Actor Dennis Hopper dead at 74 from cancer

US actor and director Dennis Hopper, a counterculture icon who worked with Hollywood legends including James Dean and director Francis Ford Coppola, has died aged 74, US media reported yesterday.

The actor, who starred in cult classics such as Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet, had been suffering from terminal prostate cancer.

Hopper died yesterday morning surrounded by friends and family at his home in Venice, California. He was last seen in public last March when he was honoured with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Hopper directed the 1969 counter-culture road film Easy Rider, in which he starred alongside co-writer Peter Fonda. The pair were nominated for a best screenplay Academy Award.

Following a promising start to his career, Hopper developed a reputation as a hell-raiser with a penchant for drink and drugs.

Wed five times, his final marriage, to Victoria Duffy, turned into an acrimonious split this year when she accused his family of trying to cut her out of his life.

In April a judge ruled that Duffy, who shared a young daughter with Hopper, could remain at the marital home.

It was during the court hearings that it was revealed Hopper was terminally ill with prostate cancer, following his diagnosis last year.