of New Mexico – and he never looked back.
Some initially thought that the shocking decision had to do with his marriage.
The Oscar-award winning actor actually quit acting because of the severe stress he was under, which became too much to handle after he started to have issues with his heart.
American Actor Gene Hackman At the 1993 Academy Awards
Raquel Welch, Gene Hackman and Cloris Leachman (holding her Best Supporting Actress Oscar) at the 44th Academy Awards in Hollywood April 17 1972
He played an astronaut in Marooned
Last year, he and Betsy, a 63-year-old classical pianist, were seen out and about for the first time in two decades.
Hackman was spotted holding onto his wife’s arm for balance as the pair grabbed a bite at Pappadeaux’s Seafood Kitchen in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Before the dinner date, Hackman enjoyed a cup of coffee and some apple pie from a local Speedway store, according to the New York Post.
The couple’s outing marks the first time they were seen together in public for 21 years, with the last time being at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, where he won the Cecil B. deMille award.
The legendary two-time Oscar winner and his long-time partner seemed to be in a good mood as they left the restaurant together.
He told Reuters in 2008: ‘I haven’t held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I’m not going to act any longer.’
‘I’ve been told not to say that over the last few years, in case some real wonderful part comes up, but I really don’t want to do it any longer.’
He also explained his passion for writing novels, saying ‘I like the loneliness of it, actually. It’s similar in some ways to acting, but it’s more private and I feel like I have more control over what I’m trying to say and do.’
Hackman played Kibby Womack in 1975’s Lucky Lady
He garnered praised for his role in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenebaums
Hackman also played Detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection
‘There’s always a compromise in acting and in film, you work with so many people and everyone has an opinion. … I don’t know that I like it better than acting, it’s just different. I find it relaxing and comforting.’
In 2011, he was asked by GQ if he would ever come out of retirement to do one more film, to which Hackman responded: ‘If I could do it in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people.’
He has not stayed completely away from the industry, however, as he has narrated two Marine Corps documentaries: The Unknown Flag Raiser of Iwo Jima (2016) and We, The Marines (2017).
Born in California on January 30 1930, the actor had enlisted in the army after lying about his age at 16, serving for four-and-a-half years.
After moving back to California following his military service, he decided to pursue acting after briefly living in New York.
Hackman began his acting career nearly 70 years ago, joining the Pasadena Playhouse in 1956, where he befriended fellow aspiring actor Dustin Hoffman.
He eventually moved to New York in 1963 and began performing in several Off-Broadway plays and smaller TV roles.
The thespian truly made his name in the 1970s, when he was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for the 1970 flick, I Never Sang For My Father.
Hackman played Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde. Pictured with the leading stars in the 1968 film
Philip D’Antoni (left) and Gene Hackman, producer and star, respectively, of The French Connection, hold Oscars they won at the 44th movie Academy Awards
The following year he officially became a leading man, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as New York City Detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in The French Connection.
He went on to have consistent work, including in disaster film The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) before landing the role of supervillain Lex Luthor in 1978’s Superman: The Movie.
In the 1980s he starred in several films including Reds (1981), Under Fire (1983), Hoosiers (1986), No Way Out (1987) and Mississippi Burning (1988).
The 1990s brought him his second Oscar as he earned the Best Supporting Actor gong for his work as sadistic sheriff ‘Little’ Bill Daggett alongside Clint Eastwood in 1992’s Unforgiven.
He rounded out that decade by also starring in Narrow Margin (1990), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), The Firm (1993), The Chamber (1996), Wyatt Earp (1994), The Quick And The Dead (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995,) Absolute Power (1997), The Birdcage (1996) and Enemy Of The State (1998).
Hackman continued to be active in the early 2000s with roles in Behind Enemy Lines (2001), Heist (2001), Runaway Jury (2003), and even earned the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums.
