Why Gene Hackman Left Hollywood and Moved to New Mexico Before His Death – E! Online

Gene Hackman shocked the world when he retired from Hollywood.

After a storied career, that included over 70 film credits and two Academy Awards, Gene retired from film in 2004, after making his last appearance in Welcome to Mooseport.

Five years after trading in the lights of Hollywood for a quieter life in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife Betsy Arakawa—and 16 years before his death at the age of 95—the French Connection star finally explained why.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back was actually a stress test that I took in New York,” Gene said in an interview with Empire magazine published in 2009. “The doctor advised me that my heart wasn’t in the kind of shape that I should be putting it under any stress.”

At the time he revealed his then-new past time that allowed him to bond with his wife.

“Watching DVDs that my wife rents,” the Royal Tenenbaums alum said about how he spent his time with the classical pianist. “We like simple stories that some of the little low-budget films manage to produce.”