Dick Van Dyke Mourns Acting Legend Friend: ‘It’s Too Much Sadness To Take'

As of the time of this writing, Dick Van Dyke is only days away from turning 100 years old. As a result of his long life, the fact that he is nearly universally respected, and how talented he has always been, Van Dyke has worked with a long list of acting superstars.

While Van Dyke's impressive list of co-stars deserves to be studied and celebrated, the sad truth is that the actor's long life has resulted in him seeing many of his peers pass away. Despite that, Van Dyke recently wrote about why he was deeply affected by the circumstances of how one acting legend died after they grew up together.

Dick Van Dyke Was Deeply Saddened by the Heartbreaking Way Gene Hackman Died

Years after Gene Hackman decided to retire from acting, the world learned that he'd developed Alzheimer’s disease. Following the talented actor spending years out of the spotlight, Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, both mysteriously passed away in February 2025. An April 2025 PBS article showed that autopsies had revealed that Arakawa's life ended after she contracted hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and Hackman passed away a week later from heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

In November 2025, Dick Van Dyke released a memoir titled "100 Rules of Living to 100." As a Parade article that summarized a section of that book revealed, Van Dyke's memoir contained a description of his reaction to the circumstances of how Hackman passed away.

As Van Dyke wrote, he was deeply affected to learn that Hackman had been "alone in the house with his wife's body for a week." Keeping in mind that Hackman had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, Van Dyke reflected on how the symptoms of that could have left Hackman in a nightmare situation during that week.

“It was agony thinking about Gene during that week,” Van Dyke continued. “In shock and anguish, terrified and completely lost. Maybe not even knowing where Betsy was in the house or realizing that she had died. Or worse, knowing and forgetting and then finding her and remembering again. It’s too much sadness to take.”

Dick Van Dyke and Gene Hackman Grew Up Together

As a part of Parade's article summarizing the passage of Dick Van Dyke's memoir, "100 Rules of Living to 100," which focused on Gene Hackman, it was revealed that the acting legends had a long history. As the memoir describes, Van Dyke befriended cousins named Bob and Gene Hackman when they were all growing up. Then, Van Dyke and Gene Hackman were part of a comedy group called the Burfords together.

“[Gene Hackman] and I had grown up together in Danville, Illinois. He was the younger cousin of Bob Hackman, one of my teenage pals and a member of the Burfords. We’d be telling our jokes and doing our pranks, going way over the top, and Gene would just be along for the ride, not saying much, just quietly observing us.”

After Van Dyke wrote about realizing that Gene Hackman was a formidable performer even as a teen, he also revealed that he continued to marvel at his friend's acting skills. “Every time I saw him in a movie, I thought the same thing about his performance. He had so much internal power.”

Of course, Van Dyke is far from the only one who has been astonished by how Hackman commanded attention whenever he appeared onscreen. After all, Hackman won two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a long list of other trophies during his acclaimed career.