Dennis Hopper was a filmmaker.
Dennis Lee Hopper ( May 17 , 1936 -- May 29 , 2010 ) was an American actor , filmmaker , photographer and artist . Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s . Hopper made his directorial film debut with Easy Rider ( 1969 ) , which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern . He went on to helm his third directorial work Out of the Blue ( 1980 ) , for which he was again honored at Cannes , and appeared in Rumble Fish ( 1983 ) and The Osterman Weekend ( 1983 ) . His fourth directorial outing came about through Colors ( 1988 ) , followed by an Emmy-nominated lead performance in Paris Trout ( 1991 ) .