Morgan Freeman led an emotional tribute to honor Gene Hackman at the 2025 Oscars — just days after “The French Connection” actor and his wife were discovered dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home.
Freeman, 87, walked out onto the stage during the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday night to give a special homage to his late friend in an extension of the show’s “In Memoriam” segment in front of Hollywood’s elite at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Freeman starred alongside Hackman — a two-time Oscar winner — in 1992’s “Unforgiven” and 2000’s “Under Suspicion.”
“This week, our community lost a giant, and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman,” Freeman shared. “I had the pleasure of working alongside Gene in two films: ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘Under Suspicion,’ and like anyone who’s ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer.”
He later said that Gene always said, “‘I don’t think about legacy. I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work. So, I think I speak for us all when I say, Gene, you will be remembered for that and so much more.
“Rest in peace, my friend,” Freeman concluded.
Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their sprawling home, along with a deceased dog, on Wednesday, February 26.
The Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza revealed that the actor had likely been dead for at least nine days before maintenance workers discovered their bodies.
Hackman’s pacemaker recorded his last “event” on February 17, Mendoza shared during the press conference on Friday.
“According to the pathologist, I think it’s a good assumption that was his last day of life,” he said.
Mendoza also confirmed that Hackman and Arakawa both tested negative for carbon monoxide and did not show signs of any external trauma.
Their causes of death will be determined pending additional testing.
An investigation is still ongoing.
The police affidavit revealed details of the scene, with the responding officers noting Hackman and his wife’s home was “unsecured and opened,” adding there were no signs of forced entry or theft.
An open orange prescription pill bottle and pills were scattered around the room where Arakawa was found, along with their deceased dog, who was nearby in a kennel.
She had “obvious signs of death, body decomposition, bloating in her face and mummification in both hands and feet,” per the affidavit.
The report also stated that Hackman had “obvious signs of death, similar and consistent with the female decedent” in what police determined to be the couple’s mudroom, noting it appeared that he might have “suddenly fallen.”
Law enforcement seized several items from the scene, including Tylenol, a thyroid medication and Diltiazem, a high blood pressure pill, two green cellphones, medical records and a 2025 planner, which they hope will help determine a timeline of the pair’s events.
Cellphone data, phone calls, texts, photos and more will also be reviewed.
Authorities shared that they do not suspect foul play; however, they found the deaths “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”
Hackman’s loved ones confirmed their passings to The Post on Thursday, saying, in part, “He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa.”
Hackman was well respected in Hollywood despite officially retiring from acting in 2008, with social media tributes pouring in from A-listers like director Francis Ford Coppola, Viola Davis, Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner, who once got emotional while discussing his relationship with his 1987 “No Way Out” co-star.
Arakawa recently raised red flags after she stopped calling her dementia-plagued mother, 91, for their weekly phone call in October, according to the elder’s housekeeper.
Hackman’s youngest daughter, Leslie, revealed she hadn’t spoken to her dad or stepmom in “months,” claiming her father was in “good health” before his mysterious passing.
A family insider told The Post exclusively that the couple of 34 years “had a true love affair … Capital L love.”
Hackman won his first Oscar for his role in the 1971 crime movie “The French Connection.” His second Oscar win was for his portrayal of Little Bill Daggett in Eastwood’s “Unforgiven.”
He also appeared in classics like “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Superman,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “Hoosiers,” “The Firm” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
Hackman had three children — Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 63, and Leslie — whom he welcomed with his first wife, Faye Maltese.
