Santa Fe, New Mexico – Gene hackman was a lot of things, especially a award -winning actorBut what many do not know is that Hackman loved a good farce.
His friend and old Commercial partner, Doug Lanham, 76, said that he had played golf with Hackman, and although on the course, they would make betting – which he said that Hackman had never thought it was a good idea.
Lanham told NBC News until after a few years, he asked Hackman de Pony the $ 22 he owed.
Indeed, Hackman reimbursed his friend, in $ 22 of cents, participated in the restaurant they had together in a large toolbox, recalled Lanham, with a note that said: “I paid for this debt under the protest when I consider that it benefits from elderly.” Hackman signed the letter “Captain Hollywood”, a nickname his friends called him.
Lanham and Hackman met years ago, when Hackman and His wife, Betsy Arakawaentered the restaurant that Lanham owns, Jinja Bar & Bistro in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a common friend. Lanham said he invited the couple the next day to cook in his restaurant, and the couple forced.
“We cooked and we had so much fun and at some point, Gene and Betsy … They said” we want to invest “, and by losing a quarter of a million dollars (the first year), we said” it’s a great idea “,” said Lanham.
They have been business partners for almost 10 years, said Lanham.
Hackman and Arakawa were found dead in parts separated from their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday. Civil servants have called their dead “suspect. “”
According to Lanham, one of the couple’s dogs – a German shepherd named Bear, was found dead in a kennel, while two others were found alive on the property.
The cause and the death mode have not been determined, said the Santa Fe Sheriff Builder on Friday.
An initial autopsy has shown no sign of external trauma to Hackman or Arakawa, and the couple tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoningAdan Mendoza Sheriff said on Friday. The results of toxicology and full autopsy tests are pending.
Hackman probably died on February 17 – The last date of his cardiac stimulator recorded an “event,” said Mendoza. He said earlier that the couple died “a good time” when they had been found.
Hackman and Arakawa were very private people, which Mendoza said that Friday had complicated efforts to bring together a calendar of their last days and that Lanham reiterated.
Lanham discussed how the couple has helped many financially financial companies, “but still under the radar,” he said, because they did not want or did not need credit. The same goes for the 14 original works of art, Hackman painted who lines the walls of Jinja – none of them is signed; Another attempt by the Hollywood icon to focus on itself.
“It’s heartbreaking, it’s perplexed,” said Lanham about their death and the mystery around them. “They were so worthy and to find out more, to hear about it, there is no way to connect the points when you know them as people.”
Lanham expected that his friend would one day die – Hackman was 95 years old at the time of his death – “but not like that,” he said.
“It is totally out of the field of everything you associate with them and that is what puts you on your knees,” he said.
‘The ordinary man’
Lanham said that “it was only a privilege” to be friends with Hackman, which he called “the best”.
“When there was confidence and this door opened, it was incredible,” said Lanham.
He said Hackman had a “gold heart” and said he was “very lucky” for their years of friendship.
Stuart Ashman, a friend of Hackman’s through Pilates lessons and works at the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, said one of the most impressive things about Hackman is how when he talked to you, he really wanted to know you. Lanham said the same thing.
“He was the ordinary man,” said Ashman about Hackman. “It was very easy to live, I really enjoyed life, I think. And was really interested in everything, everything and everyone. »»
Ashman said Hackman “really added to Santa Fe texture”.
In a statement, Jesse Kesler, the couple’s personal entrepreneur, thanked them “for the 16th and over opportunities, friendship and confidence”.
He specifically thanked Hackman for lending a hand on projects and having treated his son and his employees as equals.
He said that when Hackman was at work, he was only another guy.
“I could not believe at the time when I worked side by side with a legend,” said Kesler.
Dana Griffin reported Santa Fe and Rebecca Cohen from New York.