Hackman, 95, a two-time Oscar winner in his illustrious career, may not have known that his wife died for up to a week before his own death, as he passed on 18 February due to 'hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributory factor'.

Betsy Arakawa — the classical pianist married to Gene Hackman — died last month of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease linked to rodents, New Mexico authorities announced Friday.

Gene Hackman died of cardiovascular disease about a week after his wife died of hantavirus, according to the New Mexico medical examiner.