Gene Hackman has followed a strict diet for years because his wife, Betsy Arakawa, monitors the actor and pays close attention to his health, a close friend and business partner of Hackman revealed.

According to Doug Lanham, a longtime friend of the actor, Arakawa insisted on keeping Hackman healthy.

Despite co-owning a restaurant with the Oscar-winning actor, he stayed true to his wife's dietary restrictions.

Lanham knew that Hackman would sometimes sneak in an odd party while playing a round of golf with friends.

"Betsy was really strict about what he ate," Lanham told TMZ. "Whenever we were out golfing, that was his chance to have a little cheat meal."

After retiring from films, Hackman came to love the restaurant business and opened Jinja Bar & Bistro with partners after meeting Lanham. His stake eventually changed hands, but he remained a regular guest, choosing healthier dishes such as halibut or rice-paper salmon over the heavier items.

"Even in retirement, he loved coming around," Lanham recalled. "He would pick up the tab for customers, and all the artwork in the restaurant? That was his."

Emotional Discovery Revealed During 911 Call

The deaths of 95-year-old Hackman and 63-year-old Arakawa are being investigated. In a 911 call from a caretaker who had found them unresponsive at their home in Santa Fe, authorities were called out to the scene.

TMZ says they obtained the 911 recording, and you can hear the person calling, begging for responders to hurry. You can tell they were both very upset.

The anonymous caller told dispatchers they had found what appeared to be at least one or two dead bodies. While he could not speculate on the ages or genders of the two people, he said neither was moving.

"The caller was outside, looking in through a window," a law enforcement source said. "They had no way to get inside."

Police responded and pronounced Hackman and Arakawa dead. Now, detectives obtained a search warrant indicating there were strange pieces that needed looking into.

After the discovery, an autopsy was performed, and medical examiners determined that he had suffered no trauma from outside his body. Hackman and Arakawa were well decomposed, but Arakawa's hands and feet had begun to mummify.

"There was no trauma found on either individual," the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "The cause and manner of death are pending further toxicology reports."

While foul play is not suspected in either death, authorities are still trying to rule out possible causes of death.

The pair were found by a maintenance crew that had not seen them for some weeks.

Investigators are investigating environmental factors, including the possibility of carbon monoxide exposure, which does not always produce outward signs.