“No other persona better signifies the lost idealism of the 1960s than that of Dennis Hopper“, said film critic Matthew Hays. The actor was best known for his numerous film & filmmaking credits, but he was also enamored with the world of art & poetry, himself an avid & talented photographer, painter, poet and sculptor.
Art Forum 1964 (1988) by Dennis-Hopper
Dennis Hopper - actor, filmmaker & artist
Dennis Hopper‘s impressive film career began with his film debut in the 1955 movie Rebel Without A Cause, starring James Dean, of whom Hopper was an immense fan. Hopper also appeared in the 1956 James Dean film, Giant. The death ofJames Dean following a tragic automobile accident had a profound impact on the young Hopper, who became distraught & difficult to work with & who is reported to have refused direction for over 80 takes during several days while shooting From Hell To Texas.
Double Standard (1961) by Dennis Hopper
The Grateful Dead (1965) by Dennis Hopper
Ostracized by film studios across Hollywood because of his reputation for being “difficult,” Dennis Hopper turned to photography. He became quite prolific, creating cover art for Ike & Tina Turner, and taking several photos of “people of interest” – musicians, actors, poets, and artists that Hopper thought had the potential to become successful. Noted writer Terry Southern profiled Hopper in Better Homes and Gardens as an up & coming photographer “to watch” in the mid 1960′s.
This article can’t begin to give you more than the vaguest of glimpses into what can only be described as an extraordinary life. Dennis Hopper was an intense and complicated individual, impassioned & intelligent. His death is a tragic loss for the art world & the entire world. Hopper passed away on the morning of May 29th, 2010 having recently celebrated his 74th birthday. He had been battling cancer since the fall of 2009.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!
