More than a year after their deaths, Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa share a simple gravesite in Santa Fe, New Mexico, marked solely by a conch shell. The couple was discovered deceased in their home last year, with Betsy succumbing to hantavirus and Gene following shortly after due to complications from Alzheimer's. Their private burial was attended by estranged family members amid ongoing estate disputes.
Oh, the quiet drama unfolding in Santa Fe! Two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman, who passed at 95, rests beside his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, under a tree at Santa Fe Memorial Gardens. Their joint plot? Just a conch shell as a marker—no plaque, no fanfare, as reported by the Daily Mail more than a year after Gene's death. 💔
Rewind to February 2025: Maintenance workers found the couple dead in their home on the 26th. Betsy, last spotted at a CVS on the 11th and calling her doctor with breathing issues on the 12th, died that same day from hantavirus, a rodent-linked respiratory illness, per the Santa Fe medical examiner. Gene, battling Alzheimer's, lingered for about a week, seemingly unaware, before passing on the 18th. They were laid to rest together in a private ceremony the next month.
Family tea? Gene's three kids—Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie Hackman—showed up for the service, despite being estranged and totally cut from his $80 million will. That doc, from 1991, left everything to Betsy. Her will? Zilch for the kids, all to charity. But plot twist: The trio filed as 'interested parties' in the probate case. 👀
Estate spilling cash post-mortem: Last month, their 53-acre Summit Santa Fe pad—complete with a 13,000 sq ft main house, guesthouse, and Gene's painting studio—sold for $6.25 million. December brought $3 million from a Bonhams auction in New York of over 400 items: Gene's three Golden Globes (for The Royal Tenenbaums, Unforgiven, The French Connection), Silence of the Lambs treatment, his charcoal sketches, plus art like Auguste Rodin's bronze nude and Milton Avery's Figure on the Jetty.
Probate's still dragging—trustees paid a $1,800 credit card bill in January. There was drama too: A civil suit against the medical examiner to block death scene photos, with the kids joining the motion. Case closed for inactivity. So, with fortunes flowing and family lurking... will the heirs get a slice, or is this Hollywood ending sealed?