He's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction....

In a way, the sad passing of Dennis Hopper brings ever nearer the eventual end of the Rock and Roll era. As a very young man, Hopper played an important role in the movies that defined this decade - the 1950's - starring in both 'Rebel without a cause' and 'Giant;' both films which starred James Dean and which ushered in a newer, less prosaic cult of celebrity - that of the lionised dead one.

After these landmark movies, Hopper played the role of Billy Clanton in John Sturges' epic 1957 release, 'Gunfight at the OK corral.' It remains one of his best performances - deliberate and methodical, understated and reflective - many would say wholly uncharacteristic of much, indeed all, of his later work. Dennis Hopper was not the greatest actor the world has ever seen. In some ways he is reminiscent of Robert Mitchum decades earlier - a maverick, a one-off - someone who really shouldn't be making movies - and throughout his career he did what he could to avoid making them...

Hopper saved his best performances for characters he could really identify with. In Wim Wenders sprawling 'An American friend,' Hopper played the part of career criminal Tom Ripley - an outsider much like himself - which provided additional scope for his flawed genius. 'Apocalypse now' offered a glimpse into the real Dennis Hopper, at any rate his particular brand of mania, where everything can and does go - willing to introduce a new world with a shrug or tainted word.

Hopper's best two films were made 17 years apart. The existential hubris of Peter Fonda's 'Easy Rider' provided a template for counter-culture film-making for years to come. Hopper's pot-smoking, flag hating stereotype was the epitome of late 60's cool - analagous and antagonistic to Brando's portrayal of Johnny Strabler in Laszlo Benedek's 'The wild one.' It's a great film and Dennis Hopper's performance makes it great. Without question Hopper's crowning achievement was his portrayal of Frank Booth in David Lynch's 'Blue Velvet.' It is one of the truly great cinematic performances and shows how versatile Hopper really was. His terrifying portrayal of such a psychopathic monster has yet to be bettered in modern cinema - it was typical of Hopper to completely see himself as Frank - a man corrupted by demons, out of control, yet someone he could relate to and someone, he felt, he could bring to life.

In all of his films, and thoughout his career, Dennis Hopper brought the characters he played to gasping, fatal life.

Dennis Hopper 1936-2010

'Blue Velvet'

'Easy Rider'

'Apocalypse Now'