13 Wild Facts About Easy Rider | Mental Floss Following the critical and commercial failure of his second film as director, The Last Movie (1971), he worked on various independent and foreign projects in which he was frequently typecast as mentally disturbed outsiders in such films as Mad Dog Morgan (1976) and The American Friend (1977) until he found new fame for his role as an American photojournalist in Apocalypse Now (1979). [57] Hopper confirmed this in an election day appearance on the ABC daytime show The View. Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Actor Dennis Hopper died at his home in Venice, California, Saturday morning, his wife said. LOS ANGELES -- Dennis Hopper, the high-flying Hollywood wild man whose memorable and erratic career included an early turn in "Rebel Without a Cause," an improbable smash with "Easy Rider" and a classic character role in "Blue Velvet," has died. [74] According to papers filed in his divorce court case, Hopper was terminally ill and was unable to undergo chemotherapy to treat his prostate cancer.[75][76]. His body was buried at the Jesus Nazareno Cemetery in Ranchos de Taos. Dennis Hopper Death Certificate 6/7/2010 7:43 PM PT TMZ has just obtained Dennis Hopper 's death certificate . Hopper had several artistic pursuits beyond film. The film caught on despite tension between Hopper and Fonda and between Hopper and the original choice for Nicholson's part, Rip Torn, who quit after a bitter argument with the director. Fonda produced "Easy Rider" and Hopper directed it for a meager $380,000. He rarely laughed, and cautiously measured every move. Biography - A Short Wiki Actor known for his dramatic performances in films such as Easy Rider, Blue Velvet, and Speed. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson is dennis hopper related to william hopper. Soon he was traveling in social circles with Dean and was linked romantically with Natalie Wood and Joanne Woodward. Dennis watched us watching him. Dennis Hopper Death Fact Check, Birthday & Date of Death - Dead or Kicking It was so. Actor Dennis Hopper left behind a legacy of movie achievements when he died on May 29, 2010, at age 74 from prostate cancer. Such as the time a 16-year-old Natalie Wood, who was playing a juvenile delinquent along with Hopper in "Rebel Without a Cause," wanted to experience an orgy. "Much of Hollywood," wrote critic-historian David Thomson, "found Hopper a pain in the neck.". Dennis Hopper's Death - Cause and Date - The Celebrity Deaths The marriage lasted eight days. Hopper's first wife was Brooke Hayward, the daughter of actress Margaret Sullavan and agent Leland Hayward, and author of the best-selling memoir "Haywire." [60] On March 9, 2010, Duffy refused to move out of the Hopper home, despite the court's order that she do so by March 15. I used women all my life, just as I used alcohol and drugs. The report,. He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, and in March 2010, was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. It began in 1986 when he played an alcoholic ex-basketball star in "Hoosiers," which brought him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. The establishment gave official blessing in 1998 when "Easy Rider" was included in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. In the 2000s, he was featured in the television series "Crash" and such films as "Elegy" and "Hell Ride. Dennis Hopper DEAD: Died At 74 After Months Of Family Drama Or afraid of facts Id dug up? His second marriage, to singer-actress Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, lasted only eight days. After Easy Rider, it was everywhere". The Tragic Death Of Dennis Hopper From Waterworld - NickiSwift In March 2010, it was announced that Hopper was on the "short list" for Jeffrey Deitch's inaugural show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). He studied at the Old Globe Theater there while in high school, then signed a contract with Warner Brothers and moved to Los Angeles. Hopper debuted in an episode of the Richard Boone television series Medic in 1955, portraying a young epileptic. Mr. Hopper first won praise in Hollywood as a teenager in 1955 for his portrayal of an epileptic on the NBC series Medic and for a small part in the James Dean film Rebel Without a Cause.. It was difficult to recognize the manic performer Id admired in Francis Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now and Wim Wenders The American Friend. That outrageous hipster of Easy Rider? Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. Because I am Frank Booth! [50], According to Rolling Stone magazine, Hopper was "one of Hollywood's most notorious drug addicts" for 20 years. Pushed into acting by his mother, Hopper began in summer stock and on the New York stage. Dennis Hopper, the maverick director and costar of the landmark 1969 counterculture film classic "Easy Rider" whose drug- and alcohol-fueled reputation as a Hollywood bad boy preceded his. Share your favorite Hopper moments in the comments section, and scroll down for video highlights from his career. Legal Statement. Dennis Hopper's death follows battle with cancer, divorce fight Dennis Weaver - Wikipedia Or a final chance to play the lead in a Shakespeare tragedy? Multi-talented and unconventional actor/director regarded by many as one of the true "enfant terribles" of Hollywood who led an amazing cinematic career for more than five decades, Dennis Hopper was born on May 17, 1936, in Dodge City, Kansas. Hopper forced Hathaway to shoot more than 80 takes of a scene over several days before he acquiesced to Hathaway's direction. Here is all you want to know, and more! Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper has died after a long bout with prostate cancer, according to reports. Hopper took a large cast and crew to a village in Peru to film the tale of a Peruvian tribe corrupted by a movie company. He appeared in the first episode of the popular TV series, "The Rifleman" (19581963) as protagonist Vernon Tippet. His credits include no fewer than six films released in 2008 and at least 25 over the past 10 years. The cancer spread to his bones and he died on May 29, 2010. Dennis Hopper, 74, Hollywood Rebel, Dies - New York Times [53], In 1994, Rip Torn filed a defamation lawsuit against Hopper over a story Hopper told on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We hung out together while my tape recorder consumed cassette after cassette of Dennis Hopper stories. In the next ten years he made a name for himself in television, and by the end of the 1960s had appeared in several films, notably Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Hang 'Em High (1968). Suffered a stroke on 14 February 1970. From there he went to Warner Bros., where he made "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant" while in his late teens. Shortly thereafter, he played drug smuggler and DEA informant Barry Seal in the HBO film Doublecrossed. [46] In 2013, Harper Collins published Hopper: A Journey into the American Dream, a biography by American writer Tom Folsom. Hopper's manager announced in October 2009 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Hopper and his fourth wife, dancer Katherine LaNasa, had a son, Henry, before divorcing. Hopper died Saturday at his home in the Los Angeles beach community of Venice, surrounded by family and friends, family friend Alex Hitz said. Remembering the troubled actor Dennis Hopper, 10 years after his death Actor known for his dramatic performances in films such as Easy Rider, Blue Velvet, and Speed. That was the year I began to notice a ghostly figure nervously hovering at Westside art openings. Hopper was drugged-out off camera, too, and his rambling chatter was worked into the final cut. [67], On September 28, 2009, Hopper, then 73, was reportedly taken by ambulance to an unidentified Manhattan hospital wearing an oxygen mask and "with numerous tubes visible". On 30 September 1970, Hopper appeared on the second episode of season 2 of "The Johnny Cash Show" where he sang a duet with Cash entitled "Goin' Up Goin' Down". Cash said the song was written by Kris Kristofferson about Hopper. is dennis hopper related to william hopper - molecularrecipes.com His politics, like much of his life, were unpredictable. Hopper was also "notorious for his troubled relationships with women", including Michelle Phillips, who divorced him after eight days of marriage. Who Inherited 'The Bunny Ranch' After Dennis Hof's Death? - TheThings Actor known for his dramatic performances in films such as Easy Rider, Blue Velvet, and Speed. In 2003, Hopper was in the running for the dual lead in the indie horror drama Firecracker, but was ousted at the last minute in favor of Mike Patton. Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper has died after a long bout with prostate cancer, according to reports. The success of "Easy Rider," and the spectacular failure of his next film, "The Last Movie," fit the pattern for the talented but sometimes uncontrollable actor-director, who also had parts in such favorites as "Apocalypse Now" and "Hoosiers." Share your favorite Hopper moments in the comments section, and scroll down for video highlights from his career. A couple months before his death, he was honored with a star on the. It went on to gross $40 million worldwide, a substantial sum for its time. Production was reportedly often delayed by his unreliable behavior. Mr. Hopper edited the film while living at Los Gallos, a 22-room adobe house in Taos, N.M., that he rechristened the Mud Palace and envisioned as a counterculture Hollywood. He returned to directing, with "Colors," "The Hot Spot" and "Chasers. He was 74. or redistributed. He says people in this town never forget. In 1957 Hopper played thief Abe Larson in another Cheyenne episode titled "The Iron Trail." Hopper did not attend the hearing. With Hopper hailed as a brilliant filmmaker, Universal Pictures lavished $850,000 on his next project, "The Last Movie.". [22] During the tumultuous editing process, Hopper ensconced himself at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos, New Mexico, which he had purchased in 1970,[23] for almost an entire year. And he was broke at that time, Hollywood considered him unemployable. His second marriage, to singer-actress Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, lasted only eight days. One profoundly grateful to be welcomed back. Check out the death cause, death date, and more facts about the circumstances surrounding movie actor Dennis Hopper's death. [69], On October 29, 2009, Hopper's manager Sam Maydew reported that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Dennis Hopper's Legacy After Prostate Cancer Death| SurvivorNet With his 6-year-old daughter, Galen, by his side, Hopper waved and bowed to hundreds of fans lining a barricade along Hollywood Boulevard. But, again, he made a remarkable comeback, starting with a memorable performance as a drugged-out journalist in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic, "Apocalypse Now," a spectacularly long and troubled film to shoot. I reported back on my progress. He remembered his mother: She was wild, very emotional, a screamer and a yeller. She also filed complaints about him keeping marijuana joints throughout his compound, ready to provide quick relief from pain, and loaded guns in strategic locations, ready to provide quick resolutions. "A lot of it was about politically what was going on in the country.". In the 2000s, he was featured in the television series "Crash" and such films as "Elegy" and "Hell Ride. But, again, he made a remarkable comeback, starting with a memorable performance as a drugged-out journalist in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic, "Apocalypse Now," a spectacularly long and troubled film to shoot. [51] Hopper was married five times. [1][2], Hopper made his directorial film debut with Easy Rider (1969), which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern. Larry Hagman's Daughter Fled Her Parents' House at 15 after - AmoMama Easy Rider introduced much of its audience, if not Mr. Hopper, to cocaine, and the films success accelerated a period of intense drug and alcohol use that Mr. Hopper later said nearly killed him and turned him into a professional pariah. Hed been to hell and back and somehow translated that journey into his work. He died before the movie was released. Trouble on the set developed almost immediately, as Peruvian authorities pestered the company, drug-induced orgies were reported and Hopper seemed out of control. [11][12] Hopper was voted most likely to succeed at Helix High School, where he was active in the drama club, speech and choir. ", From that point on, Hopper maintained a frantic work pace, appearing in many forgettable movies and a few memorable ones, including the 1994 hit "Speed," in which he played the maniacal plotter of a freeway disaster. Treatment at a detox clinic helped him stop drinking but he still used cocaine, and at one point he became so hallucinatory that he was committed to the psychiatric ward of a Los Angeles hospital. For his last performance, he was the voice of Tony, the alpha-male of the Eastern wolf pack inside the 2010 3D computer animated film Alpha and Omega. Later, he moved to New York to study at the Actors Studio, where Dean had learned his craft. iReport: Hopper became honorary mayor in 2009. I scraped out the crusted lint. His other notable films include Apocalypse Now and Rumble Fish. Director Peter Chipping ( ) Stars Michael Hunter Satya De La Manitou Charles Arnoldi See production, box office & company info Watch on REELZ NOW Lawsuit. 36 on the AFI's list of top 50 movie villains. The establishment gave official blessing in 1998 when "Easy Rider" was included in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. [13] It was there that he developed an interest in acting, studying at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, and the Actors Studio in New York City (he studied with Lee Strasberg for five years). But alcohol and drugs continued to interfere with his work. Upon wrapping the scene, Mr. Hopper later recalled, Mr. Hathaway told him that his career in Hollywood was finished. Hopper sadly passed away in 2010, aged 74. Mr. Hopper had several artistic pursuits beyond film. He saw his first movie at 5 and became enthralled. On the set of "True Grit," Hopper so angered John Wayne that the star reportedly chased Hopper with a loaded gun. Believe it or not, Dennis Hof was running for the Nevada State Legislature. But I prefer to ignore the gossip blog rumors of mental incapacity that leaked out from Hoppers Venice compound during his long good night. Hopper had had bit roles in "Rebel Without A Cause" and "Giant" with fellow actor James Dean. Hes smart about these things. When I pressed, he explained: Theres a chance, if I play things right, Ill finally direct a studio picture. From that point on, Hopper maintained a frantic work pace, appearing in many forgettable movies and a few memorable ones, including 1993's "True Romance," where he played a well-meaning ex-cop trying to protect his son from a gangster played by Christopher Walken. ", Its success prompted studio heads to schedule a new kind of movie: low cost, with inventive photography and themes about a young, restive baby boom generation. But alcohol and drugs continued to interfere with his work. Subsequently received leads at Warner Brothers in second features. When Jeremy went to his room to wake him, he found Hof stone cold dead. While we worked on the biography, Hollywood rediscovered a born-again actor. Early in his career, he painted and wrote poetry, though many of his works were destroyed in a 1961 fire that burned scores of homes, including his, in the Los Angeles enclave Bel Air. Kan., and raised on a nearby farm, Dennis Lee Hopper moved with . He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, and in March 2010, was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Thanks so much, man., Thus began a tortured, 10-year relationship. Was he holding on to his sobriety? The image was reproduced on the invitation for Ed Ruscha's second solo exhibition at Ferus Gallery in 1964. "'Easy Rider' was never a motorcycle movie to me," Hopper said in 2009. But his . His photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 civil-rights march in Selma, Alabama, were published. He married his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, who was 32 years his junior, in 1996, and they had a daughter, Galen Grier. In 1995, Hopper played a greedy TV self-help guru, Dr. Luther Waxling in Search and Destroy. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, What went down behind those corrugated steel walls of Dennis Hopper's Venice fortress as he lay dying at age 74? But Hopper also was a man who could charm while seeing the truth beneath the masks of Hollywood. He worried that one false step might plunge him back into the hell of his 1970s decade. The title was prescient. Date Of Birth: May 17, 1936 Date Of Death: May 29, 2010 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: White Nationality: American Dennis Hopper was born on the 17th of May, 1936. Dennis Lee Hopper was born in 1936, in Dodge City, Kan., and spent much of his youth on the nearby farm of his grandparents. What went down behind those corrugated steel walls of Dennis Hoppers Venice fortress as he lay dying at age 74? Hopper found greater fame for portraying the villains of the films Super Mario Bros. (1993), Speed (1994), and Waterworld (1995). The story has several versions; the most common is that his refusal to play a scene in the manner that the director requested resulted in Mr. Hoppers stubbornly performing more than 80 takes before he finally followed orders. It won the prize for best first film at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival (though it faced only one competitor, as the critic Vincent Canby pointed out in a tepid 1969 review in The New York Times). His role as a wild druggie in "Blue Velvet," also in 1986, won him more acclaim, and years later the character wound up No. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckinghams rocky relationship: A timeline of love and war, Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan actor, dies after brain aneurysm, Daisy Jones & the Six becomes the first fictional band to hit No. Hopper claimed that Torn pulled a knife on him during pre-production of the film Easy Rider. [58], On January 14, 2010, Hopper filed for divorce from his fifth wife Victoria Duffy. He confirmed his status as a rising star the next year, as the son of a wealthy rancher played by Rock Hudson in Giant, the epic western also starring Elizabeth Taylor and Dean. [citation needed] Hopper's early photography is known for portraits from the 1960s, and he began shooting portraits for Vogue and other magazines. [49] In 1987, he commissioned an industrial-style main residence, with a corrugated metal exterior designed by Brian Murphy, as a place to display his artwork. Immediately thereafter, Hopper starred as an addled short-order cook "Cracker" in the Neil Young/Dean Stockwell low-budget collaboration Human Highway. But the private Dennis I spent a decade alongside, working on his biography, had a different persona. During his lifetime, Hopper's own work as well as his collection was shown in monographic and group exhibitions around the world including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; MAK Vienna: Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art, Vienna; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Cinmathque Franaise, Paris, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne. During a promotional tour last fall for that series, he fell ill; shortly thereafter, he began a new round of treatments for prostate cancer, which he said had been first diagnosed a decade ago. which lists his cause of death as hepatic (liver) failure and prostate. Dennis Hopper Episode aired Apr 18, 2021 IMDb RATING 8.0 /10 9 YOUR RATING Rate Documentary Biography Dr. Michael Hunter is investigating the cause of death of actor Dennis Hopper. Hopper appeared in all 22 episodes that were filmed. In later years he picked up some income by becoming a pitchman for Ameriprise Financial, aiming ads at baby boomers looking ahead to retirement. After moving to San Diego with his family, he played Shakespeare at the Old Globe Theater. Hopper died May 29, 2010, in Los Angeles, 12 days after his 74th birthday. I soon discovered that the gallery crasher was Hopper, that hed fled his Taos, N.M., home of more than a decade, attended a minimum of three Alcoholics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous meetings a day, and narrowly escaped being institutionalized while straitjacketed in a psychiatric ward. He was 74. Lessons Learned From Dennis Hopper's Death | Fox News It won a top prize at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, but it failed with critics and at the box office. Though Hopper gave critically acclaimed performances in Coppola's Rumble Fish (1983) and Sam Peckinpah's The Osterman Weekend (1983), it was not until he portrayed the gas-huffing, obscenity-screaming villain Frank Booth in David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986) that his career truly revived. All rights reserved. The print sold at Christie's, New York, for US$302,500 in January 2011. Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s. He starred as King Koopa in Super Mario Bros., a 1993 critical and commercial failure loosely based on the video game of the same name. The title of the exhibition, "Double Standard," is taken from a 1961 Hopper photograph of two Standard Oil signs seen through an automobile windshield on historic Route 66 in Los Angeles. Torn won a defamation suit against Hopper when a judge ruled Hopper lied. For the next year, I researched Hopper while he became known as the hardest-working man in show business. On my own dime, I ranged far and wide in New Mexico, tracking down contacts from his drug- and alcohol-fueled lost years of the 1970s, when he lived on legendary art patron Mabel Dodge Luhans Taos estate. After becoming sober in the 1980s, Mr. Hopper began taking on roles in several films a year, becoming one of the most recognizable character actors of the day. In Taos, I met many people who loathed Hopper, and many who remembered him as their hero and champion and friend. Hopper died at his home in the coastal Venice district of Los Angeles, just 12 days after his 74th birthday on the morning of May 29, 2010. Check the lint trap?. Actor known for his dramatic performances in films such as Easy Rider, Blue Velvet, and Speed. He returned to directing, with "Colors," "The Hot Spot" and "Chasers. Awards for Dennis Hopper (see list above). Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, All the winners of the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards: live updates, Photographer Delaney George turns the lens on femininity: Black women are fine art, A take on Jesus Revolution from one who was there, defending Rowling and more, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Californias snowpack is approaching an all-time record, with more on the way, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78. May 29, 2010 -- Dennis Hopper, the director, star and co-writer of "Easy Rider" and an edgy actor in numerous other films, has died at age 74 after a lengthy illness, his production company Easy . Hopper plays an aging hippie prankster in the 1990 comedy Flashback, fleeing in a Furthur-like old bus to the tune of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild". LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dennis Hopper, the high-flying Hollywood wild man whose memorable and erratic career included an early turn in "Rebel Without a Cause," an improbable smash with "Easy Rider" and a classic character role in "Blue Velvet," has died. "[25] He won critical acclaim and several awards for this role, and in the same year received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as an alcoholic assistant basketball coach in Hoosiers. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. In 1970 he filmed The Last Movie, cowritten by Stewart Stern and photographed by Lszl Kovcs in Peru, and completed production in 1971. Murdoch has survived scandal after scandal. Lovecraft in the TV movie Witch Hunt. Mr. Hopper was hospitalized in Los Angeles in January, at which time he also filed for divorce from his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, with whom he had a young daughter. Dennis Hopper directing the film The Last Movie in 1971. His last major feature film appearance was in the 2008 film Elegy with Ben Kingsley, Penlope Cruz and Debbie Harry. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. After World War II, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where the young Hopper attended Saturday art classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. Will Dominion-Fox News lawsuit be different? When it was released, "The Last Movie" was such a crashing failure that it made Hopper unwanted in Hollywood for a decade. "No better scene in the movies than his showdown with Walken in 'True Romance'," actress Elizabeth Banks tweeted Saturday. Actress Marlee Matlin called Hopper a "maverick, a wonderful actor. Dallas actor Larry Hagman led a double life and kept many secrets long after he was . His fourth directorial outing came about through Colors (1988), followed by an Emmy-nominated lead performance in Paris Trout (1991). "I just want to thank you," Hopper said, as he smiled broadly. Actor Dennis Hopper dies aged 74 after cancer battle - BBC News [38] He became a prolific photographer, and noted writer Terry Southern profiled Hopper in Better Homes and Gardens as an up-and-coming photographer "to watch" in the mid-1960s. They were denied rooms in motels and proper service in restaurants as a result of their radical looks. "[39], Hopper began working as a painter and a poet as well as a collector of art in the 1960s as well, particularly Pop Art. [9] Hopper had two brothers, Marvin and David.[10]. On the way, Hopper and Fonda befriend a drunken young lawyer (Jack Nicholson, whom Hopper had resisted casting, in a breakout role), but arouse the enmity of Southern rednecks and are murdered before they can return home. In later years he picked up some income by becoming a pitchman for Ameriprise Financial, aiming ads at baby boomers looking ahead to retirement. Hopper, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2009, was surrounded by his children when he died, Victoria Hopper told CNN. Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and artist. Hopper was originally cast as Christof in the 1998 Peter Weir film, The Truman Show, but left due to "creative differences". Illness and death The cause was complications from metastasized prostate cancer, according to a statement issued by Alex Hitz, a family friend. [72] Surrounded by family, fans, and friendsincluding Jack Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen, David Lynch, and Michael Madsenhe attended its addition to the sidewalk six days later. His eye for modern art was uncanny, resulting in a multimillion-dollar collection. He spent much of the 1970s and early 1980s living as an "outcast" in Taos, New Mexico, after the success of Easy Rider. [21] Their long hair became a point of contention in various scenes during the film.[21]. I wonder if Hopper saw his exit as a last movie? Dennis Hopper had intense feud with co-star Peter Fonda He wanted the opening chapter to re-create his defiant confrontation with Columbia Pictures studio head Harry Cohn, whod dared to mock Hoppers Shakespeare background. According to Hopper, Torn was originally cast in the film but was replaced with Jack Nicholson after the incident. Hopper repeatedly mentioned a knife fight with Rip Torn on the Easy Rider location, but that never happened either. It won the prestigious CIDALC Award at that year's Venice Film Festival, but Universal Studios leaders expected a blockbuster like Easy Rider, and did not like the film or give it an enthusiastic release, while American film audiences found it confounding as convoluted as an abstract painting.
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