Dennis Hopper: Transitions

Dennis Hopper died of prostate cancer on 29 May. There is little danger, however, that he will be forgotten, because he left us Easy Rider, the 1969 movie he wrote, directed and acted in opposite Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda. The film defined a whole generation's search for freedom. Here's a classic scene:

Hopper grew up on a farm in Kansas, yet became a student at the Actors' Studio and one of the most recognized names in Hollywood. Nevertheless, by all accounts he was difficult to get along with. Despite his great early success opposite his mentor James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, his professional life was exceedingly stormy. Dean had taught him, "You've got to start doing things, and not showing them." Hopper consequently relied on his feelings and instincts rather than on the written script and necessarily got on the wrong side of many directors he worked with. Thus the story is told that John Wayne once chased him around the set with a loaded gun.

Hopper therefore went through many crises, including drug and alchohol abuse. Most memorably, he was once married to Michelle Phillips for only nine days before she filed for divorce. Perhaps inevitably, his last months were every bit as turbulent as his whole life, as he was actually in the process of divorcing his fifth wife even as he lay dying. Still, even in bad times, he was able to keep up his lifestyle by acting in low-budget and European films. Many roles were mediocre. Even so, he continued to deliver iconic performances in films like Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet and directing films such as Colors, although it wasn't until two months before his death that he was finally awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Find out more, and practise using transitions, the words that guide you through a text to help connect, contrast, qualify and illustrate ideas, in the exercise on the next page.

Anne Hodgson