Summary

AP-APTN-2330: OBIT Hopper Saturday, 29 May 2010 STORY:OBIT Hopper- REPLAY Actor-director of 'Easy Rider' dies after prostate cancer battle LENGTH: 02:55 FIRST RUN: 1830 RESTRICTIONS: See Script TYPE: English/Natsound SOURCE: Various STORY NUMBER: 646937 DATELINE: Various - File LENGTH: 02:55 CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: ALL SUBSCRIBERS PLEASE ENSURE THAT FILM CLIPS ARE CLEARED FOR MEDIA BROADCAST AND/OR INTERNET USE OR THAT THEY COME WITHIN THE PROMOTIONAL WINDOW FOR YOUR TERRITORY CONTACT DETAILS, WHERE AVAILABLE, MAY BE FOUND AT THE END OF THE SCRIPT CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: COMMERCIAL MUSIC, MUSIC VIDEO AND OR PERFORMANCES, MUST BE CLEARED ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN LOCAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE AND COPYRIGHT AGREEMENTS WITH YOUR APPLICABLE COLLECTING SOCIETY DETAILS OF THE TRACKS, WHERE AVAILABLE, MAY BE FOUND AT THE END OF THE SCRIPTYOU HAVE EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR USE OF ALL AND ANY CONTENT INCLUDED WITHIN THE SERVICE, AND FOR LIBEL, PRIVACY, COMPLIANCE AND THIRD PARTY RIGHTS APPLICABLE TO THEIR TERRITORY AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY AP PHOTOS - NO ACCESS CANADA/ FOR BROADCAST USE ONLY - STRICTLY NO ACCESS ONLINE OR MOBILE SHOTLIST: AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - New York, USA, 2 December 2008 1 Dennis Hopper at the Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - New York, USA, 5 August 2008 2 Pan up of Dennis Hopper and his wife Victoria Duffy-Hopper on red carpet 3 SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Hopper, Actor: Why did I decide to take this character? Because my agent called me and said 'You've been offered a part in a picture with Sir Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz,' and I said 'Great!' That was how easy that was, but I did read the script and the script was wonderful and the part's wonderful AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - Los Angeles, USA, 24 July 2008 4 Dennis Hopper and wife walking at arrivals procession AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - Cannes, France, 25 May 2008 5 Mid of Dennis Hopper and wife AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - Cannes, France, 17th May 2008 6 Mid of Dennis Hopper AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - New York, July 24, 1995 7 Dennis Hopper walking backstage at fashion show 8 Dennis Hopper on runway AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - Cannes, France, 25 May 2008 9 Mid of director Wim Wenders 10 SOUNDBITE: (English) Wim Wenders, director (on casting Dennis Hopper in the film): I cast Dennis and he's perfect of course because also Dennis, the first thing that comes to your mind is all the scary characters he's played and Dennis was typecast forever and ever as this bad guy A scary, scary guy But when you know him, and I've known him for thirty years, you are aware of the fact that there is no kinder and more tender man in life than Dennis AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY FILE - Los Angeles, USA - 26 March 2010 11 Dennis Hopper's Hollywood Walk of Fame star is unveiled 12 Hopper poses with commemorative plaque, zoom in 13 Zoom out from actor Viggo Mortensen to Hopper holding commemorative plaque surrounded by fellow actors and family 14 Mid of Hopper with actor-director Jack Nicholson 15 SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Hopper, Actor-Director: I love all of you I just want to thank you That's all I can do This means so much to me, and thank you very much everyone and all of you AP PHOTOS - NO ACCESS CANADA/ FOR BROADCAST USE ONLY - STRICTLY NO ACCESS ONLINE OR MOBILE Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA - October 1971 16 STILL Director-actor Dennis Hopper poses in Hollywood, California AP PHOTOS - NO ACCESS CANADA/ FOR BROADCAST USE ONLY - STRICTLY NO ACCESS ONLINE OR MOBILE Los Angeles, USA, 4 April 1985 12 STILL Dennis Hopper during an interview AP PHOTOS - NO ACCESS CANADA/ FOR BROADCAST USE ONLY - STRICTLY NO ACCESS ONLINE OR MOBILE Las Vegas, USA, 10 June 2009 14 STILL Dennis Hopper is seen during a red carpet interview at CineVegas's opening night and world movie premiere of Saint John of Las Vegas STORYLINE: 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 He was 74 Hopper died on Saturday at his home in the Los Angeles beach community of Venice, surrounded by family and friends, family friend Alex Hitz said Hopper's manager announced in October 2009 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer 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 favourites as Apocalypse Now and Hoosiers He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, and in March 2010, was honoured with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame After a promising start that included roles in two James Dean films, Hopper's acting career had languished as he developed a reputation for throwing tantrums and abusing alcohol and drugs On the set of True Grit, Hopper so angered John Wayne that the star reportedly chased Hopper with a loaded gun He married five times and led a dramatic life right to the end In January 2010, Hopper filed to end his 14-year marriage to Victoria Hopper, who stated in court filings that the actor was seeking to cut her out of her inheritance, a claim Hopper denied Much of Hollywood, wrote critic-historian David Thomson, found Hopper a pain in the neck All was forgiven, at least for a moment, when he collaborated with another struggling actor, Peter Fonda, on a script about two pot-smoking, drug-dealing hippies on a motorcycle trip through the Southwest and South to take in the New Orleans Mardi Gras 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 'Easy Rider' was never a motorcycle movie to me, Hopper said in 2009 A lot of it was about politically what was going on in the country Fonda produced Easy Rider and Hopper directed it for a meagre 380,000 US dollars It went on to gross 40 million (m) US dollars worldwide, a substantial sum for its time 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 The film was a hit at Cannes, netted a best-screenplay Oscar nomination for Hopper, Fonda and Terry Southern, and has since been listed on the American Film Institute's ranking of the top 100 American films 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 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 With Hopper hailed as a brilliant filmmaker, Universal Pictures lavished 850,000 US dollars on his next project, The Last Movie The title was prescient 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 Trouble on the set developed almost immediately, as Peruvian authorities pestered the company, drug-induced orgies were reported and Hopper seemed out of control When he finally completed filming, he retired to his home in Taos, New Mexico, to piece together the film, a process that took almost a year, in part because he was using psychedelic drugs for editing inspiration When it was released, The Last Movie was such a crashing failure that it made Hopper unwanted in Hollywood for a decade At the sa