Friday, January 22, 2010

I Read Something... Dennis Hopper Files For Divorce... for the fifth time!


A self portrait on shattered plates and shattered marriages. A Rebel Without a Plate?

Hopper to divorce his fifth wife (BBC News)

Usually a celebrity filing for divorce wouldn't be much of an interesting read for me, gossip is not my cup of tea. Is Dennis Hopper even a celebrity or just a pitch man for the "new way of retiring" with Ameriprise or the crazy referee in those awesome mid 90's Nike commercials?  Never saw them? Don't remember them? Here's a few:


One in honor of NFL Conference Championship weekend:


Hopper is most well known for his roles in Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, and of course as Keanu Reeves' nemesis in Speed. According to IMDB, he has exactly 200 acting credits at this time, very impressive and because of the volume of work, he can be excused for some schlock.

Dennis Hopper was a central, influential figure in the very weird late 60's early 70s film movement, the roots of modern America Independent cinema and a time when it seemed movie studios had no idea what they were doing and ended up producing some its most memorable and unique work. For a decent intro into this period, check out Film History of the 70s or read Mark Cousins' excellent book The Story of Film.

Anyway, back to Mr Hopper. Obviously, it isn't surprising that he is getting divorced (since it's happens 4 times previously) but I don't understand the woman's thought process.  Is she thinking "he wasn't happy with 4 other women that he probably paying alimony to, but I'm different" or maybe "Man, he was so good as King Koopa in the Super Mario Bros. movie that I must have him"?


Look at that tongue.

What makes the whole thing even more curious is that Hopper is divorcing her as he is starting to another round of chemo for advanced prostate cancer.  Something is very queer here.

Upon further research, I stumbled upon a more in depth article on ABC News (Why is Dennis Hopper Divorcing Wife... From Deathbed) that reads as part shocked- friends-of-the-couple quote piece & part early memorial/eulogy. According to the article, Hopper may be making this decision while on his deathbed with just weeks to live. From what I know, there are not many divorces that take a few weeks and more often than not can take years.

ABC quotes a source that says his eldest daughter Marin, from his first marriage, is pushing for it so she can become executor of the will.

As people are about to die, it all becomes about the money. Not letting the person enjoy (possibly) his final days with all his loved ones surrounding him and encouraging him to fight to the last minute, ignore this kind of garbage especially if the article is accurate by saying that "Hopper's condition has reportedly worsened dramatically in recent weeks." Though, Hopper has lived the possibly fullest 73 years of life on this planet ever; the 200 or so acting roles, the drugs, the wives, the art and the lawsuits!


One of Hopper's photos perfectly titled "Double Standard."

Lawsuits? In 1999, Rip Torn sued Hopper for defamation of character besides on statements he made while on the Tonight Show with that scumbag with the big chin. According to Torn's Wikipedia:
In 1999, Torn filed a defamation lawsuit against Dennis Hopper over a story Hopper told on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[5] Hopper claimed that Torn pulled a knife [on the set of] Easy Rider. According to Hopper, Torn was originally cast in the film but was replaced with Jack Nicholson after the incident. According to Torn's suit, it was actually Hopper who pulled the knife on him. A judge ruled in Torn's favor and Hopper was ordered to pay $475,000 in damages. Hopper then appealed but the judge again ruled in Torn's favor and Hopper was required to pay another $475,000 in punitive damages.[4]
That means Hopper lost approximately a million dollars for telling Leno a story on TV. Amazing! Sued by the man who played Tom Green's father in Freddy Got Fingered & the dodge-ball master turned old creepy, cripple Patches O'Houlihan in Dodgeball; so Conan was not the first person fucked by Leno (not even the first late night host f'ed by Leno, he'd have to get in line behind David Letterman & Johnny Carson).


Costner & Hopper in Waterworld.


This whole story sounds like Hopper might just be writing his final script.  I wonder who will play Hopper in the movie.  No matter how many shots I take at some poor choices, he is still true American original, a man to be revered for many of his accomplishments.  Dennis Hopper has lived quite the life. I hope he pulls through so Waterworld II  can finally be made. Costner's been waiting patiently with that piss-turns-to-water machine in hand.

No comments: