Ray Wang
$50 million
Gene Hackman had an estimated net worth of $80 million at the time of his death. Born Eugene Allen Hackman on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California, he was a two-time Academy Award-winning actor whose career spanned four decades and produced some of the most celebrated performances in American cinema. He died on approximately February 18, 2025, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at age 95.
Updated March 2026: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hackman accumulated his fortune through a four-decade film career before retiring from acting in 2004. His estate, valued between $8 million and $10 million in real property, was subject to significant legal attention following his death and that of his wife, Betsy Arakawa, who died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome approximately one week before him.
Eugene Allen Hackman was born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California, to Eugene Ezra Hackman and Lydia Anne Gray. His father left the family when Gene was 13, and Gene subsequently moved to Danville, Illinois, then to Storm Lake, Iowa, where he attended Storm Lake High School before dropping out as a sophomore. At age 16, he lied about his age to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, where he served for approximately four and a half years as a field radio operator. His service took him to post-World War II China (Qingdao and Shanghai) as part of Operation Beleaguer, then to Hawaii and Japan, before his discharge in 1951.
After leaving the Marines, Hackman used the G.I. Bill to study journalism and television production at the University of Illinois, though he left without graduating. He subsequently enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he famously received the lowest evaluation score ever given by the institution. It was there, however, that he met a fellow student named Dustin Hoffman, beginning a lifelong friendship. Hackman relocated to New York City in the mid-1950s to pursue acting, working a series of day jobs — including at Howard Johnson’s — while taking acting classes and auditioning for theater roles.
Hackman made his off-Broadway debut in 1957 in Witness for the Prosecution and his Broadway debut in 1963 in Children from Their Games. He made his film debut in Lilith (1964) and earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Buck Barrow in Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967). The performance announced him as a major screen talent, but it was his role as Detective Jimmy Popeye Doyle in William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971) that made him a star. The film grossed over $50 million at the domestic box office against a $1.8 million budget, and Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor — his first Oscar.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Hackman appeared in a string of critically acclaimed films: The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Conversation (1974, directed by Francis Ford Coppola), French Connection II (1975), Night Moves (1975), and Superman (1978), in which he played Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve. His performance in Mississippi Burning (1988) earned him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
His second Oscar win came in 1993 for Best Supporting Actor in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992), in which he played the sadistic Sheriff Little Bill Daggett. The film grossed over $159 million worldwide on a $14.4 million budget and won Best Picture. IMDb records 33 competitive wins and 40 nominations across his career, including four Golden Globe Awards and two BAFTA Awards. He received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in 2003.
In his final decade of filmmaking, Hackman appeared in major commercial productions including The Firm (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Enemy of the State (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and Runaway Jury (2003). His final film, Welcome to Mooseport, was released in February 2004. After that production, he gradually withdrew from public life and effectively retired from acting, though he never made a formal announcement. He later narrated television documentaries through approximately 2017.
Following his retirement from film, Hackman turned to writing. He co-authored three historical fiction novels with undersea archaeologist Daniel Lenihan — Wake of the Perdido Star (1999), Justice for None (2004), and Escape from Andersonville (2008) — and wrote two solo novels: Payback at Morning Peak (2011) and Pursuit (2013), both published by Simon & Schuster. According to People, Hackman stated in a 2014 interview that he was drawn to writing precisely because it replaced the creative outlet that acting had previously provided.
Hackman was married twice. His first marriage was to Faye Maltese in 1956; the couple had three children — Christopher Allen, Elizabeth Jean, and Leslie Anne Hackman — before divorcing in 1986 after 30 years. In December 1991, Hackman married concert pianist Betsy Arakawa, who was 30 years his junior. The couple lived together in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the remainder of their lives.
Hackman and Arakawa were found dead at their Santa Fe home on February 26, 2025, following a welfare check by a maintenance worker. Authorities determined that Arakawa died first — on approximately February 11, 2025 — from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but serious infection contracted through rodent exposure. Hackman died approximately one week later, on February 18, 2025, from cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease listed as a contributing factor, according to CBS News. Authorities ruled out foul play after initial toxicology tests were negative for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Hackman’s 1995 will named Arakawa as the sole beneficiary of his estate and the sole trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust. Because Arakawa predeceased him, legal experts noted that Hackman’s three adult children — Christopher (born 1960), Elizabeth (born 1963), and Leslie (born 1967) — could have claims under New Mexico state law, according to Entertainment Weekly. Arakawa’s own will directed that, if both spouses died within 90 days of each other, proceeds would go to charity.
Hackman co-starred with Morgan Freeman in Unforgiven (1992) and Clint Eastwood directed that film. He was a peer of contemporaries including Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson throughout the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s.
Gene Hackman’s net worth was estimated at $80 million at the time of his death in February 2025. He accumulated this fortune over a four-decade acting career spanning more than 80 films, with major earnings from productions including Superman, The Firm, Unforgiven, and Enemy of the State. His real estate holdings in Santa Fe, New Mexico, were valued between $3.8 million and $10 million.
Gene Hackman’s second wife was concert pianist Betsy Arakawa, whom he married on December 1, 1991. She was 30 years younger than Hackman. Arakawa died on approximately February 11, 2025, from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and Hackman followed her in death roughly one week later. His first wife was Faye Maltese, to whom he was married from 1956 to 1986.
Gene Hackman was 95 years old when he died on approximately February 18, 2025. He was born on January 30, 1930, in San Bernardino, California. His body was discovered at his home in a gated community in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on February 26, 2025, during a welfare check.
Gene Hackman stood 6 feet 1.5 inches tall (1.87 meters), according to IMDb. His physical presence contributed to his ability to play commanding, authoritative characters across genres, from the driven Detective Doyle in The French Connection to the menacing Sheriff Daggett in Unforgiven.
Gene Hackman’s film fees grew substantially across his career. He earned $2 million for Superman (1978) — a major sum for that era — and approximately $2 million for The Firm (1993), according to the Los Angeles Times. His fees for The Quick and the Dead and Lucky Lady were reported at $1.3 million each. At his commercial peak in the 1990s, Hackman was reportedly earning $5 to $7 million per picture on major studio productions.
Gene Hackman lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the final decades of his life. He and his wife Betsy Arakawa owned a 12-acre hilltop property in a gated community in the Santa Fe hills, with 360-degree views of the Jemez, Sangre de Cristo, and Sandia mountains. The property was described in Architectural Digest in 1990 and was the site where both Hackman and Arakawa were found deceased in February 2025.
Gene Hackman had three children from his first marriage to Faye Maltese: Christopher Allen Hackman (born 1960), Elizabeth Jean Hackman (born 1963), and Leslie Anne Hackman (born 1967). None of the three children were named as successors in Hackman’s 1995 will, which designated his wife Betsy Arakawa as sole beneficiary, though legal experts noted they may have claims under New Mexico state law given that Arakawa predeceased him, according to Entertainment Weekly.