[54], According to Newsmeat, Hopper donated US$2,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2004 and an equal amount in 2005. "'Easy Rider' was never a motorcycle movie to me," Hopper said in 2009. It was not until after his marriage in 1961 to Brooke Hayward who, as the daughter of Leland Hayward, a producer and agent, and Margaret Sullavan, the actress, was part of Hollywood royalty that Mr. Hopper was regularly offered film roles again. Dennis Hopper, left, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider, Columbia Pictures/TRIO, via Associated Press. All was forgiven, at least for a moment, when he collaborated with another struggling actor, Peter Fonda, on a script about two pot-smoking, drug-dealing hippies on a motorcycle trip through the Southwest and South to take in the New Orleans Mardi Gras. Trouble on the set developed almost immediately, as Peruvian authorities pestered the company, drug-induced orgies were reported and Hopper seemed out of control. [35] During this period he created the cover art for the Ike & Tina Turner album River Deep Mountain High (released in 1966). On the way, Hopper and Fonda befriend a drunken young lawyer (Jack Nicholson, whom Hopper had resisted casting, in a breakout role), but arouse the enmity of Southern rednecks and are murdered before they can return home. In 1970 he filmed The Last Movie, cowritten by Stewart Stern and photographed by Lszl Kovcs in Peru, and completed production in 1971. LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dennis Hopper, the high-flying Hollywood wild man whose memorable and erratic career included an early turn in "Rebel Without a Cause," an improbable smash with "Easy Rider" and a classic character role in "Blue Velvet," has died. [55], Hopper was honored with the rank of commander of France's National Order of Arts and Letters, at a ceremony in Paris. Hopper and his fourth wife, dancer Katherine LaNasa, had a son, Henry, before divorcing. With Hopper hailed as a brilliant filmmaker, Universal Pictures lavished $850,000 on his next project, "The Last Movie.". The old rebel contributed money to the Republican Party in recent years, but also voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008. "I just want to thank you," Hopper said, as he smiled broadly. From there he went to Warner Bros., where he made "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant" while in his late teens. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "All those years of being an actor and a director and not being able to get a job -- two weeks is too long to not know what my next job will be.". Drugs, sex and death inside the infamous Chateau Marmont - New York Post