A post shared to the royal couple’s official social media accounts reads, “So sad to hear the news of the death of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy.
“Hackman was a true genius of film who brought each and every character to life with power, authenticity and star quality.”
The tribute was signed “W”, having been written by William himself. William is the president of Bafta and thus is closely connected with the film industry.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 64, were found dead in their home yesterday NZ time, though police did not release their identities for almost 12 hours.
During his career, Hackman was awarded two Oscars, four Golden Globes, four Baftas and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Bafta shared a tribute to the actor and his “illustrious career”.
Gene Hackman, left, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Danny Glover in The Royal Tenenbaums. Photo / Supplied
He’s most well-known for his turn as New York policeman Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection, which earned him a Best Actor Oscar, as well as his role in 1992 western film Unforgiven.
He was also nominated for his roles in I Never Sang For My Father in 1970 and the 1988 thriller Mississippi Burning.
William has been president of Bafta since 2010, with Kate first attending the ceremony with her husband in 2017.
The couple traditionally attend the event and walk the red carpet together each year.
However, they did not attend the 2025 Baftas, with People magazine reporting the royal couple were instead jetting to the Caribbean private island of Mustique for a holiday with their children Charlotte, William and Louis.
Instead, William appeared on video during the awards ceremony.
Last year, he attended the event solo following the announcement that his wife was undergoing abdominal surgery - a month before she revealed her cancer diagnosis to the world.
