By now, you’ve almost certainly heard about the death of Gene Hackman. If you haven’t, here are the Cliff’s notes: in late February, the legendary actor and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were both found deceased in their New Mexico home. At the time the news broke, the case seemed poised to become the true crime drama of the moment—the two were discovered in separate rooms, they had been dead for some time, and initial tests concluded that carbon monoxide was not the culprit. On its face, these celebrity deaths seemed tantalizingly mysterious, even suspicious.
Since the news initially broke, however, more information has been released to the public about Hackman and Arakawa’s causes of death. As it is so often the case, this is no murder mystery; this is just a plain old tragedy. And there are some urgent lessons for us all to learn from what happened to this celebrity couple. (Hint: it’s not the thing about his Will, although that is important!)
What really happened to Gene Hackman
Before we get to those crucial lessons, we need to briefly talk about Hackman and Arakawa’s actual causes of death. Based on autopsy reports, it now seems that Arakawa, who was 65, was the first to pass away. She died of complications from a very rare disease called hantavirus, which can be contracted from exposure to rodent droppings. Before she passed, she had made an appointment at a health clinic, but hadn’t shown up, suggesting she may have gotten very sick very fast.
Unfortunately, this left Gene Hackman in a very dangerous position. At age 95, Hackman was suffering from both heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. It seems clear that he relied very heavily on his wife to take care of him, and because of his dementia, he may not have been able to understand her illness and death. Without her care, he was left to his own devices. He died several days after she did, after experiencing some kind of cardiac event.
What the media is missing
You may have read by now that Gene Hackman’s children are not named in his Will. Instead, his entire $80 million Estate was left to his wife Betsy (who, of course, has also tragically passed away). Given that Viive is an Aging & End of Life Planning company, you may assume that this would be our main interest. And you’re not entirely wrong: we firmly believe that every adult should have a robust and up-to-date Will.
But focusing just on Hackman’s Will misses the point. The fact that Hackman only named his wife is symptomatic of a much bigger problem—one that affects an increasing number of older adults. That would be the epidemic of social isolation among seniors.
Hackman and Arakawa lived in seclusion in a gated community, with their neighbours reporting that they rarely saw the couple out and about. While Hackman has three children from a previous marriage, they are reportedly estranged from him. By all accounts, it seems that these two older adults—one of whom was nearing 100 and suffered from serious health issues—relied exclusively on each other for all kinds of support. (Of course, it wasn’t an even split: Arakawa was probably acting as a full-time unpaid caregiver for Hackman, which is a whole other can of worms unto itself.)
This isn’t just a problem unique to two eccentric millionaires. Researchers estimate that 30% of older adults in Canada are at risk of social isolation. While isolation is bad for most of us, seniors are particularly vulnerable to it. Often, this issue comes down to where they live. Older adults may live alone or just with their spouse; they may live in facilities where they are technically around people, but cut off from their family and wider community; they may have health or mobility issues that prevent them from going out to see friends or relatives.
Social isolation isn’t innately a bad thing. Some people like to be alone, and are self-sufficient enough to make it work. But for older populations in particular, it can pose a serious health risk. Not only has research linked it to health complications such as dementia and early death, but as Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa’s story shows, it can also leave older adults without help in emergency situations.
What if Hackman and Arakawa had been in closer contact with friends and family members? What if they’d had a personal caregiver visiting the house on a regular basis? What if their neighbours were more plugged into their lives, so that they’d notice when the two suddenly vanished? Gene Hackman was alone in his home for as long as 6 days after Betsy Arakawa passed away. Even if Arakawa’s death came on too suddenly to intervene, it’s likely that he would have survived if he’d had a more robust social network—if he’d had friends and loved ones checking in on him and monitoring his health, other than just his wife.
The takeaway
Family relationships are complicated. The fact that Gene Hackman’s children weren’t named in his Will, combined with the fact that they seemingly weren’t in contact with him, suggests that there was likely a history of strain and conflict between them. That’s true for many people—to the point that the New York Times has reported on a “growing movement” of adult children estranging themselves from their parents.
Nobody makes these decisions lightly. People only cut ties with their parents when they feel they have no other option. And nobody should feel an obligation to stay connected to family members who are toxic or even abusive toward them.
That being said, the deaths of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa make one thing clear: our society is not set up to take care of vulnerable older adults. We live in an individualistic culture, where family members live apart and people don’t always talk to their neighbours. We do not have robust systems to ensure that people like Hackman and Arakawa don’t fall through the cracks. If a millionaire actor and his wife are left so exposed to the perils of social isolation, one can only imagine the dangers that average families face.
All of this is to say: if you have older adults in your life, check in on them when you can. If you’re not in a position to sustain a relationship with them, but you still care about their physical well-being, see if you can enlist some help—be it another family member, a family friend, a paid caregiver, or someone else. In a word, know the plan for their Aging & End of Life Process. For older adults, a strong social network truly can spell the difference between a tragic death and one with dignity.
Rest in peace, Gene and Betsy.
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