CALIFORNIA — Legendary American actor, filmmaker, and artist Dennis Hopper lost his battle with prostate cancer this morning and passed away in his home. He was 74.

Hopper was best known for his roles in “Easy Rider” and “Apocalypse Now,” but the younger generations knew him as the bad guy in the movie “Speed.” I would argue that the pinnacle of Hopper’s career was when he played the villian in the 1995 post-apocalyptic action film“Waterworld” — easily one of the best movies in history.

2009 marked the major beginning of Hopper’s health decline when his manager reported he had been diagnosed with cancer. Shortly after, Hopper’s cancer advanced into his bones and he began to slowly waste away until he weighed only 100 pounds.

Hopper was relatively discreet about his health issues, therefore, his final months were most likely peaceful — well, as peaceful as can be when you’re dying of cancer.

The coolest thing about Dennis Hopper was that he could kick ass in any role, even if it didn’t make sense. Take his role as King Koopa in the “Super Mario Bros.” film for example — Hopper played a HUMAN King Koopa. Nothing is more blasphemous than that.

When people watched this movie for the first time, they were like “What the fuck? King Koopa is NOT human… yet I don’t seem to mind because it’s Dennis Hopper.” But when he finally turned into a dinosaur, everyone was like, “WTF, bring back Dennis Hopper!”

It’s also important to note that Luigi didn’t even have a mustache in the film either.

Bottom line, Dennis Hopper was an American icon / World hero that made every film better with his presence. He will be missed, and cancer will be hated a little more by everyone.

RIP Dennis Hopper 1936-2010