The mystery surrounding the death of Gene Hackman dissipates. The American actor, found dead, the week from February 24 to March 2, at the age of 95, died of natural causes, probably about a week after the death of his wife, announced, Friday, March 7, the chief medical examiner of the American state of the New Mexico.
The body of the actor-twice awarded Oscars-had been found on February 26 in the locker room of his house in the New Mexico, at the same time as that of his wife, the pianist Betsy Arakawa, lying in the bathroom next to scattered pills and an extra radiator. One of their dogs had also been found dead in a box.
The two bodies had no sign of trauma, nor of carbon monoxide poisoning – an initially envisaged track -, according to the medical examiner Heather Jarrell.
Gene Hackman died of a “Hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease”she explained. The actor also suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, which was “A significant contributory factor” When she died, she added.
Interruption of the pacemaker for more than a week before the discovery of the body
His 65 -year -old wife died because of a “Hantavirus”A disease transmitted by rodents, she explained. Hantavirus presents itself as a pseudo-grippal disease, with symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, cough, sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, which can evolve towards shortness of breath and cardiac or pulmonary insufficiency, explained Heather Jarrell.
The disease “Performs after an exposure of one to eight weeks to the excrement of a particular species of mouse bearing the Hantavirus”she detailed. The strain of the disease circulating in the southwest of the United States can be fatal in 50 % of cases, said the lawyer. But it is not transmitted between humans.
Video surveillance images made it possible to establish the presence of Betsy Arakawa in a city trade on February 11, according to the authorities. She then did not respond to her emails. The pianist is therefore probably “Dead first, February 11 being the last date on which she was to be alive”According to the legistist. The pills found near her were drugs for the thyroid and are not linked to her death, she added.
The legalist confirmed that the last activity of the Pacemaker of Gene Hackman had been recorded more than a week before the discovery of her body at her home of Santa Fe. “It is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Hackman probably died around February 18”she said.
According to the investigators, the actor could not be reported that his wife had died in their bathroom due to “Its advanced form of Alzheimer’s disease”.
A flagship figure of the New Hollywood
Gene Hackman had appeared for the last time on the screen in the film Welcome to Mooseport (2004) and had officially announced his retirement in 2008. The actor had become in the 1970s a flagship figure of the New Hollywood, a movement of creative renewal of American cinema between 1960 and 1980 marked by emblematic films such asEasy rider The Dennis hopper, Mechanical orange from Stanley Kubrick or Taxi driver By Martin Scorsese.
He had won the Oscar for best actor in 1971 for his role in French connectionwhere he camped the legendary cop Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle.
He was awarded a second statuette in 1993 with the Oscar for best supporting role for his performance in Ruthlessby Clint Eastwood. He interpreted a former killer who became a sheriff of a small town in Wyoming there. In total, the actor was appointed five times to the Oscars.
