R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

The fact that Dennis Hopper was born in Dodge City, Kansas, the town lawman Wyatt Earp made famous, is further proof that as Einstein said, "God does not play dice with the universe." Dennis Hopper was anything if not a maverick in a Hollywood career that spanned over 50 years beginning with "Rebel Without A Cause" in 1955 and ending with the upcoming "Alpha and Omega." In an industry filled with the eccentric and the outlandish, even Hopper stood apart from the crowd, often as charismatic as he was enigmatic. "Easy Rider" catapulted Hopper into the limelight. Both writing, directing, and acting in the film, Hopper picked up an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay. His turns as Howard Payne in "Speed" and as the notorious nitrous oxide sniffing Frank Booth in "Blue Velvet" are also among his most memorable roles. That's not to say that all of Hopper's endeavors were noteworthy. For every "Cool Hand Luke" there was a "Super Mario Brothers." (Although don't let anyone tell you that "My Science Project" was a bad film. It's still a classic 80s sci-fi film in my opinion.) And as great as his onscreen performances were, his personal life was often in shambles. Married 5 times with 4 children, Hopper was one of Hollywood's most notorious drug addicts. He even hit on Paul Newman's wife once When you embrace the mode of an outlaw I guess you embrace all its facets however. From an acting standpoint three performances stand out in my mind. The first was not even a film role but a television role. In 1963 Dennis Hopper starred as Peter Vollmer, a young neo-Nazi inspired by the ghost of Adolph Hitler, in The Twilight Zone episode "He's Alive." In a show that often touched on relevant social topics, Hopper's character embodied bigotry and how citizens must guard against its malicious intents. Secondly, was a 1993 film written by Quentin Tarantino called "True Romance." (If you haven't checked this film out yet you are doing yourself a disservice. It is amazing.) The ten minute scene between Hopper's character Clifford Worley and Christopher Walken's character Vincenzo Coccotti is one of the best ever put on film. (I won't tell you the topic of discussion or the results if you haven't seen it but trust me it is epic.) But most of all I will remember Dennis Hopper as the alcoholic basketball loving father Shooter in the 1986 film "Hoosiers." "Hoosiers" is one of the best sports films of all-time and in no small part because of the Oscar nominated performance by Hopper. The writer Kenneth Elton Kesey once wrote "He who marches out of step hears a different drum." Dennis Hopper always heard a different drum and cinema history is the better for it. R.I.P. Dennis Hopper. Ride easy.