Screen legend DENNIS HOPPER has died at the age of 74.
The Easy Rider star revealed his fight with prostate cancer in October (09) after being hospitalised for "severe flu-like symptoms", admitting h e was first diagnosed with the disease in 2002.
Hopper underwent regular treatment sessions at the University of Southe rn California, but reports surfaced in early January (10) suggesting he w as facing his final days after learning the deadly disease had spread to his bones.
He passed away on Saturday morning (29May10) at his home in Venice, Cal ifornia with his family and friends at his bedside.
Hopper’s manager Sam Maydew confirmed the sad news in a statement to th e AFP.
The statement reads, "Dennis Hopper died this morning at 8:15 am (15:15 pm GMT) from complications of metastasized prostate cancer. He died at h ome in Venice surrounded by family and friends." Tributes to the actor have been pouring in, with Hopper’s Easy Rider co -star Peter Fonda among the first to pay his respects.
He tells TMZ.com, "Dennis introduced me to the world of Pop Art and ‘lo st’ films. We rode the highways of America and changed the way movies wer e made in Hollywood. I was blessed by his passion and friendship." A number of stars have taken to Twitter.com to honour Hopper including rocker Slash, who writes, "You take the great ones for granted until they ‘re gone. RIP Dennis Hopper," while British actor Simon Pegg, adds, "Just heard we lost Dennis Hopper at 74. Great actor, sad loss. ‘Sometimes he goes too far. He’s the first one to admit it. ‘ Apocalypse Now." Born in Kansas in 1936, Hopper enjoyed a career as an artist, actor and director spanning 55 years. His family relocated to California when he w as a child and, after developing an interest in acting, Hopper made his T V debut with a small role in U.S. series Medic in 1955.
He went on to land two roles alongside his idol James Dean - in 1950s r eleases Rebel Without a Cause and Giant - but Hopper was left devastated when the movie star was killed in a car accident in 1955, aged just 24.
After moving to the East Coast and completing a training course at New York’s famous Actors Studio, Hopper’s career began to pick up pace and he became a TV regular on U.S. shows such as The Defenders, Bonanza, The Le gend of Jesse James and Combat! Hopper made brief appearances in Paul Newman’s Cool Hand Luke and along side John Wayne in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and True Grit (1969), w hile his more recognised roles include Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), Out of the Blue (1980) and Rumble Fish (1983).
But Hopper will perhaps be best remembered for pulling double duty on 1 969’s Easy Rider, which he directed and starred in alongside Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.
The movie earned Hopper critical acclaim, but his screen success was ma rred by trouble in his personal life - the star’s eight-year marriage to first wife Brooke Hayward crumbled and he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse.
A year later, in 1970, Hopper rushed to wed Michelle Phillips - the dis astrous union lasted just one week amid allegations of cocaine addiction and spousal abuse.
His private life hit the headlines again in the early 1980s when Hopper had a brush with death in an incident involving 17 sticks of dynamite ne ar Houston, Texas, and it was only after finding himself stranded in a Me xican desert while drunk and on drugs that he checked himself into rehab in 1983.
Hopper kicked his addictions and marked his Hollywood comeback with cri tically acclaimed performances in 1986’s Blue Velvet, with director David Lynch, Hoosiers, for which he earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomin ation, and 1988’s Colors.
He returned to TV on numerous occasions and in 2002 appeared in Kiefer Sutherland’s hit show 24, as well as government drama E-Ring in 2005, and Crash in 2008 to 2009, a series based on the Oscar-winning movie of the same name.
Hopper went down in movie history when he was honoured with a star on t he Hollywood Walk of Fame in March (10), but his health had deteriorated so rapidly he was in a wheelchair for his red carpet appearance.
His marriage to fifth wife Victoria Duffy, who he wed in 1996, also det eriorated in his final months - the actor filed for divorce in January (1 0), citing irreconcilable differences. He obtained a restraining order ag ainst her after his doctor claimed she was "hampering his cancer care" an d Hopper’s personal assistant, Emily Davis, went on to accuse Duffy of "t rying to kill" the ailing star - although no further details were release d.
The estranged couple was subsequently ordered to resolve their differen ces for the sake of their daughter Galen, who was born in 2003, and in Ap ril (10) Hopper was forced to pay Duffy $12,000 (=C2=A37,500)-a-month in spousal and child support.
Hopper is also survived by his three other children from previous marri ages. The actor fathered Marin with first wife Hayward in 1962; Ruthanna with Daria Halprin in the early 1970s, and son Henry, born in 1990, with Katherine LaNasa.
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