Betsy Machiko Arakawa Hackman was an American classical pianist and businesswoman. Born in Hawaii, she performed alongside the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra aged eleven and later worked for the television game show Card Sharks as a production assistant. She met Gene Hackman in the 1980s, marrying him in 1991 and assisting with his novels. In 2001, she co-founded a linens and home furnishings store in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she and Hackman lived; the couple were also business partners in a local Asian restaurant.
Gene Hackman died from hypertensive atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s as a contributing factor. His wife,..