"They started harassing him" - Gene Hackman's close friend recounts incident that led to the late actor getting into an altercation

Late actor Gene Hackman’s friend, Doug Lanham, seems to have spilled the beans about Hackman’s secret Los Angeles fistfight. Lanham spoke exclusively to the Daily Mail on May 30, 2025, where he looked back at the incident, saying:

“There was a time Gene was coming down where he was living in LA. These guys recognized him and they started harassing him a little bit.”

He said that while Gene was stopped at a traffic light, another car hit him from behind. Gene reacted by moving forward, then reversing and hitting them back. At the next light, two men got out of the other car, and Gene Hackman also got out, leading to a physical fight.

When Doug later asked Gene how it went, Gene explained that he ended up on the ground, looked up, and saw a bus stop ad with his face on it.

The two friends first met in 2004 at the Jinja Bar & Bistro. The late actor took leave from acting the same year. According to NBC News, Lanham remembered that after they had a great time cooking together, Gene Hackman and Betsy offered to invest in the business.

Since the company had lost a large amount of money in its first year, the offer felt like perfect timing. Reflecting on their deaths and the unclear circumstances around them, he said it was heartbreaking and confusing. He found it hard to make sense of the situation, as to him, they were respectable people.

Here’s how Gene Hackman once settled a bet

Lanham shared that Gene and his wife, Betsy Arakawa’s, death was completely unlike anything he would have ever expected from the couple. He felt honored to have been friends with Gene Hackman, describing him as one of the best people he knew.

He also mentioned that Gene Hackman had a kind heart, and he felt fortunate to have shared so many years of friendship with him. Lanham sat down with Fox News in March 2025 and reflected on their friendship. He said:

“It’s too hard. Let me tell a story, just glancing. This is Gene. We used to play a lot of golf and we had friendly wagers and it was Gene, Tom Allen, myself and of course, Gene. And Gene was notorious for not kind of welching on his bets. So, finally, I said, Gene, how about some cash, buddy?”

Doug Lanham shared that Gene Hackman once responded to a lost bet uniquely. Almost a week after the bet, Hackman showed up at his office with a large toolbox on wheels.

Without saying much, he rolled it in, said it was the payment for the bet, and left. Inside the toolbox were hundreds of dollars in pennies and a note expressing how he felt about losing. Lanham said they jokingly called him "Captain Hollywood." The note had these lines:

“I paid this debt under protest as I deem it to be taking advantage of old people.”

Hackman's another friend, Stuart Ashman, remembered him as someone down-to-earth, easy to be around, and who seemed to enjoy life. He was curious about both people and the world around him.

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Also Read: Gene Hackman's sweet love notes to wife Betsy Arakawa found scattered in their New Mexico home

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