Dennis Hopper is an American actor noted for playing tough guy roles most notably in Easy Rider. He was a full on method actor. He started his career in the theatre and his first film role was in Rebel Without A Cause. Hopper and Dean worked well together and also appeared in Giant. This was followed by Gunfight At The OK Coral. After various supporting roles his first leading role came in Night Tide. He started to get a reputation for being difficult to work with but John Wayne helped him back into the system. He then appears in the Roger Corman films Queen Of Blood and The Trip. He then had supporting roles in the successful film Cool Hand Luke and Hang Em High. In 1969 he wrote, directed and stared in the cult classic film Easy Rider.
It captured the spirit of the time and is largely the film he is remembered for. That same year he also appeared with John Wayne in True Grit. He struggled with roles during the early 1970's but came back The American Friend. Ths was followed by Francis For Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Following a time of struggling with alcohol in the1980's he stared in Blue Velvet where he took on a central role. In contrast Hoosier was a sports drama but a role for which he was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor. This helped restart his career in the 1990's with films like Red Rock West. THis was followed up by True Romance. In his later career he focussed more on his skills as a photographer and a painter.
