Betsy Arakawa biography: 10 things about musician born in Honolulu, Hawaii

Who was Betsy Arakawa?

Betsy Machiko Arakawa Hackman was a Japanese-Hawaiian classical musician born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. She was the second husband of American actor and novelist Gene Hackman.

A musical prodigy, Betsy studied piano at Kahala Elementary School in Honolulu. She later served as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Aztecs, a professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Betsy’s mother Yoshie Arakawa Feaster was born in June 1933. In 1965, a house in Honolulu was sold to Feaster and Jack Thomas Feaster.

In the 1980s, Betsy met Gene while she was working part-time at a fitness center in Los Angeles. Before they moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, she lived in Golden, Colorado, USA, in New York City, New York, USA and in Culver City, California.

Betsy edited Gene’s novels. Here are 10 more things about her:

1. In 1970, she performed at the Honolulu International Center Concert Hall in Honolulu.
2. She worked as a production assistant on “Card Sharks”, a game show that aired on NBC from 1978 to 1981 and on CBS from 1986 to 1989.
3. From 1981 to 1983, she attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
4. In 1988, she and Gene went to Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA and Las Vegas, Nevada, USA to watch boxing matches.
5. In 1989, she performed at the Altenheim Geriatric Center in Forest Park, Illinois, USA, which was used as a German nursing home in Andrew Davis‘s film “The Package”, which starred Gene, Tommy Lee Jones, John Heard, Dennis Franz and Joanna Cassidy.
6. In 1993, she and Gene attended the 65th Academy Awards.
7. On October 2, 1996, she and Gene attended the screening of “The Chamber” at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.
8. In 2001, she and Barbara Lenihan founded Pandora’s, a linens and home furnishings store in Santa Fe.
9. On January 19, 2003, she and Gene attended the 60th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills where he received the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
10. In February 2025, she died in Santa Fe at age 65.

TIMELINE

1988

• On June 27, 1988, she and Gene went to the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City to watch the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks.
• On November 7, 1988, she and Gene went to Caesar’s Place in Las Vegas to watch the boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and Donny LaLonde.

1991

• On September 11, 1991, she and Gene attended the PCC Celebrity Art Show at Stringfellow’s Restaurant in Beverly Hills, California.
• On November 30, 1991, she and Gene attended the Mission Hills Celebrity Sports Invitational in Rancho Mirage, California.

1992

• On February 24, 1992, she and Gene attended the D.W. Griffith Awards at the Equitable Center in New York City.
• On November 11, 1992, she and Gene attended a Hollywood Foreign Press conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

1993

• On March 29, 1993, she accompanied Gene at the 65th Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles where he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in “Unforgiven”.

2024

• While in Santa Fe, she regularly contacted her dementia-stricken mother based in Hawaii but she stopped in October 2024, according to a housekeeper.
• On December 15, 2024, she turned 65.

2025

On February 26, 2025, she, Gene and one of their three dogs were found dead at their residence in Santa Fe.