Claim: Dennis Hopper starred in Blue Velvet.

Dennis Lee Hopper -LRB- May 17 , 1936 -- May 29 , 2010 -RRB- was an American actor , filmmaker , photographer and artist . He attended the Actors Studio , made his first television appearance in 1954 , and soon after appeared alongside James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause -LRB- 1955 -RRB- and Giant -LRB- 1956 -RRB- . In the next ten years he made a name in television , and by the end of the 1960s had appeared in several films . Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s .   Hopper made his directorial film debut with Easy Rider -LRB- 1969 -RRB- , which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern . The film earned Hopper a Cannes Film Festival Award for `` Best First Work '' and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay -LRB- shared with Fonda and Southern -RRB- . Journalist Ann Hornaday wrote : `` With its portrait of counterculture heroes raising their middle fingers to the uptight middle-class hypocrisies , Easy Rider became the cinematic symbol of the 1960s , a celluloid anthem to freedom , macho bravado and anti-establishment rebellion '' . Film critic Matthew Hays notes that , `` no other persona better signifies the lost idealism of the 1960s than that of Dennis Hopper '' .   He worked on various small projects until he found new fame for his role as the American photojournalist in Apocalypse Now -LRB- 1979 -RRB- . He went on to helm his third directorial work Out of the Blue -LRB- 1980 -RRB- , for which he was again honored at Cannes , and appeared in Rumble Fish -LRB- 1983 -RRB- and The Osterman Weekend -LRB- 1983 -RRB- . He saw a career resurgence in 1986 when he was widely acclaimed for his performances in Blue Velvet and Hoosiers , the latter of which saw him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor . His fourth directorial outing came about through Colors -LRB- 1988 -RRB- , followed by an Emmy-nominated lead performance in Paris Trout -LRB- 1991 -RRB- . Hopper found even greater fame for portraying the villains of the films Super Mario Bros. -LRB- 1993 -RRB- , Speed -LRB- 1994 -RRB- and Waterworld -LRB- 1995 -RRB- .   Hopper 's later work included a leading role in the short-lived television series Crash -LRB- 2008 -- 2009 -RRB- , inspired by the Academy Award-winning film of the same name . Production on his final film , The Last Film Festival -LRB- 2016 -RRB- , completed just before his death ; originally slated for 2011 distribution , the project was picked up for theatrical release in late 2016 by Monterey Home Video . Hopper has an additional posthumous credit in the completed , but unreleased Orson Welles drama The Other Side of the Wind , acquired for distribution by Netflix .