Dennis Hopper Dies at 74

by Libby Pelham | More from this Blogger

29 May 2010 08:08 PM

If you have seen a picture of Dennis Hopper lately, you knew his death was inevitable and today, the inevitable took one of Hollywood's perennial bad boys. Dennis Hopper died of prostate cancer at the age of 74. Hopper's last public appearance was when he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 26 of this year.

Hopper saw something most of today's actors can only hope for - a career that spanned almost six decades. He did television and he did the big screen. He was in westerns, action films, and indies. He played villains, lost souls, but it might have been his anti-establishment characters, such as Easy Rider'sBilly that fans loved the most.

He also got to star with a virtual who's who of Hollywood. He was in Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean, he was in Easy Rider with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson, he was in True Grit with John Wayne, he was in Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman, he was in Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, and Robert Duvall, he was in True Romance with Brad Pitt and Christopher Walken, and he was in Rumblefish with practically everyone - Matt Dillion, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage, and Lawrence Fishburne. It would probably be easier to list the people Dennis Hopper hasn't been in a movie with than list all the big names he has known.

Hopper often lived life hard and fast, having problems with alcohol and drugs in the '70s. He had a short, eight day marriage to singer/actress Michelle Phillips in 1970. He would be married five times and even filed for divorce from his last wife, Victoria, not long after learning he was ill.

Still, you cannot deny Hopper's effect on Hollywood. Like a true professional, he worked right up until his death, most recently with a reoccurring role in television's "Crash."

It is believed that Hopper will be buried in Taos, New Mexico, although funeral arrangements have not been finalized yet.

Learn more about Libby Pelham

Libby Pelham is a web designer/freelance writer located in Memphis, TN. She has a beautiful little boy, Will, born in July of 2004.

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