ianstone
05-29-2010, 05:20 PM
Veteran actor loses battle with prostate cancer
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 10:01 PM on 29th May 2010
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Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper has died at the age of 74 after a long battle with prostate cancer.
The star of Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet was surrounded by friends and family at his home in Venice, California, when he passed away on Saturday morning.
He was last seen in public in March, when he emerged looking frail for the unveiling of his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
At the time of receiving the star, he said: 'Everything I've learned, I've learned from Hollywood. This has been my home and my schooling.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFEC21000005DC-161_468x678.jpg Last public appearance: Dennis Hopper, pictured for the final time in March, has died at the age of 74 after a long battle with prostate cancer
He leaves behind three adult children as well as a seven-year-old daughter, Galen.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09D0043F000005DC-653_233x545.jpg Bitter split: The actor was locked in divorce proceedings with wife Victoria Duffy at the time of his death
Hopper was diagnosed with cancer in September 2009 and had been fighting the disease while also going through a difficult divorce from his wife of 14 years, Victoria Duffy.
The star was thought to be trying to prevent his wife from contesting his will, which apparently leaves her only a quarter of his estate.
Miss Duffy is understood to have been furious after discovering that her inheritance would be exactly what she had agreed to under the couple's prenuptial agreement and no more - despite the relatively long duration of their marriage.
The were also engaged in a custody battle over Galen, and earlier this year he accused her of stealing his £1million art collection, including a piece by British graffiti artist Banksy.
In court documents, Hopper's assistant, Emily Davis, even accused Victoria of trying to kill the actor.
On April 5, a judge ordered Hopper to pay his estranged wife $12,000 a month in child and spousal support and ruled that Duffy be allowed to live on Hopper's property with their daughter pending the outcome of their divorce proceedings. Hopper did not attend the hearing.
In a wildly varied career spanning more than 50 years, Hopper appeared alongside his mentor James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause and Giant in the 1950s and played maniacs in such films as Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet and Speed.
He received two Oscar nominations - for writing Easy Rider with co-star Peter Fonda and Terry Southern, and for a rare heartwarming turn as an alcoholic high-school basketball coach in the 1986 drama Hoosiers.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFEE01000005DC-860_468x297.jpg Screen icon: The actor, pictured left, was most famous for his role in Easy Rider in 1969
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFF21F000005DC-93_468x286.jpg Hollywood legend: Dennis Hopper in the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola
But his prodigious drug abuse, temper tantrums, propensity for domestic violence and poor choice of movie roles often made him a Hollywood pariah.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFF25E000005DC-842_233x527.jpg Long battle: Hopper, pictured here in March, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009
Hopper felt over-indulgence was a requirement for great artists.
He once claimed he snorted lines of cocaine 'as long as your arm every five minutes, just so I could carry on drinking ... gallons' of alcohol.
Still, his legacy rests securely on Easy Rider. Regarded as one of the greatest films of American cinema, it helped usher in a new era in which the old Hollywood guard was forced to cede power to young filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
The low-budget blockbuster, originally conceived by Fonda, introduced mainstream moviegoers to pot-smoking, cocaine-dealing and long-haired bikers.
'We'd gone through the whole '60s and nobody had made a film about anybody smoking grass without going out and killing a bunch of nurses,' Hopper told Entertainment Weekly in 2005.
'I wanted Easy Rider to be a time capsule for people about that period.'
Hopper and Fonda were joined on screen by a then-unknown Jack Nicholson as an alcoholic lawyer, but it was not a harmonious set. Hopper clashed violently with everyone and Fonda later described him as a 'little fascist freak.' Their friendship was destroyed.
Hopper's 1971 directorial follow-up, The Last Movie, shot amid what he later called 'one long sex and drug orgy' in Peru, was a flop.
He was often gripped by paranoid delusions.
In 1982, while filming Jungle Warriors in Mexico, he ran naked into the jungle, convinced World War Three had started.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09D03441000005DC-137_468x386.jpg Onscreen villain: Hopper with Sandra Bullock in the hit film, Speed
He was put on a plane home but jumped out onto the wing as it was about to take off, fearful that the plane was on fire. Upon his return, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for three months.
He starred in bad movies just for the money, such as Super Mario Bros. and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and turned down important projects that could have enhanced his legend, such as Taxi Driver and Reservoir Dogs.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09D0032E000005DC-80_233x444.jpg Final weeks: Hopper's daughter Galen joined him at the March ceremony
Hopper mellowed somewhat in later years, becoming a Republican and a pitchman for the likes of Gap and Nike.
Outside of Hollywood, he was a noted photographer, painter, sculptor and art collector.
Hopper fell ill last September.
He continued working almost to the end, both on his cable TV series Crash and on a book showcasing his photography.
Hopper was married and divorced numerous times before he wed Duffy, who is 32 years his junior, in 1996.
His first wife was Brooke Hayward, the daughter of actress Margaret Sullavan and agent Leland Hayward, and author of the best-selling memoir Haywire. They had a daughter, Marin, before Hopper's drug-induced violence led to divorce after eight years.
His second marriage, to singer-actress Michelle Phillips of the Mamas And The Papas, lasted only eight days. She later told Vanity Fair she was subjected to 'excruciating' treatment.
A union with actress Daria Halprin also ended in divorce after they had a daughter, Ruthanna.
Hopper and his fourth wife, dancer Katherine LaNasa, had a son, Henry, before divorcing.
He married his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, who was 32 years his junior, in 1996.
Watch the late actor receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1282450/Dennis-Hopper-dies-74-Veteran-actor-loses-battle-prostate-cancer.html#ixzz0pM71TF2s (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1282450/Dennis-Hopper-dies-74-Veteran-actor-loses-battle-prostate-cancer.html#ixzz0pM71TF2s)
A true gentleman and will be sadly missed. R.I.P.
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 10:01 PM on 29th May 2010
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Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper has died at the age of 74 after a long battle with prostate cancer.
The star of Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet was surrounded by friends and family at his home in Venice, California, when he passed away on Saturday morning.
He was last seen in public in March, when he emerged looking frail for the unveiling of his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
At the time of receiving the star, he said: 'Everything I've learned, I've learned from Hollywood. This has been my home and my schooling.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFEC21000005DC-161_468x678.jpg Last public appearance: Dennis Hopper, pictured for the final time in March, has died at the age of 74 after a long battle with prostate cancer
He leaves behind three adult children as well as a seven-year-old daughter, Galen.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09D0043F000005DC-653_233x545.jpg Bitter split: The actor was locked in divorce proceedings with wife Victoria Duffy at the time of his death
Hopper was diagnosed with cancer in September 2009 and had been fighting the disease while also going through a difficult divorce from his wife of 14 years, Victoria Duffy.
The star was thought to be trying to prevent his wife from contesting his will, which apparently leaves her only a quarter of his estate.
Miss Duffy is understood to have been furious after discovering that her inheritance would be exactly what she had agreed to under the couple's prenuptial agreement and no more - despite the relatively long duration of their marriage.
The were also engaged in a custody battle over Galen, and earlier this year he accused her of stealing his £1million art collection, including a piece by British graffiti artist Banksy.
In court documents, Hopper's assistant, Emily Davis, even accused Victoria of trying to kill the actor.
On April 5, a judge ordered Hopper to pay his estranged wife $12,000 a month in child and spousal support and ruled that Duffy be allowed to live on Hopper's property with their daughter pending the outcome of their divorce proceedings. Hopper did not attend the hearing.
In a wildly varied career spanning more than 50 years, Hopper appeared alongside his mentor James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause and Giant in the 1950s and played maniacs in such films as Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet and Speed.
He received two Oscar nominations - for writing Easy Rider with co-star Peter Fonda and Terry Southern, and for a rare heartwarming turn as an alcoholic high-school basketball coach in the 1986 drama Hoosiers.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFEE01000005DC-860_468x297.jpg Screen icon: The actor, pictured left, was most famous for his role in Easy Rider in 1969
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFF21F000005DC-93_468x286.jpg Hollywood legend: Dennis Hopper in the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola
But his prodigious drug abuse, temper tantrums, propensity for domestic violence and poor choice of movie roles often made him a Hollywood pariah.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09CFF25E000005DC-842_233x527.jpg Long battle: Hopper, pictured here in March, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009
Hopper felt over-indulgence was a requirement for great artists.
He once claimed he snorted lines of cocaine 'as long as your arm every five minutes, just so I could carry on drinking ... gallons' of alcohol.
Still, his legacy rests securely on Easy Rider. Regarded as one of the greatest films of American cinema, it helped usher in a new era in which the old Hollywood guard was forced to cede power to young filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
The low-budget blockbuster, originally conceived by Fonda, introduced mainstream moviegoers to pot-smoking, cocaine-dealing and long-haired bikers.
'We'd gone through the whole '60s and nobody had made a film about anybody smoking grass without going out and killing a bunch of nurses,' Hopper told Entertainment Weekly in 2005.
'I wanted Easy Rider to be a time capsule for people about that period.'
Hopper and Fonda were joined on screen by a then-unknown Jack Nicholson as an alcoholic lawyer, but it was not a harmonious set. Hopper clashed violently with everyone and Fonda later described him as a 'little fascist freak.' Their friendship was destroyed.
Hopper's 1971 directorial follow-up, The Last Movie, shot amid what he later called 'one long sex and drug orgy' in Peru, was a flop.
He was often gripped by paranoid delusions.
In 1982, while filming Jungle Warriors in Mexico, he ran naked into the jungle, convinced World War Three had started.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09D03441000005DC-137_468x386.jpg Onscreen villain: Hopper with Sandra Bullock in the hit film, Speed
He was put on a plane home but jumped out onto the wing as it was about to take off, fearful that the plane was on fire. Upon his return, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for three months.
He starred in bad movies just for the money, such as Super Mario Bros. and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and turned down important projects that could have enhanced his legend, such as Taxi Driver and Reservoir Dogs.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/29/article-1282450-09D0032E000005DC-80_233x444.jpg Final weeks: Hopper's daughter Galen joined him at the March ceremony
Hopper mellowed somewhat in later years, becoming a Republican and a pitchman for the likes of Gap and Nike.
Outside of Hollywood, he was a noted photographer, painter, sculptor and art collector.
Hopper fell ill last September.
He continued working almost to the end, both on his cable TV series Crash and on a book showcasing his photography.
Hopper was married and divorced numerous times before he wed Duffy, who is 32 years his junior, in 1996.
His first wife was Brooke Hayward, the daughter of actress Margaret Sullavan and agent Leland Hayward, and author of the best-selling memoir Haywire. They had a daughter, Marin, before Hopper's drug-induced violence led to divorce after eight years.
His second marriage, to singer-actress Michelle Phillips of the Mamas And The Papas, lasted only eight days. She later told Vanity Fair she was subjected to 'excruciating' treatment.
A union with actress Daria Halprin also ended in divorce after they had a daughter, Ruthanna.
Hopper and his fourth wife, dancer Katherine LaNasa, had a son, Henry, before divorcing.
He married his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, who was 32 years his junior, in 1996.
Watch the late actor receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1282450/Dennis-Hopper-dies-74-Veteran-actor-loses-battle-prostate-cancer.html#ixzz0pM71TF2s (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1282450/Dennis-Hopper-dies-74-Veteran-actor-loses-battle-prostate-cancer.html#ixzz0pM71TF2s)
A true gentleman and will be sadly missed. R.I.P.