Buzz
Dennis Hopper graced some of the greatest films ever made (Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider, Blue Velvet) alongside some of the most absurdly awful ones (Super Mario Bros, Waterworld). Yet, he was Hollywood's first true hell-raiser, making even Charlie Sheen seem tame. Over his journey, he transformed from a Hollywood prodigy to an artist, a director, and a countercultural icon, crossing paths with nearly every major pop culture figure of the 20th century before his ultimate explosion—both figuratively and literally.
10. Chilling with Elvis
In 1956, Elvis Presley made his mark in Hollywood. Over the span of 18 months, he starred in four movies, with the intention that these films would be rolled out gradually while Elvis completed his two-year military service, maintaining his public presence as much as possible.
During this time, Elvis was particularly eager to connect with anyone who had been close to his idol, James Dean, who tragically passed away in a car crash the previous year. Elvis quickly befriended a 21-year-old actor named Dennis Hopper, who had starred alongside Dean in both Rebel Without a Cause and the posthumously released Giant.
According to Hopper, who spent a couple of weeks with Elvis, there was a comical moment when Elvis expressed concern over a scene in his upcoming film—Love Me Tender—in which he was supposed to strike a woman. Elvis wasn’t worried about the negative implications; instead, he was genuinely concerned he would have to hit the actress for real. After Dennis Hopper patiently clarified that it was just an act, it became clear that Elvis didn’t realize that violence in movies was not real.
9. He Was Blacklisted From Hollywood For Eight Years
By 1958, Dennis Hopper was on track for a successful career. At just 22, he had already worked with some of the greatest actors in Hollywood and had received invaluable acting advice from stars like James Dean. However, when he began working on From Hell to Texas, the director, Henry Hathaway, made it clear that none of his past experience mattered. Hathaway didn’t want method actors; he wanted people who would simply follow orders. This approach quickly led to tension between them.
Hathaway and Hopper were at odds throughout the entire shoot, with constant shouting, swearing, and accusations flying between them. The breaking point came while filming a simple scene with just 10 lines of dialogue. Hathaway told Hopper that he had enough film stock for four months, and Hopper couldn’t leave until he delivered the line exactly as Hathaway wanted. After 86 takes, Hopper finally broke down in tears, admitting defeat and performing the scene as instructed. Hathaway then walked over to him and coldly said, 'Kid, you’ll never work in this town again.'
For a time, it seemed like Hathaway’s words might have been true. Hopper claimed that Hathaway had him blackballed from Hollywood, and for the next eight years, Hopper found himself unable to secure any work with major studios.
8. He Captured Icons Through His Lens
After being essentially exiled from Hollywood, Dennis Hopper turned to art. Encouraged by James Dean to try photography, he finally decided to give it a go with acting work drying up. During this period, he won an international photography competition and gained wide recognition in magazines like Artforum, using his work to connect with iconic '60s artists like Andy Warhol. One of Hopper’s photos of Warhol even made its way to the cover of Artforum (marking the first time Warhol’s image appeared on a magazine cover). Additionally, Hopper designed album covers for artists like Ike and Tina Turner and captured photos of renowned actors, musicians, and artists.
Hopper didn’t stop at capturing pop culture icons—he also documented critical moments in the civil rights movement. He took intimate photos of Martin Luther King during his 1965 Alabama Freedom march and even traveled to Selma with his friend Marlon Brando, a strong supporter of King. Hopper recalled the experience as intense: 'Brando got me involved…He pulled up in his car and said, ‘What are you doing day after tomorrow?’ I said, ‘Nothing,’ and he said, ‘You want to go to Selma?’ I said, ‘Sure, man. Thanks for asking me!’ [Once there, police] dogs were biting, and people were being bombed, and it was like, ‘Where are we?’.'
Hopper admitted that his art didn’t bring in much money. However, he was right at the heart of the counterculture movement, even purchasing Warhol’s very first soup can print for just $75. His photographs, which have seen a resurgence in recent years, have been showcased at the Royal Academy of London, and art critics—subjective as they may be—often praise them. Whether or not you agree, these photos offer a captivating glimpse into the life of the 1960s. Check out the short documentary above to view some of them.
7. John Wayne Once Threatened To Kill Him
By 1965, Dennis Hopper was welcomed back into Hollywood after being re-cast in 1965’s The Sons of Katie Elder by the same director who had previously kicked him out, Henry Hathaway. A few years later, Hopper found himself acting alongside John Wayne in True Grit.
Hopper mentioned that he had a generally friendly relationship with Wayne. The two exchanged advice about acting and life, and their interactions were mostly amicable. However, things took a turn when, one day, John Wayne allegedly attempted to harm him.
Wayne, a staunch right-wing conservative, regarded Hopper as his personal “in-house commie.” Whenever a new political event upset or angered him, Wayne would direct his frustrations toward Hopper, whom he labeled a “pinko.”
As various sources recount, Wayne arrived on set one day via helicopter, furious that his daughters had attended a UCLA lecture by a civil rights activist. He yelled, “Where’s that pinko Hopper?!” To make matters worse, Wayne was visibly armed, carrying a gun on his belt. According to Biskind’s book, Hopper spent the rest of the afternoon hiding in a cupboard while Wayne stormed around, muttering things like, “I want that red
6. He Was Once In A Knife Fight With Rip Torn
Jack Nicholson became famous for his role as the kind-hearted, drunken small-town lawyer, George Hanson, in the film East Rider. However, Rip Torn was initially cast for this part. Torn is perhaps better known for playing Agent M in the 1997 film Men in Black.
As Dennis Hopper often recounted in interviews, he claimed that Torn was dismissed from the project after attempting to attack him with a knife at a dinner party. However, Torn later contested this story, claiming it was false. Torn sued Hopper for defamation, arguing that the tale damaged his career, as no one would want to hire an actor with a reputation for reckless knife-wielding. Torn ultimately won the lawsuit, as two other guests at the dinner party corroborated his version of events, and he was awarded $1 million in damages.
According to Torn’s recounting of the incident, the events unfolded like this: In 1967, while dining at an LA restaurant with Peter Fonda, Rip Torn, writer Terry Southern, and his wife, Dennis Hopper arrived, complaining about “intolerant Texans” after returning from location scouting in Texas. Torn, who was from Texas, asked Hopper not to generalize and extended his hand in peace. Hopper slapped Torn’s hand away, told him to “Sit down, you
“I’ll be waiting for you outside. Bring your knives. Bring your guns. Bring your friends, and in just a few seconds, we’ll see who the real punk is.”
Torn then stepped outside, holding a trash can lid as a makeshift shield in case Hopper decided to start shooting (since Hopper was known to carry a loaded pistol). However, Hopper didn’t follow him outside.
5. Dennis Hopper And Peter Fonda Feuded Over Easy Rider For Decades
When Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda set out to create Easy Rider (originally called The Loners), no one believed they had a chance of succeeding. And honestly, they didn’t have much going for them. They had no script and no real experience. Hopper, who had never directed before, was slated to direct, and Fonda, an actor, would produce. They pitched their idea to major studios like AIP, but nobody was willing to take a chance on their seemingly doomed project.
Eventually, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider of Raybert Studios (the creators of The Monkees) decided to finance their film. They handed them a check for $40,000, and the duo quickly assembled an inexperienced crew of hippies. With no script in hand, they traveled to New Orleans to shoot what would later become the Mardi Gras scene. They still didn’t have a script.
At multiple stages, it seemed like the film might never see the light of day. Hopper often went off on strange, long-winded rants. At one point, he found himself in a physical altercation with one of the cameramen, which caused 17 members of the crew to walk off the project. The tension grew when Hopper persuaded Fonda to channel the grief from the suicide of his real-life mother into the scene where Fonda sits on the Madonna statue during the LSD sequence. Fonda began recording Hopper’s lengthy tirades in secret, hoping to use the recordings to persuade the studio to fire him. Terrified of Hopper, Fonda even hired a bodyguard and began carrying a gun, fearing Hopper might sabotage the film. The situation didn’t improve when Hopper spent 22 weeks editing the film in a chaotic manner before the studio locked him out.
Despite all the turmoil, Easy Rider defied expectations and became an unexpected success. Created on a shoestring budget of just over $500,000 and largely improvised, the film grossed over $60 million, becoming the first independent film to be distributed by a major studio. This moment marked a dramatic shift in the film industry.
However, despite their professional triumph, Hopper and Fonda never truly reconciled. Their primary point of contention was the credits for Easy Rider—Hopper insisted he had written most, if not all, of the script, while Fonda argued that his contributions were significant. Their public feud (and occasional lawsuits) continued until Hopper passed away in 2010. When Fonda traveled to Taos, New Mexico, to attend Hopper’s funeral, he was told that he was banned from the service, as one of Hopper’s final wishes was that Fonda be banned from his funeral.
4. He Once Shot An Andy Warhol Painting
As mentioned earlier, Hopper was a passionate art collector and a close friend of Andy Warhol. In 1972, Hopper purchased one of Warhol’s pieces, a large print of a blue-faced Chairman Mao. According to Alex Hitz, a long-time friend of Hopper, “One night, while in the midst of a binge, Hopper, from the corner of his eye, saw the Mao, and it freaked him out so much that he got up and shot at it twice, leaving two bullet holes in the print.”
When Warhol discovered what Hopper had done, he remained surprisingly calm about the whole situation. Instead of getting upset over the bullet holes, Warhol chose to turn the damaged print into a collaborative piece, adding annotations to the holes. The first hole, which had narrowly missed Mao's shoulder, was labeled a “warning shot.” The second, a perfect shot just above Mao’s left eye, was simply called “bullet hole,” though it lacked the same creative flair.
Following Hopper’s passing in 2010, the Warhol print with bullet holes was auctioned off for $302,500 (£193,000), a staggering ten times more than its initial estimate. As a final note, please do not attempt to shoot any artwork you own, as 99.9% of the time, it will not raise its value.
3. He Lost His Mind After Being Spiked With LSD
Despite surviving the chaos of films like Easy Rider and Apocalypse Now, the film that ultimately pushed Dennis Hopper over the edge was a little-known B movie called Jungle Warriors. The flimsy plot follows a group of models who survive a plane crash, only to be captured by a South American drug lord. Hopper was offered a hefty paycheck for a small role with just 17 lines, which he quickly accepted. He then traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, for the shoot.
However, after consuming a few complimentary shots of tequila in his hotel room, Hopper was suddenly overwhelmed by intense, disturbing hallucinations. Stripping off all his clothes, he wandered into the jungle, later convinced that the tequila had been laced with LSD.
He explained, 'The third world war was unfolding before my eyes,' and went on to describe how a spaceship was controlling his thoughts. He wasn’t sure if he should head toward the United States or make his way down to the very tip of South America.
The following day, he was seen throwing rocks at passing cars on a busy road. When local police attempted to get him to wear clothes, he resisted violently, pleading with them to end his life. Eventually, he was taken to a hospital. Later, some of the film crew showed up to collect him, rushing him onto a plane back to the United States. During the flight, Hopper became convinced he was performing a scene for Francis Ford Coppola in which he had to climb onto a plane’s burning wing (in reality, he was trying to open the emergency door as the plane was taking off). Thankfully, disaster was avoided when stuntmen from the crew restrained him.
The nightmare didn’t stop there. After returning to LA, Hopper was institutionalized due to severe alcohol withdrawal—he had been drinking half a gallon of rum a day—and began showing signs of psychosis. He was given the antipsychotic drug Prolixin, but had a severe reaction, developing drug-induced parkinsonism. For months, he struggled with even the simplest movements, confined to his own body. At his lowest, he considered suicide, but after seeing one more doctor, he was told the previous one hadn’t administered enough of the antidote for the Prolixin’s side effects. A quick injection reversed the parkinsonism, and after several stays in rehab, Hopper managed to quit alcohol and drugs for good, remaining sober for the rest of his life.
2. The Russian Suicide Death Chair
By the early 1980s, Dennis Hopper’s addiction to drugs and alcohol had escalated to dangerous levels. He was drinking a gallon of rum daily and using 3 grams of cocaine. His delusions grew more intense, and he became convinced that the mafia had put a hit on him. Whether or not that was true is unclear—Hopper once claimed to have followed one of the supposed hitmen and threatened him with a knife. However, it's just as likely that he scared the life out of an innocent bystander.
Convinced that the mafia would eventually kill him, Hopper decided to perform a risky stunt known as the 'Russian Suicide Chair.' The trick involved packing a chair with six sticks of dynamite, leaving just enough room for a person to fit into a hollow space. The explosion would create a vacuum effect, acting as a protective zone. The trick was reportedly used by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution to stage fake executions.
After screening his 1983 film *Out of the Blue* in Houston, Hopper announced to the audience that he planned to blow himself up in the parking lot. The Houston fire marshals quickly stepped in and banned the stunt for safety reasons. Undeterred, Hopper arranged for the entire audience to be bussed to the nearby Big H Speedway. There, they watched nervously as he lit the fuse on the dynamite. The explosion went off, but Hopper emerged from the smoke unharmed. He did, however, suffer from *hearing issues* for the next few weeks. You can watch the entire spectacle in the video above.
1. His Australian Film Entry
In 1974, Dennis Hopper was struggling to land roles due to his reputation as Hollywood’s wildest actor. So when Australian director Philippe Mora offered him the lead in a film about Dan Morgan (a notorious Australian bushranger who influenced Ned Kelly), Hopper accepted. On his first day in Australia, he was promptly *arrested*.
Hopper threw himself fully into the role, adopting an Irish accent for the entire shoot. He refused to wash for the duration of the film, becoming so foul-smelling at one point that he *reduced a makeup artist to tears*. His drinking also spiraled out of control, with Hopper consuming 30 beers and half a gallon of rum daily. The director feared that Hopper might die from alcohol poisoning. To ensure the film would be finished, the director secretly had Hopper's likeness molded into masks for use in long shots and with doubles.
Things had gotten so out of control that the renowned Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil (known for his roles in *Walkabout* and *Rabbit Proof Fence*) vanished into the Australian wilderness. When he was found, he explained that he had become so concerned about Hopper’s erratic behavior that he sought advice from the kookaburras and the trees. When asked what they had told him, Gulpilil responded, 'He’s crazy.'
According to Mora, after filming wrapped, Hopper 'rode off in full costume, poured a bottle of O.P. Rum over the real Morgan’s grave... drank one himself, [and] was arrested the following day, with a blood alcohol level that suggested he 'should have been clinically dead,' according to the judge reviewing his blood tests.'
