BIO

Dennis Hopper was born Dennis Lee Hopper in Dodge City, Kansas, in 1936.   The family moved several times and finally landed in an Diego, California where his father managed a post office and his mother worked as a lifeguard instructor.

Hopper developed an interest in art, photography, and acting while in his teens.   Although he chose to pursue a career in acting, his other interests supported him after he was intermittently black-balled by Hollywood for his volatile behavior and decades of alcohol and drug abuse.

He made his television debut, at the age of 18, in 1954.   The next year was his film debut alongside James Dean, a peer and major influence, in Rebel Without a Cause (1955).

By 1960, however, Hopper was back to mostly television guest roles while he studied method acting at the Actors Studio in New York City, pursued photography, and began collecting art.   He roared back in the late 1960s, appearing in a string of hits, including Cool Hand Luke (1967), True Grit (1969) and, in his directorial debut, Easy Rider (1969).

Hopper shared a Best Writing Academy Award nomination with Peter Fonda and Terry Southern for Easy Rider and later received an Oscar nod in the Best Supporting Actor slate for his work in Hoosiers (1986).

He appeared in more than 100 films through 2008.

Hopper married 5 times:

1. Brooke Hayward, actress, 1961-1969, one child, divorced.
2. Michelle Phillips, co-founder of the singing group The Mamas and the Papas, 1970, divorced.   The marriage lasted 8 days.   Hopper was later quoted as saying “The first 7 days were great.”
3. Daria Halprin, actress, 1972-1976, one child, divorced.
4. Katherine LaNasa, actress, 1989-1992, one child, divorced.
5. Victoria Duffy, actress, 1996-2010, one child.

He died of prostate cancer in Venice, California, in 2010, at the age of 74.

Additional Broadway stage history is available at:

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS

TV SERIES

24

Flatland

E-Ring

Crash