Dennis Hopper, dead at the age of 74. My second-favorite thing about Dennis Hopper was the Chicago Reader's description of his character in Hoosiers as an "Oscar-hungry drunk." My favorite thing about him was that I got to interview him a few years back, in order to talk about the following photograph of Ike and Tina Turner:
Dennis had taken that photo, at a time when his angry young man act had worn thin in Hollywood and he was turning to photography as sort of a second career. It was taken in the front hallway of Phil Spector's house, when Ike and Tina (or Tina, anyway) were working on "River Deep - Mountain High." He was very gracious and seemed genuinely flattered that I was thoroughly familiar with his work.
Hopper married Mama Michelle Phillips in 1970, but the marriage didn't last. "I will say this about Dennis Hopper," Michelle supposedly said later. "We were married for eight days and truly, they were the happiest days of my life." One wonders what happened on the ninth day.
Hopper is said to have said, "Seven of those days were pretty good. The eighth day ws the bad one."
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