Gene Hackman (1930-2025); Dead Under Disturbing Circumstances

[AndyDursin]

Beautiful.

[AndyDursin]

Well this is just sad, she died a week EARLIER from a rarely transmitted mice disease -- and he was so gone from Alzheimers he apparently lasted a week before passing away of cardiovascular disease etc.

The real shame is nobody looked in on them in the week plus that she had passed on...nobody thought to call, etc. Where were his kids? Sad.

[Monterey Jack]

God, that's horrible, to think of Hackman wasting away for a week before passing. You're right, Andy, his kids or someone else should have looked into this. A 95-year-old man should have a round-the-clock caretaker, especially a wealthy actor.

[Eric Paddon]

The fact his wife was out of the house earlier that day and went to a CVS meant she was clearly feeling symptoms and the scattered pills on the floor would clearly indicate she was desperately trying to get something to give her relief from what she thought was something "routine" and not the horrific disease it was.

[Eric W.]

A sad and tragic ending.

[AndyDursin]

Well MJ, he did have round-the-clock care -- the issue is something happened to her.

The fact his wife was out of the house earlier that day and went to a CVS meant she was clearly feeling symptoms and the scattered pills on the floor would clearly indicate she was desperately trying to get something to give her relief from what she thought was something "routine" and not the horrific disease it was.

Exactly Eric, the media tried to go all "what were those pills" like she had committed suicide but it seems very much this was accidental and just very sad.

What's admirable is she was taking care of him alone and by age 95 that's a HELL of a lot of work especially for someone with a lot of health issues (anyone who's 95 has health issues, but he seemingly had Alzheimers bad).

Just so unfortunate, and kind of mystifying, nobody checked in with them because she seemingly had no other safety net...and that's a long time to go without your kids or other family/friends calling or wondering what was going on.

[Monterey Jack]

Well MJ, he did have round-the-clock care -- the issue is something happened to her.

The fact his wife was out of the house earlier that day and went to a CVS meant she was clearly feeling symptoms and the scattered pills on the floor would clearly indicate she was desperately trying to get something to give her relief from what she thought was something "routine" and not the horrific disease it was.

She was sixty-five herself, which was no spring chicken. If you're caring for someone in their nineties (especially someone as well-off as Hackman was), she should have hired a goddamn nurse for round-the-clock supervision. The more I read about this, the more pissed off I get. She made NO concessions to a potential emergency?!

[AndyDursin]

His kids should have stepped up to the plate. Hackman only lasted as long as he did because he had someone taking care of him like his wife. I say that from the experience of watching my Mom take care of both my Dad and my grandparents.

This is where people should be legit asking questions. I mean his kids seemed to have no issue giving Variety some quotes for an interview

[Eric Paddon]

I can speak from experience that caregivers often find themselves alone because others just don't want to have to get their hands dirty. My brother lived no more than 50 miles from me and not once in the six years I was a caregiver for my father did he EVER offer to spell me or do anything to relieve my burden. His idea of salving his conscience was to pop in for an afternoon to take my father out for lunch and then be on his merry way. I haven't spoken to him since the funeral and I never will again because I've got nothing left to say to him ever (though I wouldn't close the door in his face if he apologized and tried to make amends but I know that's never going to happen).

And who knows maybe Hackman's kids were distant because after all this was a second wife and I have to think that's always a factor in some way in parent-child relationships. I'm not going to be quick to condemn them because who knows, maybe the wife was insistent on doing it all herself etc. and was too stubborn to hire help herself. But I'm not surprised this kind of scenario happened.

[AndyDursin]

Yes exactly Eric family dynamics are such that who knows what their circumstances were. The one daughter I read had nothing but loving things to say about her.

Either way, in those instances some other family needs to step up. He has 3 grown kids...no matter what the distance is literally or emotionally, you have to at least check in or have someone else who will even if it's not daily. This regrettably never should have happened.