uneasy rider Director, Actor, Artist, Bad Boy, Fanatic, Bohemian... there are many words that can be used to describe the life and times of the late, great Dennis Hopper. After a long battle with cancer, Hopper died on May 29, leaving a legacy behind him that is as complicated as the man himself.
Hopper went from obscurity to stardom when he starred in and directed Easy Rider, the first of the so-called ‘New Hollywood’ movies. The tale of two free-spirited bikers crossing America would pave the way for directors like Martin Scorcese, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. But his second movie, The Last Movie, destroyed his career and he went into self-inflicted exile from Hollywood.
Dennis Hopper was born on May 17, 1936 and, under the influence of actor Vincent Price, developed an interest in acting and art after high school. He studied acting and would star in Rebel Without A Cause and Giant. Shocked by James Dean’s death, he became self-destructive, later to be salvaged by John Wayne, who helped him into movies like True Grit and Cool Hand Luke. In 1979 Coppola gave Hopper a role as a crazed war photographer in the iconic Apocalypse Now, returning him from an obscure career in lowbudget film. The shoot, which was fraught with problems, became the stuff of legend and the seemingly-insane Hopper was only bested by the severe antics of the film’s star, Marlon Brando. 36
july 2010
july 2010
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