Hollywood rebel Dennis Hopper dies

The late Dennis Hoppe with son Henry Hopper (AP)
12 April 2012

Hollywood is in mourning for Dennis Hopper, who died after a battle with cancer.

The high-flying Hollywood wild man's memorable and erratic career included an early turn in Rebel Without A Cause, an improbable smash with Easy Rider and a classic character role in Blue Velvet.

Hopper, 74, died on Saturday at his home in the Los Angeles beach community of Venice, surrounded by family and friends, family friend Alex Hitz said.

Hopper's manager announced in October 2009 that the actor had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The success of Easy Rider and the spectacular failure of his next film, The Last Movie, fit the pattern for the talented, but sometimes uncontrollable actor-director, who also had parts in such favourites as Apocalypse Now and Hoosiers.

He married five times and led a dramatic life right to the end. In January, Hopper filed to end his 14-year marriage to wife Victoria, who stated in court filings that the actor was seeking to cut her out of her inheritance, a claim he denied.

After a promising start that included roles in two James Dean films, Hopper's acting career had languished as he developed a reputation for throwing tantrums and abusing alcohol and drugs. On the set of True Grit, Hopper so angered John Wayne that the star reportedly chased Hopper with a loaded gun.

All was forgiven, at least for a moment, when he collaborated with another struggling actor, Peter Fonda, on a script about two pot-smoking, drug-dealing hippies on a motorcycle trip through America's Southwest and South to take in the New Orleans Mardi Gras. Easy Rider became a cult classic.

He later found work in European films that were rarely seen in the US and again made a remarkable comeback, starting with a memorable performance as a drugged-out journalist in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic, Apocalypse Now. Hopper was drugged-out off camera, too, and his rambling chatter was worked into the final cut. He went on to appear in several films in the early 1980s, including Rumblefish and The Osterman Weekend, as well as My Science Project and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

Many tributes were posted on celebrities' websites and Twitter feeds. "No better scene in the movies than his showdown with Walken in True Romance," actress Elizabeth Banks tweeted. "A cinematic Ali v Frazier."

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