***Update: Roger L. Simon writes today — to which I add a hearty Amen: So when you think of Dennis on that iconic bike in ‘Easy Rider,’ think of America at its best, out on the open road, optimistic and heading straight on with unflinching belief in liberty.
We all knew this was coming but that doesn’t lessen the blow. Dennis Hopper was a legend, an irreplaceable force of personality on screen, and a true Hollywood iconoclast who changed everything. Below is an obituary from the AP and a wonderful tribute video put together by Matt Zoller Seitz, a critic and filmmaker.
Hopper had been ill for a while, and so sensing this inevitability I wrote something of a tribute just this last month. Great actor. Great director. Great American. Terrible loss.
God bless the wild man with the gentle soul. May he rest in peace.
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Dennis Hopper, the high-flying Hollywood wild man whose 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,” has died. He was 74.
Hopper died 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 he 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 favorites as “Apocalypse Now” and “Hoosiers.” He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, and in March 2010, was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
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.
He married five times and led a dramatic life right to the end. In January 2010, Hopper filed to end his 14-year marriage to Victoria Hopper, who stated in court filings that the actor was seeking to cut her out of her inheritance, a claim Hopper denied.
“Much of Hollywood,” wrote critic-historian David Thomson, “found Hopper a pain in the neck.”
You can read the full piece here.
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