Biography

Dennis Hopper

Posted on Feb 7, 2021, Modified : Apr 7, 2021 rupesh

American actor, photographer, and filmmaker Dennis Lee Hopper also known as Dennis Hopper who was born on May 17th, 1936 with a great personality who died on May 29th, 2010. He first attended the Actors Studio and made his first television appearance in the year 1954 and appeared alongside “James Dean” in “Rebel Without a Cause” in 1995 and “Giant” in 1956.

Quick Info
Full Name	Dennis Lee Hopper
Date Of Birth	May 17th, 1936
Birth Place	Dodge City, Kansas
Parent(s)	Millard Hopper Marjorie Mae
Profession	Actor Photographer Filmmaker
Spouse	Brooke Hayward (m. 1961; div. 1969) Michelle Phillips (m. 1970; div. 1970) Daria Halprin (m. 1972; div. 1976) Katherine LaNasa (m. 1989; div. 1992) Victoria Duffy (m. 1996; sep. 2010)
Age	74 Years
Height	Not Known
Children	4
Death	May 29th, 2010

Within 10 years, he had a name on television, and by the end of the 60s he appeared in several films like “Hang him high” followed by “Cool Hand Luke.” He also began his photography career in the 1960s.

Hopper made his directional film debut with the film “Easy Rider” back in the year 1969 which was written by himself by the Co-Star “Peter Fonda” and Terry Southern. The film gave him the award for “The Best First Work” and a nomination in “Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay”.

Where was Dennis born and raised?

Dennis Hopper was born in Dodge City, Kansas he was the son of Marjorie Mae and James Millard Hopper. His ancestors were Scottish, and he had two siblings, David and Marvin.

At the end of World War II, the Hopper family went to Kansas City, Missouri where he attended Saturday art classes at Kansas City Art Institute, where he also exposed himself to drama classes. Again, at the age of 13, they moved on to San Diego where his mother took up work as a lifeguard instructor. After that, he went to San Diego at one of the Actors Studio, New York. At this phase, he made friends like actor Vincent Prince. Also, a plus point is that he was supposedly fond of William Shakespeare’s plays.

Who is Hopper married?

Dennis Hopper was so known to have so much trouble with everyone he knew because of his rudeness and his behavior. He had a relationship with Brooke Hayward who was married, and they had a daughter. He was married to songwriter and singer, Michelle Phillips which barely lasted for eight days. Again, he married Daria Halprin who was a psychologist as well as an actress. After that, he married Katherine LaNasa (Ballet dancer and an actress) and finally Victoria Duff.

Dennis Hopper was then admitted to hospital in September 2009 where he suffered from dehydration leading to cancer and that cancer had affected his bones. And he died at home in Los Angeles at the age of 74 on May 29th, 2010.

How did Dennis Hopper start his Career?

Dennis Hopper began his acting career in the early 50s. In the year 1954, he had an uncredited role in the film “Johnny Guitar”, although he has stated that he was not on the Hollywood platform when the film was made. And he made his first debut in Hollywood with some of the minor roles in “Giant” in 1956 and “Rebel without a Cause” in 1955 respectively where he admired James Dean immensely, later on, Dean’s death affected him very deep with a short period.

Movies

It is bizarre to know that he took 80 takes for a single scene where he was told that his career in the film industry was over by his director “Henry Hathaway.” Therefore, he couldn’t find work in Hollywood for about seven years.

In the year 1959, Dennis Hopper moved to New York to study Method Acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, and two years after that he played a leading role in “Night Tide” which is a supernatural Thriller movie that shows the mermaid in an amusement park.

After that, Dennis Hopper had changed up his mind about photography because he had almost ended his career in the film industry, he had a new passion for photography. He was well known for his portraits in the 60s where he worked for Vogue as well as other magazines, continued by being a poet and painter.

Later in 1965, he restarted his career in John Wayne’s “The Sons of Katie Elder” in 1967 where the same director “Henry Hathaway”. Also, he appeared in a supporting role in the film “Cool Hand Luke”. And then, the first greatest success on screen was in the release of “Easy Rider” in 1969 which is a road movie where he himself was the co-writer, actor, director, and editor of the film. In the same year, he was part of the film “True Gift”.

After all of these successes, he was a part of a drama film in the year 1971 “The Last Movie” followed up with several other movies like “Mad Dog Morgan”, “Tracks”, “The American Friend”, “Out of the Blue”, “Rumble Fish”, “The Osterman Weekend”. Along with the role of villain in “Blue Velvet” which earned much critical acclaim, “Hoosiers” where he earned an Academy Award Nomination.

In 1988, Dennis Hopper directed a crime film “Colors” after few years, he showed up in some award-winning HBO films like “Paris Trout” followed by “Doublecrossed”. He also directed films like “The hot spot”, “Chasers”. Along with that he again played a villain role in “Speed”.

After getting all of his films to the height, he began taking roles in television series and feature films, the television shows are “Gunsmoke”, “Bonanza”, “Petticoat Junction”, “The Twilight Zone”, “The Defenders”, “The rifleman”, “The time tunnel” and many more. In the year 2008, he was also a part of a drama series “Clash”.

Later on, when Dennis Hopper died, he became a role model for different youths starting the career in Hollywood, and also, there were many fans of his photography and his photographic skills. All of his photography was exposed in an exhibition throughout the globe.