I remember the first time I saw Blue Velvet. Dennis Hopper played Frank Booth. I was a junior in high school and the character of Frank freaked the living crap out of me for weeks thereafter. But that was the brilliance of Dennis Hopper. He completely immersed himself in every role he took on. Remember him as the dope-smoking photojournalist in Apocalypse Now? Or as Billy on Easy Rider? He also appeared in two of my favorite westerns, True Grit and Hang 'Em High.
He directed, wrote movies, was a photographer, an artist and an art collector. His modern art collection is one of the largest and most extensive in the country. An offbeat man of dichotomies, he was registered as a Republican and he voted for Barack Obama in the last election. He brought life to the antiestablishment but was also the spokes person for Merrill Lynch.
He fell into great depressions and fell further into drug addictions. He successfully fought his addictions and demons and came back to film some of his most memorable films, including Blue Velvet. And Waterworld.
"I should have been dead ten times over. I thought about that a lot. I believe in miracles. It's an absolute miracle that I'm still around."
Undercooked Pork gets 26 points.
Dennis Hopper
May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010
