Robert Roberts Esquire to you, honky!

The first role I saw Dennis Hopper perform was King Koopa in the dreadful Super Mario Bros in 1993. The second film I saw Dennis Hopper in was as Frank Booth in the superb Blue Velvet, six months later. That level of diversity was synonymous with the guy - the cynical would suggest he took plenty roles simply as a paycheck, but I can honestly say I've never seen a movie where Hopper didn't give it his all. There was never an autopilot for the guy; something many of his contemporaries will never lay claim to. And while he'll be rightly remembered as Booth, or as Easy Rider's Billy, or Speed's Howard Payne, or for that movie-defining showdown with Christopher Walken in True Romance, Hopper went full-tilt in countless other flicks. And because you can't have a celebrity death these days without an accompanying list, here's five little-seen or oft-forgotten picks from the great man's CV:

Tom Ripley (The American Friend, 1977)
It's a shame people most associate the role of Patricia Highsmith's sociopathic creation with Matt Damon. Some even draw a closer link with John Malkovich. But Hopper (the second actor play the character, after Alain Delon in 1960's Plein Soleil) essentially revived his post Last Movie-career with this stunning turn in Wim Wenders' movie.

Paris Trout (Paris Trout, 1991)
A million miles away from his comic-book villainy in the likes of Speed, Paris Trout could almost be Frank Booth's distant relative - a sexually abusive, bigoted child-murderer. A truly chilling performance from Hopper - in a movie directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, dad to none other than Jake and Maggie.

Bob Roberts (My Science Project, 1985)
The antithesis to Doc Brown, Hopper's scientist teacher-come-mentor is a whacked-out hippy desperate to get back to the good old 60s. The movie around him may be second-rate (although not without some charm), but any time Dennis is on screen the yucks increase ten-fold.

Lyle (Red Rock West, 1993)
Anyone who menaces the shit out of a sneaky Nic Cage is just fine by me, and Hopper did it in spades here as the bona-fide hitman mightly miffed at chancer Cage stealing his gig.

Bill (Jesus' Son, 1999)
As was so often the case, Hopper nearly walks off with the entire movie as a psychiatric inmate dispensing sage advice to Billy Crudup's heroin-addled FuckHead. "There's no deeper shit than the kind we're in right now, I'll tell you that..." Brilliant.


So thanks, Dennis Hopper. Whether it was within cult gems like River's Edge, or mainstream guff like Waterworld, or iconic classics like Apocalypse Now, you were never anything less than utterly watchable. RIP.