Dennis Hopper was a person.
Dennis Lee Hopper ( May 17 , 1936 -- May 29 , 2010 ) was an American actor , filmmaker , photographer and artist . Hopper made his directorial film debut with Easy Rider ( 1969 ) , which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern . He worked on various small projects until he found new fame for his role as the American photojournalist in Apocalypse Now ( 1979 ) .