Dennis Hopper

Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor and film director.

He is known for his roles as mentally disturbed outsiders and rebels.

He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.

Hopper studied acting at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and the Actors Studio in New York.

Hopper was born on May 17, 1936, in Dodge City, Kansas, to Marjorie Mae (née Davis; July 12, 1917 – January 12, 2007) and James Millard Hopper (June 23, 1916 – August 7, 1982).

He had Scottish ancestors.

Hopper had two younger brothers, Marvin and David.

After World War II, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where the young Hopper attended Saturday art classes at the Kansas City Art Institute.

When he was 13, Hopper and his family moved to San Diego, where his mother worked as a lifeguard instructor and his father was a post office manager, having previously served in the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, in World War II in the China Burma India Theater.

Hopper was voted most likely to succeed at Helix High School, where he was active in the drama club, speech and choir.

It was there that he developed an interest in acting, studying at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, and the Actors Studio in New York City (he studied with Lee Strasberg for five years).

Hopper struck up a friendship with actor Vincent Price, whose passion for art influenced Hopper's interest in art.

He was especially fond of the plays of William Shakespeare.

Hopper made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in two of the films that made James Dean famous, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956).

Hopper was reported to have an uncredited role in Johnny Guitar in 1954, but he has stated that he was not in Hollywood when this film was made.

Hopper made his debut on film in two roles with James Dean (whom he admired immensely) in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956).

Dean's death in a car accident in September 1955 affected the young Hopper deeply and it was shortly afterward that he got into a confrontation with veteran director Henry Hathaway on the film From Hell to Texas (1958).

Hopper forced Hathaway to shoot more than 80 takes of a scene over several days before he acquiesced to Hathaway's direction.

After filming was finally completed, Hathaway allegedly told Hopper that his career in Hollywood was finished.

Hopper debuted in an episode of the Richard Boone television series Medic in 1955, portraying a young epileptic.

In his book Last Train to Memphis, American popular music historian Peter Guralnick says that in 1956, when Elvis Presley was making his first film in Hollywood, Hopper was roommates with fellow actor Nick Adams and the three became friends and socialized together.

He then acted in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Hang 'Em High (1968) and True Grit (1969).

He appeared in the first episode of the popular TV series The Rifleman (1958–1963) as protagonist Vernon Tippet.

The series starred Chuck Connors and the premiere episode "The Sharpshooter" was written by Sam Peckinpah.

He subsequently appeared in over 140 episodes of television shows such as Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Petticoat Junction, The Twilight Zone, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Defenders, The Investigators, The Legend of Jesse James, Entourage, The Big Valley, The Time Tunnel, and Combat!.

In 1959 Hopper moved to New York to study Method acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s.

In 1961, Hopper played his first lead role in Night Tide, an atmospheric supernatural thriller involving a mermaid in an amusement park.

Hopper stated that because he was the son-in-law of actress Margaret Sullavan, a friend of John Wayne, Wayne hired Hopper for a role in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), also directed by Hathaway, which enabled Hopper to restart his film career.

Hopper had a supporting role as the bet-taker, "Babalugats", in Cool Hand Luke (1967).

Hopper made his directorial film debut with Easy Rider (1969), which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern.

The film earned Hopper a Cannes Film Festival Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Other directorial credits for Hopper include The Last Movie (1971), Out of the Blue (1980), Colors (1988), and The Hot Spot (1990).

He became frequently typecast as mentally disturbed outsiders in such films as Mad Dog Morgan (1976), The American Friend (1977), Apocalypse Now (1979), Rumble Fish (1983), and Blue Velvet (1986).

He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in Hoosiers (1986).

He received Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for his role in Paris Trout (1991).

His other television roles include in the HBO film Doublecrossed (1991), 24 (2002), the NBC series E-Ring (2005–2006), and the Starz series Crash (2008–2009).

His later film roles included Super Mario Bros. (1993), Speed (1994), Waterworld (1995) and Elegy (2009).

In a December 1994 interview on the Charlie Rose Show, Hopper credited John Wayne with saving his career, as Hopper acknowledged that because of his insolent behavior, he could not find work in Hollywood for seven years.

He appeared posthumously in the long-delayed The Other Side of the Wind (2018), which had previously been filmed in the early 1970s.