Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman shared one thing he and wife of almost 34 years, Betsy Arakawa, enjoyed doing together before tragically being found dead together.
The bodies of the 95-year-old and his classical pianist partner were discovered at their home in the Santa Fe Summit community northeast of the city, in New Mexico, yesterday evening (26 February), with officials stating there is no indication of foul play.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the deaths of Hackman, the 63-year-old and their pet dog during a statement yesterday.
“All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant,” he said.
Actor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa pose for a portrait in 1986 in Los Angeles, California (Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“I want to assure the community and neighbourhood that there’s no immediate danger to anyone.”
Mendoza did not comment on the cause of death or when the couple might have died.
The two-time Academy Awards-winning actor retired from acting in 2004, with more than 100 acting roles under his belt, and subsequently vacated Los Angeles with Betsy and moved to New Mexico.
The pair lived a private life, with Hackman rarely agreeing to be interviewed – underlined by his retirement announcement four years later.
Hackman and Betsy at the 61st Annual Academy Awards in 1989 (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
At the time he told Reuters: “I haven’t held a press conference to announce retirement, but yes, I’m not going to act any longer. I really don’t want to do it 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.”
In 2009, Hackman was asked how retirement was going during an interview with Empire, and revealed touching intimate details about his and Betsy’s life together.
“We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce,” the Hollywood veteran said, as he explained they regularly watch DVDs that Betsy rents.
Betsy and husband Hackman pictured back in 1996 (Jan Jarecki/Penske Media via Getty Images)
With the publication writing how Hackman shared that on Friday nights the pair enjoy a Comedy Channel marathon, the highlight of which tends to be performances by Eddie Izzard – who the pensioner applauded for her ‘amazing’ ‘speed of thought’.
Hackman and Betsy started dating in the mid-80s and before getting married in 1991, but clarified that he did not abandon his first wife Faye Maltese for her.
He said: “By the way, I did not leave my real-life wife for a younger woman. 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.”
A lip reader has revealed what ‘Ethan Slater said to Ariana Grande’ during a rare public appearance together at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The annual SAG Awards took place on Sunday (February 23), and like any good award show, it was full mayhem and dramas.
Jane Fonda savagely ‘called out Donald Trump’ during her Life Achievement Award speech, while Slater and Grande made a rare public appearance.
Nicola Hickling, from Lip Reader, told the Daily Mail that Slater became concerned for the Wicked star after the crowd began to ‘push’ them while they were in the audience for the SAG Awards.
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater made a rare public appearance (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
Slater then apparently told Grande to stay a close distance to him during the rather tense moment played out in the public eye.
A viral clip then showed the pair walking through the crowd, with Slater seen whispering to the singer before leading her through a crowd of people.
“Stay near, this crowd next to me, they are pushing me,” the lip reader states Slater said to Grande.
The celebrity couple were in attendance at the SAG awards as Grande was up for two awards at the ceremony in Los Angeles.
And fresh off the back of her starring role in Wicked, Grande’s stock in film is at an all-time high.
News of Grande and Slater’s relationship broke just days after the news of the singer’s divorce from her husband Dalton Gomez, sparking speculation that there may have been some overlap between Grande’s partners.
A lip reader has revealed what was said between the pair (Rodin Eckenroth/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
Slater himself filed for divorce in the same month that his relationship with Grande came to light.
The rumors surrounding their romance prompted one of her close family friends to tell PEOPLE: “People have tried to question the timeline.”
The friend claimed that ‘Ariana and Ethan didn’t begin seeing each other until after both parties were separated, respectfully’.
Grande went on to say her personal life is exactly that, personal.
She made the point in her song, titled ‘Yes, And?’, which was released early last year.
In the track, Grande sings: “Your business is yours, and mine is mine. Why do you care so much whose d**k I ride?”
Star of Netflix’s Bloodhounds Kim Sae-ron has been found having passed away, police officials report.
Yesterday (February 16) at around 16:55, the 24-year-old South Korean actor was found having passed away in the Seongsu-dong district of Seoul by a friend.
Kim’s death remains under investigation by authorities, however, it’s reported no evidence of foul play has been discovered, Yonhap News Agency stated.
Kim rose to fame for her role in A Brand New Life (2009) written and directed by Ounie Lecomte, the debut feature was loosely based on the writer’s own experience set in Seoul in 1975.
The story centers around a young girl named Jin-hee (Kim Sae-ron), whose father leaves her at a Catholic orphanage and follows how she struggles to adjust to her new life.
The film won the Best Asian Film Award at the 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival and the jury award at the 2009 Cinekid Festival in Amsterdam, alongside being added to the Special Screenings category at Cannes Film Festival.
Kim ended up being the youngest actor invited to Cannes for an award, Rotten Tomatoes reports.
The following year, Kim starred in action thriller The Man From Nowhere and in 2014, she starred in a Girl at My Door, before taking on lead roles in multiple TV series, such as Listen to My Heart (2011), The Queen’s Classroom (2013) and Hi! School: Love On (2014).
She then took on the role of Cha Hyun-joo in Netflix series Bloodhounds, the first season of which was released in June 2023, however, after being fined for driving under the influencer in Seoul’s Gangnam District in May 2022, a lot of her role was edited out, Variety reports.
Since news of Kim’s passing broke, it’s not taken long for fans of the actor to flock to social media to pay their respects.
Kim Sae-ron has passed away at the age of 24, police officials state ( Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images)
One Twitter user said: “So very young to leave this world. Rest in Peace.”
“Gone too soon. May your soul find peace and happiness and rest in peace,” another added.
A third commented: “Rest in peace. This is so heartbreaking.”
And a fourth resolved: “I feel very sad reading about Kim Sae Ron’s passing. It’s been a rough few years for this talented girl and made me wonder where it all went wrong. She made some mistakes but IMO nothing that warranted the sort of ‘cancellation’ she got. They were too harsh on her.”
The investigation into Kim’s passing remains ongoing.
Tom Ackerley has opened up about his notoriously private marriage to Margot Robbie, revealing the one thing the pair clash over at home and how they separate business and pleasure.
Of course, we know Robbie as a Hollywood actor, perhaps most recognised for her roles in Barbie and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Ackerley – full name Thomas Francis Michael Ackerley – also works in film as a producer, actor, and former assistant director.
Ackerley is also a co-founder with Robbie of the production company LuckyChap Entertainment – used for films such as I, Tonya, Barbie and Saltburn.
The couple met in 2013 on the set of Suite Française, began dating the year after and then tied the knot in 2016.
Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley married in 2016. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
During an interview with The Times, the couple spoke about what their relationship is like and how they somehow manage to spend ’24 hours a day’ together.
When asked about how they separate business and pleasure, Ackerley said: “It’s seamless. We don’t have a toggle on, toggle off. It’s all become one thing.”
Apparently there’s no arguments either, with Ackerley saying he ‘feels like an honorary Aussie, Margot feels like an honorary Brit’, though he does ‘wish there was more of a sporting rivalry’ between the couple’s country of origin.
The couple work in the same industry. (Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
The only disagreement the couple seem to have is over chocolate biscuits, and I think we can all relate to that.
Robbie has also opened up about her marriage in the past, telling Porter: “I’m a great advocate of doing business with your partner.
“Being married is actually the most fun ever, life got way more fun somehow. I have a responsibility being someone’s wife, I want to be better.”
Discussing further in a 2016 interview with Vogue, the Barbie actor spoke about how the pair developed a close friendship after meeting on a film set before becoming romantically involved.
She said: “We were friends for so long. I was always in love with him, but I thought, ‘Oh, he would never love me back. Don’t make it weird, Margot. Don’t be stupid and tell him that you like him.’ And then it happened, and I was like, ‘Of course, we’re together. This makes so much sense, the way nothing has ever made sense before.’”
The film-loving couple will celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary in December this year.
As a single man, how do you feel about the prospect about getting married?
While many might think that it’s all sunshine and rainbows once you cross the aisle and become a unit with your chosen loved one, that’s not always the case.
Before deciding on embarking on your life-long commitment, it’s best to reach out to the married men in your life to find out what they really think about their nuptials, and what their biggest regrets are.
Chances are you’ll learn something you didn’t know before.
Considering 67.85 per cent of men in the US were married in 2022, according to Statista, there are a lot of people you can call on to share their wisdom.
Men admitted their ‘biggest regret’ about marriage (Getty Stock Images)
Or you could hop on over to X, formerly Twitter, where a shocking thread has men from all over the world expressing their major regrets about tying the knot.
The thread came from user @FowobiofLagos, who asked the men of X ‘what is your greatest regret about marriage?’, and the answers…were pretty crazy.
One person wrote: “Live with your partner for at least 3 years before considering marriage. During this time, start adulting, learn to live with each other. Then get married.”
Another shared a different take: “Get married early, face the troubles involved with your youthful strength, and enjoy your later age when your kids are grown. Trust me, by age 40, your worries are less.”
Someone else wrote: “Pay attention to how your mother-in-law treats her husband- it could be a preview of how your wife might treat you.”
The thread contained a significant amount of comments (Getty Stock Images)
One person replied: “The mother in law isn’t always a great metric. If she’s close with her crazy mom, then stay away. If she’s close with her dad and has a crazy mom, marry her. She’ll treat you how she wishes her mom treated her dad.”
A user gave a fantastic response to the question, which might actually help a lot of men hoping to enter a life-long partnership.
They said: “A common regret among married men is not prioritizing communication and emotional connection early in the marriage. They advise single guys to understand what they want in a partner and to invest time in the relationship while maintaining their own interests. Building a strong foundation of trust and respect is crucial for a lasting partnership.”
People who read the comments were in awe over how right on the money they were, and vowed to follow the advice.
Many men found the advice helpful (Getty Stock Images)
The American Institute for Boys and Men found that the ‘link between marriage and happiness seems slightly stronger for men than for women’, but maybe those men have followed advice like what was suggested in the above comments.
Recently, a divorce lawyer called Sara J. Corcoran from Corcoran Family Law in New Jersey used the firm’s TikTok page to share advice on the ‘number one mistake’ men are making in marriages.
