Dennis Hopper

Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, and visual artist. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after made his film debut in small role in Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause (1955), with James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, and Jim Backus; followed by an uncredited role in Stuart Heisler’s I Died a Thousand Times (1955), with Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lee Marvin, Earl Holliman, Perry Lopez, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, and Lon Chaney Jr.; and a major supporting role in George Stevens’s Giant (1956), with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Mineo, Rod Taylor, Elsa Cárdenas, and Earl Holliman.

Other notable films in the 1950s include John Sturges’s Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), with Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet, and John Ireland; Irwin Allen’s The Story of Mankind (1957), with Ronald Colman, Vincent Price, Hedy Lamarr, Grouch, Chico, & Harpo Marx, Virginia Mayo, Agnes Moorehead, Peter Lorre, Charles Coburn, Cedric Hardwicke, Cesar Romero, and John Carradine; Henry Hathaway’s From Hell to Texas (1958), with Don Murray and Diane Varsi; and Ted Tetzlaff’s The Young Land (1959), with Patrick Wayne, Yvonne Craig, and Dan O’Herlihy.

Films in the 1960s include Phil Karlson’s Key Witness (1960), with Jeffrey Hunter and Pat Crowley; Curtis Harrington’s Night Tide (1961), with Linda Lawson, Gavin Muir, and Luana Anders; Hathaway’s The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), with John Wayne, Dean Martin, Martha Hyer, Michael Anderson Jr., Earl Holliman, George Kennedy, Paul Fix, Jeremy Slate, and James Gregory; Harrington’s Queen of Blood (1966), with John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, and Judi Meredith; Roger Corman’s The Trip (1967), with Peter Fonda, Susan Strasberg, and Bruce Dern; Stuart Rosenberg’s Cool Hand Luke (1967), with Paul Newman, Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Robert Drivas, Lou Antonio, Strother Martin, and Jo Van Fleet; Panic in the City (1968), with Howard Duff, Linda Cristal, Stephen McNally, Nehemiah Persoff, Anne Jeffreys, and Oscar Beregi Jr.; and Hathaway’s True Grit (1969), with Wayne, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Robert Duvall, Jeff Corey, and John Fielder.

Hopper’s major breakthrough came when he directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in the independent road drama Easy Rider (1968), with Fonda (who produced and co-wrote with Hopper and Terry Southern) and Jack Nicholson. The film was a critical and commercial hit, earning $60 million against an estimated budget of $360,000. It earned Hopper a Cannes Film Festival Award for “Best First Work” and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Hopper went on to direct and star in The Last Movie (1971), with Stella Garcia, Don Gordon, Fonda, Julie Adams, Sylvia Miles, Samuel Fuller, Dean Stockwell, Russ Tamblyn, Tomas Milian, Toni Basil, Severn Darden, Henry Jaglom, Rod Cameron, Kris Kristofferson, and Michelle Phillips. The film had notorious production issues, and went on to be a critical and commercial flop.

From there he appeared in various independent and foreign projects – in which he was frequently typecast as mentally disturbed outsiders in such films as Philippe Mora’s Mad Dog Morgan (1976), with Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil, Frank Thring, and Michael Pate; and Wim Wender’s The American Friend (1977), with Bruno Ganz, Lisa Kreuzer, and Gérard Blain – until he found new fame for his role as an American photojournalist in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), with Marlon Brando, Duvall, Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, and Harrison Ford.

Other films in the 1970s include James Frawley’s Kid Blue (1973), with Warren Oates, Peter Boyle, and Ben Johnson; Henry Jagolm’s Tracks (1977), with Taryn Power and Stockwell; Claude d’Anna’s Last In, First Out (1978), with Bruno Cremer, Donald Pleasence, Joseph Cotten, and Gabriele Ferzetti; and Silvio Narizzano’s Bloodbath (1979), with Carroll Baker, Win Wells, Richard Todd, and Faith Brook.

Hopper went on to helm his third directorial work Out of the Blue (1980), with Linda Manz, Sharon Farrell, Don Gordon, Raymond Burr; for which he was again honored at Cannes. Other films in the early 1980s include King of the Mountain (1981), with Harry Hamlin, Joseph Bottoms, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, and Richard Cox, Seymour Cassel; Human Highway (1982), with Neil Young, Stockwell, and Tamblyn; Coppola’s Rumble Fish (1983), with Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Vincent Spano, Diane Lane, Diana Scarwid, and Nicolas Cage; Sam Peckinpah’s The Osterman Weekend (1983), with Rutger Hauer, John Hurt, Lancaster, Meg Foster, Helen Shaver, Chris Sarandon, and Craig T. Nelson; and My Science Project (1985), with John Stockwell,
Danielle von Zerneck, Fisher Stevens, Raphael Sbarge, Richard Masur, Barry Corbin, and Ann Wedgeworth.

Hopper saw a resurgence in his career with acclaimed performances in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986), with Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, George Dickerson, Stockwell, Brad Dourif, and Jack Nance; and Hoosiers (1986), with Gene Hackman and Barbara Hershey; the latter of which saw him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Other films around this time include Riders of the Storm (1986), with Michael J. Pollard; Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1986), with Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Bill Moseley and Jim Siedow; and Tim Hunter’s River’s Edge (1986), with Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye Leitch, and Daniel Roebuck.

Other films in the late 1980s include Bob Rafelson’s Black Widow (1987), with Debra Winger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey, and Nicol Williamson; Alex Cox’s Straight to Hell (1987), with Sy Richardson, Joe Strummer, Dick Rude, Courtney Love,, Grace Jones, Elvis Costello, Edward Tudor-Pole, Kathy Burke, and Jim Jarmusch; James Toback’s The Pick-up Artist (1987), with Robert Downey Jr., Molly Ringwald, Danny Aiello, and Harvey Keitel; Blood Red (1989), with Eric Roberts, Giancarlo Giannini, Burt Young, and Lara Harris; and Mick Jackson’s Chattahoochee (1989), with Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Pamela Reed, Ned Beatty, and M. Emmett Walsh.

Hopper’s next directorial effort was Catchfire (1990), with Jodie Foster, Fred Ward, Vincent Price, John Turturro, with cameo appearances by Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Catherine Keener and Bob Dylan; where with the theatrical cut he went under the infamous pseudonym Alan Smithee. His last two films as director were the neo-noir The Hot Spot (1990), with Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith, William Sadler, and Barry Corbin; and the comedy Chasers (1994), with Tom Berenger, Erika Eleniak, William McNamara, and Gary Busey.

Other films in the early 1990s include Flashback (1990), with Kiefer Sutherland, Carol Kane, Paul Dooley, Cliff De Young, Richard Masur, Michael McKean, and Kathleen York; The Indian Runner (1991), with David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Valeria Golino, Patricia Arquette, Jordan Rhodes, Sandy Dennis, and Charles Bronson; John Dahl’s Red Rock West (1993), with Cage, Lara Flynn Boyle, J.T. Walsh, Timothy Carhart, and Dwight Yoakam; Super Mario Bros. (1993), with Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Samantha Mathis, Stevens, Fiona Shaw, and Richard Edson; Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993), with Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, James Gandolfini, Michael Rapaport, Bronson Pinchot, Samuel L. Jackson, Val Kilmer, Oldman, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken; and Speed (1994), with Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, and Jeff Daniels.

Films in the mid to late 1990s include Search and Destroy (1996), with Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Illeana Douglas, Ethan Hawke, Turturro, Walken, and Martin Scorsese; Waterworld (1996), with Kevin Costner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, and Michael Jeter; Carried Away (1996), with Amy Irving, Busey, Amy Locane, and Hal Holbrook; Julian Schnabel’s Basquiat (1996), with Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie, Oldman, Benicio del Toro, Claire Forlani, and Michael Wincott; Stuart Gordon’s Space Truckers (1996), with Stephen Dorff, Debi Mazar, and Charles Dance; and The Last Days of Frankie the Fly (1996), with Michael Madsen, Sutherland, and Daryl Hannah.

More films in the late 1990s include Abel Ferrara’s The Blackout (1997), with Matthew Modine; Sidney J. Furie’s Top of the World (1997), with Peter Weller, Tia Carrere, David Alan Grier, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Peter Coyote and Joe Pantoliano; Meet the Deedles (1998), with Paul Walker, Steve Van Wormer, A. J. Langer, John Ashton, and Robert Englund; Ron Howard’s EDtv (1999), with Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau, Rob Reiner, Sally Kirkland, Elizabeth Hurley, and Clint Howard; and The Venice Project (1999), with Lauren Bacall, Linus Roache, Ben Cross, Stuart Townsend, Héctor Babenco, John Wood, Stockard Channing, Parker Posey, and uncredited cameos by Steve Martin and Cheech Marin.

Films in the 2000s include Jesus’ Son (2000), with Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Holly Hunter, Denis Leary, Will Patton, John Ventimiglia, Michael Shannon, and Jack Black; Ticker (2001), with Tom Sizemore, Jaime Pressly, Steven Seagal, Ice-T, Kevin Gage, and Nas; Knockaround Guys (2001), with Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Seth Green, and John Malkovich; Unspeakable (2002), with Dina Meyer, Jeff Fahey, Lance Henriksen, and Michelle Wolff; Leo (2002), with Elisabeth Shue, Joseph Fiennes, and Sam Shepard; The Night We Called It a Day (2003), with Melanie Griffith, Portia de Rossi, Joel Edgerton, Rose Byrne, and David Hemmings; and Out of Season (2004), with Gina Gershon.

Films in the mid to late 2000s include George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead (2005), with Simon Baker, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, Leguizamo, and Eugene Clark; 10th & Wolf (2006), with James Marsden, Giovanni Ribisi, Brad Renfro, Val Kilmer, Piper Perabo, Lesley Ann Warren, Tommy Lee; Memory (2007), with Billy Zane, Tricia Helfer, Ann-Margaret, and Terry Chen; Sleepwalking (2008), with Nick Stahl, AnnaSophia Robb, Charlize Theron, and Harrelson; Hell Ride (2008), with Larry Bishop (who also directed), Madsen, Eric Balfour, Vinnie Jones, Leonor Varela, and David Carradine; Elegy (2008), with Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, and Peter Sarsgaard; Swing Vote (2008), with Costner, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer, Nathan Lane, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez, and Madeline Carroll; and David Zucker’s An American Carol (2008), with Kevin Farley, Grammer, Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Trace Adkins, Jillian Murray, and Leslie Nielsen.

Hopper’s later work included a leading role in the short-lived television series Crash (2008–2009), inspired by the film of the same name. He appeared in three films released posthumously: the animated film Alpha and Omega (2010), with Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Danny Glover, and Christina Ricci; The Last Film Festival (2016), with Leelee Sobieski, Katrina Bowden, Chris Kattan, and Jacqueline Bisset; and Orson Welles’s long-delayed The Other Side of the Wind (2018), with John Huston, Bob Random, Peter Bogdanovich, Strasberg, Oja Kodar, Norman Foster, Bob Random, Lilli Palmer, Edmond O’Brien, Mercedes McCambridge, Cameron Mitchell, Paul Stewart, Gregory Sierra, Tonio Selwart, Dan Tobin, and Joseph McBride; which had been filmed in the early 1970s.

TV films and miniseries include Doublecrossed (1991), with Robert Carradine, Richard Jenkins, Adrienne Barbeau, Don Hood and G.W. Bailey; Stephen Gyllenhaal’s Paris Trout (1991), with Hershey and Ed Harris; Nails (1992), with Anne Archer; The Heart of Justice (1992), with Eric Stoltz, Connelly, and Dermot Mulroney; Paul Schrader’s Witch Hunt (1994), with Penelope Ann Miller, Eric Bogosian, and Mazar; Nicholas Roeg’s Samson and Delilah (1996), with Eric Thal, Hurley, Diana Rigg, and Michael Gambon; Jason and the Argonauts (2000), with Jason London, Frank Langella, Natasha Henstridge, Derek Jacobi, Olivia Williams, and Angus Macfadyen; and Firestarter: Rekindled (2002), with Marguerite Moreau, Danny Nucci, and Malcolm McDowell.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)** – directed by Nicholas Ray
I Died a Thousand Times (1955) – directed by Stuart Heisler – uncredited
Giant (1956) – directed by George Stevens
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) – directed by John Sturges
The Story of Mankind (1957) – directed by Irwin Allen
Sayonara (1957) – directed by Joshua Logan – uncredited voice
From Hell to Texas (1958) – directed by Henry Hathaway
Swiss Family Robinson (1958) – directed by William A. Graham – TV movie
The Young Land (1959) – directed by Ted Tetzlaff
Key Witness (1960) – directed by Phil Karlson
Night Tide (1961) – directed by Curtis Harrington
Tarzan and Jane Regained… Sort of (1964) – directed by Andy Warhol
The Thirteen Most Beautiful Boys (1964) – directed by Andy Warhol – short
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) – directed by Henry Hathaway
Queen of Blood (1966) – directed by Curtis Harrington
The Trip (1967) – directed by Roger Corman
Cool Hand Luke (1967) – directed by Stuart Rosenberg
The Glory Stompers (1967) – directed by Anthony M. Lanza
Panic in the City (1968) – directed by Eddie Davis
Hang ‘Em High (1968) – directed by Ted Post
Head (1968) – directed by Bob Rafelson – uncredited extra
Easy Rider (1969) – also director, co-writer
True Grit (1969) – directed by Henry Hathaway
The Last Movie (1971) – also director, co-story
Crush Proof (1972) – directed by François De Menil – cameo as himself
Kid Blue (1973) – directed by James Frawley
Mad Dog Morgan (1976) – directed by Philippe Mora
Tracks (1977) – directed by Henry Jaglom
The American Friend (1977) – directed by Wim Wenders
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1977) – directed by Edgardo Cozarinsky
Fresh Color (1978) – directed by François Weyergans
Last In, First Out (1978) – directed by Claude d’Anna
Apocalypse Now (1979) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Bloodbath (1979) – directed by Silvio Narizzano
Out of the Blue (1980) – also director, uncredited co-writer
King of the Mountain (1981) – directed by Noel Nosseck
Reborn (1981) – directed by Bigas Luna
Human Highway (1982) – directed by Neil Young (as Bernard Shakey) & Dean Stockwell
Rumble Fish (1983) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The Osterman Weekend (1983) – directed by Sam Peckinpah
White Star (1983) – directed by Roland Klick
The Inside Man (1984) – directed by Tom Clegg
Stark (1985) – directed by Rod Holcomb – TV movie
My Science Project (1985) – directed by Jonathan R. Betuel
Running Out of Luck (1985) – directed by Julien Temple
A Hero of Our Time (1985) – directed by Michael Almereyda
Riders of the Storm (1986) – directed by Maurice Phillips
Stark: Mirror Image (1986) – directed by Noel Nosseck
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) – directed by Tobe Hopper
River’s Edge (1986) – directed by Tim Hunter
Blue Velvet (1986) – directed by David Lynch
Hoosiers (1986) – directed by David Anspaugh
Black Widow (1987) – directed by Bob Rafelson
Straight to Hell (1987) – directed by Alex Cox
O.C. and Stiggs (1987) – directed by Robert Altman
The Pick-up Artist (1987) – directed by James Toback
Colors (1988) – director only
Black Leather Jacket (1989) – directed by Nick Mead – narrator – TV movie
Blood Red (1989) – directed by Peter Masterson
Chattahoochee (1989) – directed by Mick Jackson
Flashback (1990) – directed by Franco Amurri
Catchfire (1990) – also director (as Alan Smithee)
The Hot Spot (1990) – director only
The Indian Runner (1991) – directed by Sean Penn
Doublecrossed (1991) – directed by Robert Young – TV movie
Eye of the Storm (1991) – directed by Yuri Zeltser
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991) – directed by Eleanor Coppola, George Hickenlooper, & Fax Bahr – himself – documentary
Sunset Heat (1992) – directed by John Nicolella
The Heart of Justice (1992) – directed by Bruno Barreto – TV movie
Boiling Point (1993) – directed by James B. Harris
Red Rock West (1993) – directed by John Dahl
Super Mario Bros. (1993) – directed by Rocky Morton & Annabel Jankel
True Romance (1993) – directed by Tony Scott
Chasers (1994) – also director
Speed (1994) – directed by Jan de Bont
Witch Hunt (1994) – directed by Paul Schrader – TV movie
Search and Destroy (1995) – directed by David Salle
Waterworld (1995) – directed by Kevin Reynolds
Carried Away (1996) – directed by Brazilian Bruno Barreto
Basquiat (1996) – directed by Julian Schnabel
The Last Days of Frankie the Fly (1996) – directed by Peter Markle
Space Truckers (1996) – directed by Stuart Gordon
Samson and Delilah (1996) – directed by Nicholas Roeg – miniseries
The Blackout (1997) – directed by Abel Ferrara
Top of the World (1997) – directed by Sidney J. Furie
Cannes Man (1997) – directed by Richard Martini – cameo as himself
Road Ends (1997) – directed by Rick King
Meet the Deedles (1998) – directed by Steve Boyum
Welcome to Hollywood (1998) – directed by Tony Markes & Adam Rifkin – cameo as himself
Tycus (1999) – directed by John Putch – straight to video
EDtv (1999) – directed by Ron Howard
Straight Shooter (1999) – directed by Thomas Bohn
Justice (1999) – directed by Richard J. Lewis – uncredited – TV movie
The Venice Project (1999) – directed by Robert Dornhelm
Bad City Blues (1999) – directed by Michael Stevens
Lured Innocence (2000) – directed by Kikuo Kawasaki
The Spreading Ground (2000) – directed by Derek Vanlint
The Prophet’s Game (2000) – directed by David Worth
Jesus’ Son (2000) – directed by Alison Maclean
The Prophet’s Game (2000) – directed by William Gove
Luck of the Draw (2000) – directed by Luca Bercovici
Jason and the Argonauts (2000) – directed by Nick Willing – miniseries
Held for Ransom (2000) – directed by Lee Stanley
Ticker (2001) – directed by Albert Pyun
Choke (2001) – directed by John Sjogren – straight to video
Knockaround Guys (2001) – directed by Brian Koppelman & David Levien
L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve (2001) – directed by Ed Anders – straight to video
Firestarter 2: Rekindled (2002) – directed by Robert Iscove – miniseries
Unspeakable (2002) – directed by Thomas J. Wright
Leo (2002) – directed by Mehdi Norowzian
The Piano Player (2002) – directed by Jean-Pierre Roux – straight to video
The Groovenians (2002) – directed by Jordan Reichek – TV short
The Night We Called It a Day (2003) – directed by Paul Goldman
Suspense (2003) – directed by David Koepp – TV movie
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (2003) – directed by Kenneth Bowser – himself – documentary
The Last Ride (2004) – directed by Guy Norman Bee – TV movie
Out of Season (2004) – directed by Jevon O’Neill
The Keeper (2004) – directed by Paul Lynch
Legacy (2004) – directed by Bo Svenson – short
Americano (2005) – directed by Kevin Noland – straight to video
The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005) – directed by Lance Mungia – straight to video
Land of the Dead (2005) – directed by George A. Romero
House of 9 (2005) – directed by Steven R. Monroe
Inside Deep Throat (2005) – directed by Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato – narrator – documentary
Sketches of Frank Gehry (2006) – directed by Sydney Pollack – himself – documentary
Hoboken Hollow (2006) – directed by Glen Stephens
10th & Wolf (2006) – directed by Robert Moresco
Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film (2006) – directed by Ric Burns – himself – documentary
Memory (2007) – directed by Bennett Joshua Davlin
Sleepwalking (2008) – directed by William Maher
Hell Ride (2008) – directed by Larry Bishop
Elegy (2008) – directed by Isabel Coixet
Swing Vote (2008) – directed by Joshua Michael Stern
Palermo Shooting (2008) – directed by Wim Wenders
An American Carol (2008) – directed by David Zucker
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008) – directed by Mark Hartley – himself – documentary
Bananaz (2008) – directed by Ceri Levy – himself – documentary
Alpha and Omega (2010) – directed by Ben Gluck & Anthony Bell – posthumous release
Made for Each Other (2015) – directed by Bo Svenson – short – posthumous release
The Last Film Festival (2016) – directed by Linda Yellen – posthumous release
The Other Side of the Wind (2018) – directed by Orson Welles – posthumous release

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