‘We’ve barely seen each other in decades’, next-door neighbours of deceased Hollywood star, Gene Hackman confess
Neighbours of double Oscar winner, Gene Hackman have admitted to barely seeing the Hollywood legend despite sharing the upscale New Mexico neighbourhood with him and his wife.
The bodies of Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were found weeks after they are believed to have died in their mansion.
Hackman, 95, was discovered on the floor of his mud room last Wednesday; his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, was found lifeless in a bathroom by the front door, with prescription pills scattered around, while one of their three dogs lay dead near her.
Two days after the shocking discovery, police announced that they believe Hackman died on February 17, after finding that was the day his pacemaker stopped recording his heartbeat.
Police saw no signs of foul play but are also investigating the deaths as potentially suspicious.
The case is shrouded in the kind of intrigue reserved for Hackman’s detective thriller novels and has garnered international attention – with many wondering how their deaths went unnoticed for so long.
Neighbors in their gated private community off a winding canyon road five miles outside of Santa Fe told The New York Times that despite living with the celebrity couple for years, most of them never even caught a glimpse of them.
‘They have a gate, and we have a gate, and we just have never even seen each other,’ said James Everett, who has lived part-time in a house next door for about five years.
Bud Hamilton lived next door to the couple for about two decades, but said he and his wife had dinner with them only once in 20 years.
Longtime resident and former president of the homeowner’s association, Harvey Chalker, said Arakawa handled their business and met Hackman once when he bought a pair of hiking shoes from his shop.
‘He wanted to be quiet, he didn’t want to be bothered, and I don’t blame him,’ Chalker said.
Fernando Miranda, a neurologist who has owned a house near the couple since 2018, recalled visiting the neighborhood on February 17 and said it is saddening to know the couple may have died then.
‘We all sort of cherish the fact that we are isolated,’ he said.
Beau Theriot, visits his house in the neighborhood a few times a year, said he saw Hackman using a cane as he walked along the road with his wife a few years ago.
‘I know there’s some nice people up there, I just don’t know them,’ Theriot said.
Morgan Freeman paid an emotional tribute to Hackman during the 2025 Oscars In Memoriam segment on Sunday.
Freeman, 87, who starred alongside double Oscar winner Hackman in Under Suspicion and Unforgiven, lauded his friend and co-star as he took to the stage.
Hackman famously played Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve’s Superman, but he was known for being a man of steel himself.
As a 16-year-old boy, he lied about his age to join the Marines in 1946.
Filming a heart-pounding car chase for 1971 classic The French Connection, he drove the car himself up to 90mph down busy Brooklyn streets and got in a real-life smash with a student driver who strayed onto the set.
