With more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, both behind and in front of the camera, the life of Dennis Hopper was one lived to the extreme and fullest, and at times dark and menacing as anyone of his iconic roles.
The veteran actor lost his battle against cancer at the age of 73 this month, leaving behind a life time of work that any actor would be proud of.
After being rushed to hospital last September in New York, when what were described as ‘flu like symptoms’ were horrifically confirmed as prostate cancer, Hopper underwent special treatment for the disease at the University of Southern California.
After a career that spanned more than five decades, Dennis Hopper engraved his name into the history of Hollywood with a collection of truly great performances.
Born in 1936 in Dodge City, Kansas, Dennis Hopper was moved around a lot in his youth after the end of World War 2, going to both Kansas City itself and then San Diego by the time he was 13.
It was there he discovered his love of acting taking up parts, studying at theatres before he began to appear in television shows during most of the 1950’s and 60’s.
His first role in a big movie was in the James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause 1955, where he struck up a great friendship with Dean, a man who Hopper always claimed was the ‘greatest actor he ever worked with.’
After Dean’s tragic death in a car crash, Hopper was left distraught, with some thinking that this may have led to his new, rebellious streak.
After struggling to land big movie roles, Hopper decided to make his own. Alongside fellow actor Henry Fonda and writer Terry Southern and created what was to become an instant classic in Easy Rider.
A film about rebellious bikers on a trip across America, the movie was an instant success, with Hopper getting huge praise for both his acting, directing and writing ability, getting an Oscar nomination for his script.
After this though, his drug habit took a turn for the worse, with it being reported that at the end of 1970’s he was not only taking a huge amount of cocaine, but was also drinking more than 30 beers a day and smoking marijuana.
Through this haze, he returned to the prominence with his part in the Francis Ford Coppola classic Apocalypse Now.
He saw the error of his hedonistic ways though and in 1983 checked himself into a drugs rehab programme and with this his career took off again.
After making waves in Out of The Blue and Rumble Fish, Hopper’s finest hour came in 1986.
He kicked off the year with a whimper, in what he called the worst film of his career, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, before he found the role of his life in David Lynch’s thriller Blue Velvet as the gas huffing, foul mouthed and utterly terrifying Frank Booth.
Hopper knew this was the part for him and even rang the director up, pleading his case, claiming that in some way, he was Booth.
He was nominated for an Oscar for his part in sports film Hoosiers, and got a Golden Globe nomination as well for his magnificent turn in Blue Velvet.
Cruelly denied both, Hopper went on to become one of Hollywood’s great villains in bomb-on-a-bus thriller Speed and the highly ambitious but flawed Waterworld.
Unfortunately cast aside by the big studios, roles sadly started to dry up, leaving him to take up more ‘B-Movie’ parts and work more in TV, with his part in the TV serialisation of 2005 movie Crash now standing as his last work.
Off screen Dennis Hopper’s life was just as eventful as it was on.
After an interview with American chat show legend Jay Leno, Hopper landed himself in hot water after he claimed that fellow actor Rip Torn threatened him with a knife on the set of East Rider.
Just a year later, Hopper luckily escaped unharmed from a massive car crash. Whilst taking two friends and his then ten year old son to a golf course in Jamaica, his car was hit head-on by a truck, heavily injuring both of his friends, but leaving Hopper and his son un-hurt.
After the accident he said that "At that point, I really thought, maybe there is a force looking out for me, because I can't figure out how we survived."
Hopper’s love life was just as hectic as the rest of it, having been married five times and fathered four children.
A lover of the arts world, something he picked up from old friend Vincent Price, an actor with a love of art as well, Hopper was a distinguished photographer and painter, with his work being exhibited all over the world.
From around America to far a field as Tokyo and Melbourne in Australia, Hopper showed off a side that most didn’t know about, as well as scouring the world for modern art for his own sizable collection.
He was even given the rank of ‘Commander’ from the Order of Arts and Letters in France, praising his work for the art world.
Having given much to not only the world of movies, but the world of modern art, Dennis Hopper will be dearly missed in both worlds and will always be remembered for his classic performances and colourful style.
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith
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