Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper was born in 1936 in Los Angeles, California, the son of Dorothy (née Dennis; 1912–1994), an actress and writer, and Henry Hopper (1912–1994), a television producer and director. Growing up, Hopper was interested in acting, and began studying with the Actors Studio at the age of 17. He made his television debut in 1954, and appeared in two films with James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). During the next 10 years, Hopper appeared frequently on television in guest roles, before landing supporting roles in a number of films during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He directed and starred in Easy Rider (1969), winning an award at the Cannes Film Festival and being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as co-writer. "With its portrait of counterculture heroes raising their middle fingers to the uptight middle-class hypocrisies, Easy Rider became the cinematic symbol of the 1960s, a celluloid anthem to freedom, macho bravado and anti-establishment rebellion." Film critic Matthew Hays notes that "no other persona better signifies the lost idealism of the 1960s than that of Dennis Hopper." Hopper's later work included a leading role in the television series Crash (2002–2006), and he continued to make occasional appearances in films up until his death in 2010. Hopper was also a prolific and acclaimed photographer, a profession he began in the 1960s. He died from lung cancer at the age of 74.