A friend of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, has revealed why the late actor was unable to call for help after his wife's death.

Authorities in New Mexico say actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease likely a week after his wife died of hantavirus.

His mother was a waitress; his father, a violent man, struggled to find work during the Depression, and abandoned the family when Gene was 13. Years later, Hackman recalled that as his father drove away for the last time,