Danville has lost one of its favorite sons…retired actor Gene Hackman. Bill Pickett has more…
Audio PlayerThe Santa Fe Sherriff’s Department has confirmed that Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and their dog were all found dead at the family home on Wednesday afternoon (February 26, 2025). The Sheriff’s Department added that there was no immediate indication of foul play.
Hackman had spent most of his childhood in Danville, Illinois after being born in San Bernadino, California. He worked as a television cameraman at WDAN before moving back to California to pursue an acting career.
(A crowd lines up outside the Fischer Theatre in Danville on opening night of the restored building on September 21, 2019. The Lettermen performed that night.)
It was in May of 1988 that Hackman joined Danville natives Dick and Jerry Van Dyke, Bobby Short, and Donald O’Connor for a fundraiser in Danville to help restore the Fischer Theatre. In addition to his trip to Danville in 1988, Hackman had occasionally visited friends who still lived here.
Hackman was 95 at the time of his death. His wife was 63. She was a classical pianist.
It was in 1971 that Hackman won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role in The French Connection. He won another Oscar in 1993 for Best Supporting Actor in the movie Unforgiven. Other movies in which Hackman starred include Mississippi Burning in 1988, Superman in 1978, The Conversation in 1974, and The Quick and the Dead in 1995.
In 2005 the McDonald’s restaurant on South Gilbert Street in Danville was remodeled to honor ‘The Hometown Stars’ – including Hackman. In June of 2004, Gene Hackman and Dan Lenihan appeared at the Danville Public Library for a book signing to promote the novel Justice for None. The book signing was scheduled to last two hours but so many people turned out it lasted an additional two hours.
