Gene Hackman had 'huge fight with drivers who recognised and harrassed him'

Months after ’s tragic death at 95, a wild story from his final years has come to light involving a minor car crash, a roadside brawl, and a surreal moment of self-awareness.

Doug Lanham, a close friend who met Hackman in 2004 at his Santa Fe restaurant, revealed the incident in a new interview. He recalled: “There was a time Gene was coming down where he was living [in LA]. These guys recognised him, and they started harassing him a little bit.”

According to Lanham, after being rear-ended at a light, Hackman refused to back down: “Gene being Gene, puts it in drive, goes forward, puts it in reverse and then whacks them.” Things escalated at the next light. “Two of them get out of the car and Gene gets out of the car, and they go for it.”

When Lanham later asked how he fared, Hackman gave a typically dry, cinematic reply: “Well I was on my back and I kinda looked up over my head and there’s a bus stop with a poster and there I was on the poster! And I was like, ‘Hackman what the hell are you doing?’" he told the l.

Hackman, best known for The French Connection and Unforgiven, retreated from public life after retiring in 2004. He and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe home earlier this year.

Autopsy results painted a picture of a man in declining health: Hackman had long battled congestive heart failure, had a bi-ventricular pacemaker since 2019, and suffered from advanced-stage Alzheimer’s. He also had “severe atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease,” with multiple heart surgeries and damage from earlier heart attacks.

Tragically, Arakawa passed first, likely around February 12, due to complications from Hantavirus - a rare illness linked to rodent droppings. A report confirmed she had been researching flu-like symptoms in the days before her death. Hackman, who tested negative for the virus, died days later, on February 18, likely unaware his wife had already gone.

A heartbreaking scene awaited police: their dog guarding Betsy’s body, notes exchanged between the couple scattered through their home, and photographs of their beloved German Shepherds throughout the house.

A subsequent health inspection found rodent infestations across eight outbuildings on their property, including sheds, garages, and even vehicles. Inspectors also discovered traps throughout, indicating the couple had been struggling with the issue for some time.

Authorities later confirmed the property posed a hantavirus risk to first responders who entered it.

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