65 Facts About Dennis Hopper

Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, director and photographer.

Dennis Hopper attended the Actors Studio, 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 and Giant as well as Gunfight at the OK.

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

Dennis Hopper went on to helm his third directorial work Out of the Blue, for which he was again honored at Cannes, and appeared in Rumble Fish, The Osterman Weekend, and My Science Project.

Dennis Hopper saw a career resurgence in 1986 when he was widely acclaimed for his performances in Blue Velvet and Hoosiers, the latter of which saw him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1990, Dennis Hopper directed The Hot Spot, which was not a box-office hit.

Dennis Hopper found greater fame for portraying the villains of the films Super Mario Bros.

Dennis Hopper appeared in three films released posthumously: Alpha and Omega, The Last Film Festival and the long-delayed The Other Side of the Wind, which had been filmed in the early 1970s.

Dennis Hopper was born on May 17,1936, in Dodge City, Kansas, to Marjorie Mae and James Millard Dennis Hopper.

When he was 13, Dennis 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.

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

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

Dennis Hopper was especially fond of the plays of William Shakespeare.

Dennis 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.

Dennis Hopper made his debut on film in two roles with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and Giant.

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

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

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

Dennis Hopper acted in another John Wayne film, True Grit, and during its production, he became well acquainted with Wayne.

In both of the films with Wayne, Dennis Hopper's character is killed in the presence of Wayne's character, to whom he utters his dying words.

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

In 1968, Dennis Hopper teamed with Peter Fonda, Terry Southern and Jack Nicholson to make Easy Rider, which premiered in July 1969.

Dennis Hopper won wide acclaim as the director for his improvisational methods and innovative editing for Easy Rider.

Dennis Hopper became a stereotype for some male youths who rejected traditional jobs and traditional American culture, partly exemplified by Fonda's long sideburns and Dennis Hopper wearing shoulder-length hair and a long mustache.

Dennis Hopper was unable to capitalize on his Easy Rider success for several years.

Dennis Hopper was able to sustain his lifestyle and a measure of celebrity by acting in numerous low budget and European films throughout the 1970s as the archetypal "tormented maniac", including Mad Dog Morgan, Tracks, and The American Friend.

Dennis Hopper plays an aging hippie prankster in the 1990 comedy Flashback, fleeing in a Furthur-like old bus to the tune of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild".

Dennis Hopper was nominated for an Emmy Award for the 1991 HBO film Paris Trout.

Dennis Hopper starred as King Koopa in Super Mario Bros.

In 1995, Dennis Hopper played a greedy TV self-help guru, Dr Luther Waxling in Search and Destroy.

Dennis Hopper was originally cast as Christof in the 1998 Peter Weir film, The Truman Show, but left due to "creative differences".

In 2003, Dennis Hopper was in the running for the dual lead in the indie horror drama Firecracker, but was ousted at the last minute in favor of Mike Patton.

In 2005, Hopper played Paul Kaufman in George A Romero's Land of the Dead.

Dennis Hopper filmed scenes for The Other Side of the Wind in 1971, appearing as himself; after decades of legal, financial and technical delays, the film was finally released on Netflix in 2018.

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

Dennis Hopper appeared in the first episode of the popular TV series, "The Rifleman" as protagonist Vernon Tippet.

On 30 September 1970, Dennis Hopper appeared on the second episode of season 2 of "The Johnny Cash Show" where he sang a duet with Cash entitled "Goin' Up Goin' Down".

Dennis Hopper added that Kristofferson had written some songs for his Peruvian-shot movie "The Last Movie", in which Kristofferson appeared in his debut role with Julie Adams.

Dennis Hopper teamed with Nike in the early 1990s to make a series of television commercials.

Dennis Hopper appeared as a "crazed referee" in those ads.

Dennis Hopper portrayed villain Victor Drazen in the first season of the popular action drama 24.

Dennis Hopper appeared on the final two episodes of the cult 1991 television show Fishing with John with host John Lurie.

Dennis Hopper starred as a US Army colonel in the 2005 television series E-Ring, a drama set at The Pentagon, but the series was canceled after 14 episodes aired.

Dennis Hopper played the part of record producer Ben Cendars in the Starz television series Crash, which lasted two seasons.

Dennis Hopper's painting style ranges from abstract impressionism to photorealism and often includes references to his cinematic work and to other artists.

Dennis Hopper became a prolific photographer, and noted writer Terry Southern profiled Hopper in Better Homes and Gardens as an up-and-coming photographer "to watch" in the mid-1960s.

Dennis Hopper began working as a painter and a poet as well as a collector of art in the 1960s as well, particularly Pop Art.

One of the first art works Dennis Hopper owned was an early print of Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans bought for US$75.

Dennis Hopper once owned Warhol's Mao, which he shot one evening in a fit of paranoia, the two bullet holes possibly adding to the print's value.

In March 2010, it was announced that Dennis Hopper was on the "short list" for Jeffrey Deitch's inaugural show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Dennis Hopper spent much of the 1970s and early 1980s living as an "outcast" in Taos, New Mexico, after the success of Easy Rider.

Dennis Hopper was "notorious for his troubled relationships with women", including Michelle Phillips, who divorced him after eight days of marriage.

Dennis Hopper has been widely reported to be the godfather of actress Amber Tamblyn; in a 2009 interview with Parade, Tamblyn explained that "godfather" was "just a loose term" for Dennis Hopper, Dean Stockwell and Neil Young, three famous friends of her father's, who were always around the house when she was growing up, and who were big influences on her life.

Dennis Hopper claimed that Torn pulled a knife on him during pre-production of the film Easy Rider.

Dennis Hopper then appealed but the judge again ruled in Torn's favor and Dennis Hopper was required to pay another US$475,000 in punitive damages.

Dennis Hopper was honored with the rank of commander of France's National Order of Arts and Letters, at a ceremony in Paris.

Dennis Hopper confirmed this in an election day appearance on the ABC daytime show The View.

Dennis Hopper said his reason for not voting Republican was the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate.

Dennis Hopper was a longtime friend of actress Sally Kirkland, who freely admitted in a 2021 Reelz documentary that they had a one-night stand early on in their friendship.

On January 14,2010, Dennis Hopper filed for divorce from his fifth wife Victoria Duffy.

In January 2010, it was reported that Dennis Hopper's cancer had metastasized to his bones.

Dennis Hopper died at his home in the coastal Venice district of Los Angeles, on May 29,2010, at age 74.

Dennis Hopper's funeral took place on June 3,2010, at San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico.

Dennis Hopper's body was buried at the Jesus Nazareno Cemetery in Ranchos de Taos.

The moving image collection of Dennis Hopper is held at the Academy Film Archive.