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Dennis Hopper rushed to New York hospital
His arrival by ambulance at ER looked like a scene from ‘Blue Velvet’
The American actor, photographer and art collector Dennis Hopper is in hospital in Manhattan after reporting flu-like symptoms and a stomach ailment, according to reports from New York City.
He was seen arriving by ambulance, wearing an oxygen mask and with various tubes visible - a scene eerily reminiscent of his appearance in the 1986 film Blue Velvet, according to one onlooker.
Hopper was in the city to promote the TV spin-off of the Oscar-winning film Crash, in which he stars with Eric Roberts (above, right). Two chat show appearances were cancelled as a result if his illness.
Hopper has been married for the past 13 years to the actress Victoria Duffy, his fifth wife. They have a six-year-old daughter, Galen.
Hopper, who grew up on a Kansas farm, made his breakthrough with the part of Goon in the 1955 James Dean classic, Rebel Without a Cause. But it was the 1969 film Easy Rider, which he directed and co-starred in with Peter Fonda, that made his name. It remains one of the iconic pictures from Sixties Hollywood.
Although he continued to be a prolific director and actor, he has also made a name for himself as avid collector and connoisseur of modern art. He was the first person to buy an Andy Warhol Soup Can, paying $75 for a work now worth $10m.
Despite losing one or two pieces in his various divorce settlements, Hopper has amassed a private collection estimated to be worth more than $100m. It is housed in his Frank Gehry designed home in Venice, California.
Before he made Easy Rider, Hopper was rarely seen without a Nikon round his neck. A selection of black and white photographs taken between 1961 and 1967 was published this week by Taschen in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, costing £450.
He was well connected even back then: his subjects include many well-known faces - Paul Newman, Ike and Tina Turner, Warhol at the Factory and Jane Fonda in a flowered bikini, firing her bow and arrow on Malibu beach.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this item was posted, it was announced on Thursday night, October 1, that Hopper had been released from hospital and was feeling "much better". He had been treated for dehydration. ·
