A Master of the Dark Arts Dies, Darkly

Dennis Hopper died today, just a few weeks past his 74th birthday, losing his battle with prostate cancer. From early roles in Giant and Rebel Without a Cause, to his breakthrough role acting in and directing Easy Rider and on through what became typical roles such as that he played in Apocalypse Now, Hopper was one of the great dark-part actors of our time. And unarguably one of the most memorable.

For me, the Dennis Hopper role that will always come first to mind is one of his darkest, playing the savagely creepy psychopath Frank in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. I can't imagine there are too many regular readers here who haven't seen Blue Velvet, most likely on multiple occasions. For all of you, and for those few who may not have experienced it, here's a clip.

Fair warning: you'll hear more f-bombs uttered in every 30 seconds of this short than have ever appeared, or are are ever likely to appear again, here at MFWT. But that's exactly the word that first passed my lips when I heard the news earlier today. Grab a PBR, raise a toast to the man, and watch it.