by Tom Folsom
First published 2013
Dennis Hopper embodied the American Dream's wild contradictions. Tom Folsom traces his subject's turbulent path from small-town kid to Hollywood iconoclast. The biography follows Hopper's friendship with James Dean, which launched his acting career and shaped his rebellious spirit. Folsom examines how Hopper transformed from the troubled youth in Rebel Without a Cause into the chopper-riding outlaw of Easy Rider, the unhinged photographer in Blue Velvet, and the manic colonel in Apocalypse Now. The author chronicles Hopper's ambitions to become the next Orson Welles and his work as a director who changed Hollywood filmmaking. Through interviews with actors, artists, and friends, Folsom captures both Hopper's creative peaks and his devastating crashes. The book reveals how one man's fifty-year rebellion played out against the backdrop of American popular culture, showing the magic and madness that defined his many reinventions.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, american, 21st-century, film
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, creative-genius, fall-from-grace, reinvention
Setting: Hollywood
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
336 pages · Kindle Edition · It Books