Dennis Hopper, 74, Hollywood Rebel, Dies

Dennis Hopper, whose portrayals of drug-addled, often deranged misfits in the landmark films “Easy Rider,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Blue Velvet” drew on his early out-of-control experiences as part of a new generation of Hollywood rebel, died Saturday at his home in Venice, Calif. He was 74. The cause was complications from metastasized prostate cancer, according to a statement issued by Alex Hitz, a family friend. DennisHopper, who said he stopped drinking and using drugs in the mid-1980s, followed that change with a tireless phase of his career in which he claimed to have turned down no parts.
His credits include no fewer than six films released in 2008 and at least 25 over the past 10 years. He wrangled small parts in big studio films like “The Sons of Katie Elder” (1965) — directed by his former nemesis Henry Hathaway — as well as “Cool Hand Luke” (1967) and “Hang ’Em High” (1968).

And he grew close to his wife’s childhood friend Peter Fonda, who, with Dennis Hopper and a few others, began mulling over a film whose story line followed traditional western themes but substituted motorcycles for horses.That film, “Easy Rider,” which Hopper wrote with Peter Fonda and Terry Southern and directed, followed a pair of truth-seeking bikers (Fonda and Hopper) on a cross-country journey to New Orleans. It won the prize for best first film at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival (though it faced only one competitor, as the critic Vincent Canby pointed out in a tepid 1969 review in The New York Times). Dennis Hopper also shared an Oscar nomination for writing the film, while a nomination for best supporting actor went to a little-known Jack Nicholson.

“Easy Rider” introduced much of its audience, if not Hopper, to cocaine, and the film’s success accelerated a period of intense drug and alcohol use that Dennis Hopper later said nearly killed him and turned him into a professional pariah.

thanks to NYT,
Ramblin' Wayn