RIP, Dennis Hopper (1936 - 2010)

May 29, 2010 10:32 AM

Rest in peace, Easy Rider. Dennis Hopper has died of complications from prostate cancer at age 74.
posted by cerebus19 (153 comments total)

.

Man. Not many celeb passings bum me out. This one does.

Peace out, Mr. Hopper. You will be missed.
posted by kaseijin at 10:32 AM on May 29, 2010

what
posted by Sys Rq at 10:34 AM on May 29, 2010

You can be sure I will pound back a PABST. BLUE. RIBBON in his honor. But not a Heineken. Fuck that shit.

Goodbye, Mr. Hopper.
posted by griphus at 10:34 AM on May 29, 2010 [21 favorites]

.
posted by bz at 10:35 AM on May 29, 2010

Yep. I think it is requirement to have a PBR tonight. And to pour one out.
posted by kaseijin at 10:35 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

“You want to hear about insanity? I was found running naked through the jungles in Mexico. At the Mexico City airport, I decided I was in the middle of a movie and walked out on the wing on takeoff. My body... my liver... okay, my brain... went.”
posted by bz at 10:35 AM on May 29, 2010

He likes you because you're still alive. Man.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:36 AM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

oh god.
posted by shmegegge at 10:36 AM on May 29, 2010

Do the candy-colored clown.

.
posted by jonp72 at 10:36 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by greta simone at 10:37 AM on May 29, 2010

Dennis Hopper gets a star earlier this year
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 10:37 AM on May 29, 2010

:(((

Flashback was one of my favorite Hopper movies.
posted by yoga at 10:38 AM on May 29, 2010

No!

.
posted by brundlefly at 10:38 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by Scoo at 10:38 AM on May 29, 2010

Willard: Could we, uh... talk to Colonel Kurtz?

Photojournalist: Hey, man, you don't talk to the Colonel. You listen to him. The man's enlarged my mind. He's a poet warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he'll... uh... well, you'll say "hello" to him, right? And he'll just walk right by you. He won't even notice you. And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say, "Do you know that 'if' is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you"... I mean I'm... no, I can't... I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's... he's a great man! I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas...
posted by ColdChef at 10:40 AM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

NOOOOOO. :(

Hipster-hate around here be damned, I'm having me some PBR tonight.
posted by cj_ at 10:40 AM on May 29, 2010

Oh man. And it's such a beautiful day, too. Crap.

.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 10:40 AM on May 29, 2010

Fishing with John, episode 5 part 1, part 2, and part 3.

.
posted by furtive at 10:42 AM on May 29, 2010 [10 favorites]

Also:

Photo Journalist: This is the way the fucking world ends! Look at this fucking shit we're in, man! Not with a bang, but with a whimper. And with a whimper, I'm fucking splitting, Jack.
posted by ColdChef at 10:42 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

" I've been a middle-class degenerate most of my life."
.
posted by JohnR at 10:42 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.

I'd really like to say something that would have to be read really rapidly and remind everyone of Apocalypse Now, but I can't write nearly as well as that, or as he could act. I don't think even at his height he got close to the degree of appreciation he deserved
posted by Some1 at 10:42 AM on May 29, 2010

"What are they gonna say about him? What are they gonna say? That he was a kind man? That he was a wise man? That he had plans? That he had wisdom? Bullshit man!"
posted by furtive at 10:44 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

I met Dennis Hopper once when I was the front desk manager at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX. He walked in arm-in-arm with ex-Texas Governor Ann Richards. They were attending some sort of benefit. He was in a leathery tuxedo. I carried some boxes for him up to the mezzanine level and refused his tip. I didn't get star-struck a lot at that job, but he was a god to me.
posted by ColdChef at 10:47 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Aquaman at 10:47 AM on May 29, 2010

You...you're part eggplant.

.
posted by m0nm0n at 10:50 AM on May 29, 2010 [4 favorites]

CHECK'S IN THE MAAAAAIL.
posted by The Straightener at 10:51 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by The Mouthchew at 10:52 AM on May 29, 2010

Oh, man. Oh, man.

Some of his performances I've enjoyed over the years: "Easy Rider," goes without saying, but he was great in "Rebel without a Cause," "Giant," as Peter Vollmer in the "Twilight Zone" episode "He's Alive," "Cool Hand Luke," "Apocalypse Now," "Hoosiers," the list goes on .....

And who can forget Frank Booth? My God, the role of a lifetime!
posted by blucevalo at 10:52 AM on May 29, 2010

well fuck.

.
posted by Wuggie Norple at 10:53 AM on May 29, 2010

Bowser, noooo.
posted by kafziel at 10:53 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

kafziel beat me to it

.
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 10:55 AM on May 29, 2010

Just re-watched Cool Hand Luke and he such a weird freak kid in that movie. And I'm wondering what disciple is he supposed to represent...

Anyhow, Dennis, Maaan...you were a trip and a half maaaan...I wish I get to do half the drugs you did and still carry it off as wel as you did maaannn....ha ha.

Here have a digital dot of 100% pure RIP acid:

.
posted by Skygazer at 10:55 AM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Woah.

.
posted by paisley henosis at 10:56 AM on May 29, 2010

:(

.
posted by jaffacakerhubarb at 10:57 AM on May 29, 2010

Dennis Hopper photos: 1936-2010
Here he talks about his art.
Thank you Dennis.
.
posted by adamvasco at 10:58 AM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

It's probably for the best that I'm staying in tonight, because this news makes me want to dress up, carry around a tank of nitrous oxide, and corner random strangers with "I'll have to send you a love letter! Straight from my heart, fucker! You know what a love letter is? It's a bullet from a fucking gun, fucker! You receive a love letter from me, and you're fucked forever! You understand, fuck? I'll send you straight to hell, fucker!..."

.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:59 AM on May 29, 2010 [4 favorites]

Ugh.

.
posted by Houyhnhnm at 11:00 AM on May 29, 2010

Oh, fuck. Feck. What a fucking bummer. In addition to being fun as hell to watch on the big screen, he was also a talented photographer. There's an exhibition of his work opening in July at the MOCA in LA.

Fuck.

.
posted by Nothing... and like it at 11:04 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Man, I knew it was coming pretty much any day now. It still sucks.

.
posted by elizardbits at 11:06 AM on May 29, 2010

I loved him in Fishing with John. The scene where they get hypnotized by the Kraken is unreal.
posted by neuromodulator at 11:06 AM on May 29, 2010

.

Wild ones.
posted by lalochezia at 11:07 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by jayCampbell at 11:09 AM on May 29, 2010

.

That scene with Christopher Walken in True Romance was pure gold.
posted by arcticseal at 11:09 AM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

.
posted by disclaimer at 11:10 AM on May 29, 2010

He turned in either lovely or impossibly entertaining performances in completely surprising movies: Basquiat is in the lovely category; Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 in the latter.

It's a rare movie that wasn't substantially improved by his presence. And Easy Rider was epochal, as was his Blue Velvet performance. We should all have careers as profound.

He was notorously right wing for a few years, but voted Obama. When asked why, he explained that Obama had met him briefly and mentioned hearing that he just had a family member die. Obama had as well, and told Hopper how much he sympathized, and that he knew how difficult it was. Hopper was moved by this, and found it to be a genuine moment of compassion. He was known for his ability to play mad, but I'll always remember Hopper as a man who can be touched by decency.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:10 AM on May 29, 2010 [4 favorites]

Skygazer, you made my day with that little 0:35 clip.
posted by blucevalo at 11:10 AM on May 29, 2010

This evening, I will watch Blue Velvet in his honor.
posted by Houyhnhnm at 11:10 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:14 AM on May 29, 2010

Forget the PBR. "You got any bud in bottles?"
posted by cazoo at 11:14 AM on May 29, 2010

He's a God, man!

.
posted by d1rge at 11:14 AM on May 29, 2010

crap. for someone who played a creepy weirdo, and whose political views were pretty scary (bush supporter, y'all), that man had a lot of class.

rest in peace.

.
posted by msconduct at 11:15 AM on May 29, 2010

Ah man. I loved him in Basquiat.

R.I.P.

.
posted by Sailormom at 11:15 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by MythMaker at 11:16 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by demonic winged headgear at 11:17 AM on May 29, 2010

The homeopathic-sized amount of residual Catholic in me would like to imagine the scene at the pearly gates when St. Peter looks over his desk and see Dennis Hopper standing next to Gary Coleman waiting for admittance.
posted by chillmost at 11:18 AM on May 29, 2010 [18 favorites]

.

Ah hell, there goes a legend.
posted by hoodrich at 11:20 AM on May 29, 2010

Well the photojournalist's ranting in Apocalypse Now has already been well-enshrined, but y'all left out my favourite part:

You can't travel in space, you can't go out into space, you know, without, like, you know, uh, with fractions. What are you going to land on - one-quarter, three-eighths? What are you going to do when you go from here to Venus or something? That's dialectic physics.

Good advice. You may need it now more than ever, sir. Godspeed.

.

(Also he was the soul of Hoosiers as Shooter the town drunk and basketball obsessive - a role that would've likely been mawkish or cartoony or scenery-chewing or otherwise embarrassing in lesser hands. I'll sit through that movie every time I stumble on it, and he's a big reason why.)
posted by gompa at 11:20 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 11:25 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by porpoise at 11:27 AM on May 29, 2010

He was also a talented photographer and painter. (Previously.)

His art and photography will be a featured exhibit at MOCA The exhibit opens July 11. It's the first exhibit commissioned by incoming MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch.

“We’re rushing this exhibition because Dennis is ailing,” Deitch says, “and I wanted him to be able to participate in the selection of works. He saw the space with us last week.”

It reminds me of George Carlin being notified that he was the 2008 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor--the one award he said he was proud to have been chosen for. He died four days later, and was the first posthumous winner.

What the hell, 2010 -- I thought you were going to go easy on us after 2009. In the immortal words of Frank Booth: "Fuck you, you fucking fuck!"

I've been looking for a video of the Animaniacs' Apocalypse Now parody, called "Hearts of Twilight." There's a spot-on Dennis Hopper parody in it.

Goodbye, maaaaan. You were one suave fucker.

.
posted by tzikeh at 11:27 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by symbioid at 11:27 AM on May 29, 2010

On preview: Hey Nothing...and like it-- FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCK.

(Offers N...ali a PBR.)
posted by tzikeh at 11:29 AM on May 29, 2010

Now it's dark...
posted by sourwookie at 11:30 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by motty at 11:31 AM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:32 AM on May 29, 2010

Shit. Loved his photography, among other things.
posted by heyho at 11:34 AM on May 29, 2010

Well, I can't find the Animaniacs, but for those of you who haven't seen it, here's Apocalypse Pooh (SLYT), with Piglet in Hopper's role. (This thing is worth watching regardless of reason.)
posted by tzikeh at 11:37 AM on May 29, 2010

Celebrity + Death = Life reduced to juvenile catch phrase.

WHAT 'CHU TALKIN' 'BOUT PABST BLUE RIBBON!
posted by Tube at 11:38 AM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Cinema would've definitely been poorer without his work. Talented actor, writer, photographer, and more. RIP.
posted by cmgonzalez at 11:40 AM on May 29, 2010

Aw, fuck. :-(
posted by Robin Kestrel at 11:43 AM on May 29, 2010

As a fellow Kansan and someone who grew up watching 'Easy Rider' thanks to my dad and later 'Blue Velvet' with high school friends, I give him a big RIP, Dear Sir (politics be damned).
posted by sleepy pete at 11:43 AM on May 29, 2010

.

:(
posted by Xoebe at 11:45 AM on May 29, 2010

> That scene with Christopher Walken in True Romance was pure gold.

Yeah, that scene is deservedly legendary, but there's a different one in True Romance that has always stuck with me. Christian Slater has just returned to Hopper's trailer and the two are catching up. Slater's looking for something to drink...

Slater: Anything stronger? Probably not. Beer? You can drink beer, can't you?
Hopper: I can. But I don't.

Something about that "But I don't." In those three words he (and, to be fair, the screenwriter) manages to put across a lot of information; that he used to drink, that things went badly for him because he did, that he still wants to but forces himself not to, and that he's still sad and angry about things that happened when he did drink. It's a quietly impressive bit of acting.

.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:45 AM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Iridic at 11:48 AM on May 29, 2010

Lo and behold, here it is (the lines of dialogue I mentioned are @ 1:30).
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:51 AM on May 29, 2010

Easy Rider is easily one of the greatest American films ever made. Not to mention everything else. RIP
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:55 AM on May 29, 2010

The Andaman Sea, the Andaman Sea, oogly boogly, the Andaman Sea...
posted by scody at 11:55 AM on May 29, 2010

I'll try my best to make this complimentary: maybe it was his ability to disappear into a role... but Dennis Hopper is one actor I have trouble identifying on screen. Usually I'm good at this... but I usually don't recognize him until I spot his name in the credits of a film. The only exception was Easy Rider.

.
posted by evilcolonel at 12:03 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by ab3 at 12:04 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by marienbad at 12:06 PM on May 29, 2010

And don't forget River's Edge.
posted by Obscure Reference at 12:10 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by DaddyNewt at 12:15 PM on May 29, 2010

Man, I knew I could come up with something nobody else had mentioned yet. Search and Destroy, as Dr Luther Waxwing, with the best advice for aspiring writers evar:

"Just because it happened to you, doesn't make it interesting."

Ironically, I don't think that was actually true about Hopper. What a life, what a career, what an awesome dude.

I don't know if it's better, or sadder, that it was cancer that took him out and not dynamite but I don't have to choose so I guess I won't.


.
posted by hap_hazard at 12:16 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by routergirl at 12:18 PM on May 29, 2010

I loved his readings, along with those of Johnny Depp and John Turturro, in "The Source."
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 12:20 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by exlotuseater at 12:20 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by MikeMc at 12:30 PM on May 29, 2010

HE MAY BE GONE NOW, BUT AT LEAST HE DEFIED THAT FUCKIN' CHAIR.

.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:39 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

DON'T YOU FUCKING LOOK AT ME...

...shit, I can't even touch that guy with a sixty foot tank of nitrous. RIP, you crazy fucker.
posted by loquacious at 12:46 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Bron at 12:51 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by peacay at 12:55 PM on May 29, 2010

What a crazy and fantastic guy.

.
posted by HumanComplex at 12:58 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 1:06 PM on May 29, 2010

In dreams, I walk with you.

.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:07 PM on May 29, 2010

My dad was cheap. He wanted to see Easy Rider but it was cheaper to bring us to the drive-in so I saw it at six buried with my sisters beneath an old sleeping bag and didn't like it. I still don't. Son of a bitch and dammit though. He seemed to be willing to step outside himself and take risks. I need to try harder.
posted by vapidave at 1:08 PM on May 29, 2010

I never cared for Easy Rider, either. I thought it an awful film. Regardless, Hopper brought an intensity to the screen, and an ability to capture your attention that is much more lacking these days.




.
posted by Atreides at 1:23 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Man, we were supposed to fly off to Mexico in a prop engine and do nitrous and coke in the jungle until our eyes exploded. Dammit. Now what am I going to do this weekend?

See you in hell, Dennis. I guess you can't slip by the reaper forever. Next time, you bring the stash.
posted by krinklyfig at 1:25 PM on May 29, 2010

Bless his soul, I hope Hunter S. Thompson met him with a big joint straight from God's own stash.

RIP, you crazy fuck.

•
posted by dbiedny at 1:53 PM on May 29, 2010

Don't get caught watching the paint dry.

.

Hoping the trifecta doesn't complete itself.
posted by moviehawk at 1:57 PM on May 29, 2010

Hopper and Coleman, improbable, but could it have been any other way?

.
posted by tommasz at 1:58 PM on May 29, 2010

Here's to Ben.
posted by dhammond at 2:07 PM on May 29, 2010

I can't find any good clips of him from my favorite film he appears in: River's Edge. His performance is what you'd expect from mid-80's Hopper, that is to say it's knock-down good - crazed, hilarious, heartbreaking.

Here's something pretty damn beautiful I just found while searching: Dennis Hopper reads a poem on The Johnny Cash Show, September 30, 1970.

I don't give a fuck about his politics. I just know he entertained me in ways that few actors can. He was a national treasure.
posted by item at 2:08 PM on May 29, 2010

IT'S DADDY, YOU SHITHEAD! WHERE'S MY BOURBON
posted by electroboy at 2:12 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Never liked the man, seemed like a sociopath who could barely prevent himself from committing real malice. Perhaps his severe alcoholism/drug addiction, which almost did him in forced him into valuing life and so he then allowed himself to be less of a Perennial Bad Boy? I don't know. But it shocks me to think he's dead. And I'm glad that in his life he became an art collector. In honor of the good in him, a Bukowski poem, Bluebird, which I think he would have identified with and liked.

Bluebird

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?
posted by nickyskye at 2:14 PM on May 29, 2010 [9 favorites]

.
posted by madamjujujive at 2:14 PM on May 29, 2010

For years, I was saying that Harry Dean Stanton was the poor man's Dennis Hopper. Now we just have HDS.

Bummer.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:23 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:24 PM on May 29, 2010

Well, fuck.
.
posted by Heretic at 2:34 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by cashman at 2:36 PM on May 29, 2010

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was an under-rated movie.
posted by ovvl at 2:47 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Man...... Peace to him.
posted by Liquidwolf at 2:50 PM on May 29, 2010

He did his own thing in his own time

R.I.P. Billy

.
posted by TedW at 2:51 PM on May 29, 2010

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was an under-rated movie.

You got that right.

.
posted by lumpenprole at 2:53 PM on May 29, 2010

Ahem; Billy.
posted by TedW at 2:54 PM on May 29, 2010

He'll always be King Koopa to me. That guy was one evil, egg sucking son of a snake.
posted by Servo5678 at 3:02 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

.
posted by R. Mutt at 3:06 PM on May 29, 2010

oh dear.

i think millwall being promoted may be the trifecta.
posted by sgt.serenity at 3:44 PM on May 29, 2010

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was an under-rated movie.

You got that right.


It's an instant play on Netflix.

(The original TCSM film was so incredibly funny and good. In-a-psycho-with-a-chainsaw-chasing-you- in-the-night, sort of way.)
posted by Skygazer at 3:49 PM on May 29, 2010

Hits close to home, for a lot of reasons.

Easy Rider has always been The Defining Movie for my dad, and I'll be watching it with him next week when I see him.

.
posted by churl at 3:50 PM on May 29, 2010

I should also probably get around to watching The Trip, finally.
posted by churl at 3:51 PM on May 29, 2010

sonofabitch.

.
posted by New England Cultist at 3:55 PM on May 29, 2010

Item: Here's something pretty damn beautiful I just found while searching: Dennis Hopper reads a poem on The Johnny Cash Show , September 30, 1970."

Wow, he recycled some of that poem for his dialog in Apocalypse Now.
posted by octothorpe at 4:00 PM on May 29, 2010

.


(Who will be the third celebrity to die this weekend?)
posted by fairmettle at 4:05 PM on May 29, 2010

As others have said, his role in True Romance was amazing. I wasn't crazy about his "crazed villain" roles he'd been kind of pigeon holed into (Waterworld, Speed, and many others in many not so great films), but the Christopher Walken/Dennis Hopper scene in True Romance (Card Cheat linked to it above) is one of my favorite scenes. My friends and I have watched it again and again. Aside from fantastic lines, and the actors' delivery, in a scene where one actor talks about the face giving away secrets, Walken and Hopper's physical acting is amazing. You can clearly see from Hopper's face the moment he know's he's not going to make it out of the trailer. And in that moment of realization, it gives him strength. Likewise, Walken's character is so provoked, you see his mask crack as well, and you know he's finally pissed enough to kill the man instead of get the information he needs.

R.I.P. Mr. Hopper. You were good.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:07 PM on May 29, 2010

Ok, he's created or has taken part in masterpieces such a Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet, the works. I get it.

But I feel it's in such movies as Waterworld that he really comes across. With sometimes no more than ten lines, he has you rooting for the bad guys from beginning to end.

And this is the mark of the fucking giants.
posted by _dario at 4:22 PM on May 29, 2010

I always loved the way he played "Shooter" in Hoosiers:

"This is the last shot we got. Alright? We're going to run the picket fence at 'em. Merle, you're the swing man, Jimmy you're solo right. Alright, Merle should be open swinging around the end of that fence. Now boys, don't get caught watching the paint dry."
posted by bwg at 4:27 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by sinusoidal.tendencies at 4:30 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by e40 at 4:42 PM on May 29, 2010

The science fiction roles of Dennis Hopper

(Not all roles he'd want to be remebered for, I'm sure. Though that Twilight Zone is a classic, and I have a soft spot for Space Truckers)
posted by Artw at 4:48 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by genehack at 5:09 PM on May 29, 2010

.


well, he certainly lived, didn't he?

An old roommate of mine used to tell a story about traveling through Taos, New Mexico in the 70s sometime, and some roadhouse had an open bar tab for a week, part of a bet that Dennis Hopper had going that he could spend a million dollars cash in a week (but it had to all be spent locally, none could go to charity and yadda-yadda-yadda). So anyway, it was the party that never stopped, for a week anyway.

And yeah, Hopper won the bet.


.
posted by philip-random at 5:15 PM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

This far into the thread, and no love for Night Tide? For shame, man. Seeing Dennis Hopper as a lovestruck and vulnerable youth took me by surprise.

.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:24 PM on May 29, 2010

I can't find any good clips of him from my favorite film he appears in: River's Edge . His performance is what you'd expect from mid-80's Hopper, that is to say it's knock-down good - crazed, hilarious, heartbreaking.

Indeed, one of my favorites too.

"...and I remember thinking: there's my leg...I wonder if there's any beer in that can...and then the ambulance came along and ran right over it! Wasted that leg..."

This makes me sad. I knew it was coming, but...he was one of a kind...maan.
posted by biscotti at 5:35 PM on May 29, 2010

"I'm an American!"
posted by wallstreet1929 at 6:04 PM on May 29, 2010

man.

friends are posting film clips all over their blogs and facebook, but I'm wandering the web revisiting his still photography. such an eye, he had.

.
posted by squasha at 6:14 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by lapolla at 6:30 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by zarq at 6:44 PM on May 29, 2010

Good filmmaker and photographer and don't forget the dynamite death chair at Rice.

RIP Dennis
posted by Rashomon at 6:53 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

He chose interesting work. I loved Wenders' 'The American Friend', with Hopper, Bruno Ganz, Nicholas Ray and Samuel Fuller.

A full and interesting life.

.
posted by readery at 7:00 PM on May 29, 2010

.

I didn't even like his work that much but the fucking trifecta has me afraid to sleep. Last night I caught myself wondering what PTerry's suicide note will say. Must stop. Dust in eyes.
posted by irisclara at 7:30 PM on May 29, 2010

He was a great actor and a true champion of the arts.

.
posted by podwarrior at 7:33 PM on May 29, 2010

What the hell, 2010 -- I thought you were going to go easy on us after 2009.

It doesn't work this way, it will just keep getting worse. Get used to it.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:41 PM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

.
posted by lewistate at 9:01 PM on May 29, 2010

This day has been rather disappointing, I don't mind saying.
posted by SPrintF at 9:27 PM on May 29, 2010

.
You know what I mean?
I mean .

I mean seriously big .

This is some big . man. Like really big ..
posted by Mike Mongo at 10:11 PM on May 29, 2010

.
posted by liza at 10:38 PM on May 29, 2010

an old roommate's family lived with dennis hopper for a time when she an adolescent. she had some good stories about the experience. it's been a number of years since i heard them, but what i do remember was that after one of his parties the bathroom was covered in shit from wall to wall, ceiling included. also that the first time her older brother did cocaine was with mr. hopper at the ripe old age of nine. anyway, just thought i'd share.
posted by andywolf at 10:58 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Everyone is talking about his critically acclaimed roles, but my favorite thing was that he would take on any role. He left a legacy of awesomeness
posted by b2walton at 11:24 PM on May 29, 2010

He's almost exactly my father's contemporary, and since they both worked at Corman's place in Venice I assume they knew each other. So I called my dad today to say, NOW will you get your ass checked for cancer? He said, no way.
posted by goofyfoot at 3:18 AM on May 30, 2010

.
posted by The pets.com Mascot at 10:39 AM on May 30, 2010

.
posted by ants at 1:50 PM on May 30, 2010

.
posted by bjgeiger at 6:45 AM on June 3, 2010

Ah what a fucking shame. Can't believe I missed this. RIP.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:04 AM on June 3, 2010