He was never one of my favorite actors, but he's always been there. The IMDb lists 202 film and television acting credits for him beginning in 1954. His first two feature film credits were Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, both starring James Dean. Lots of television work followed over the next decade until he directed and starred in Easy Rider, co-written with his friend, Peter Fonda. That iconic film is often regarded as the beginning of the New Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema that ran through the 70s.
He created some other indelible and iconic roles during his long career. He portrayed Tom Ripley on screen long before Matt Damon in the Wim Wenders directed The American Friend. Then he was the sycophantic photojournalist idolizing Marlon Brando's Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
Perhaps his most famous screen role came in 1986 when he played the nitrous oxide inhaling Frank Booth in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Who can forget the Candy Colored Clown scene? Or how about "Baby wants to fuck?" (Both clips are very much NSFW).
But for me the most singularly great performance from Mr. Hopper was in True Romance in which he played the father of Christian Slater, who had unwittingly stolen a large amount of cocaine from the mafia. One scene in particular is what I will always remember him for. The scene was made great by the head-to-head acting of Hopper and Christopher Walken and also by the Quentin Tarantino written dialogue.
And of course we shouldn't forget his wonderful villain roles in the classic action films Speed and Waterworld, both of which were the likely result of his accepting every script that came his way during the last 2 decades of his career.
RIP Dennis Hopper (17 May 1936 - 29 May 2010)
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