Did You Know That Dennis Hopper Got His Start on TV Westerns?
Actor and director Dennis Hopper, who died 15 years ago today on May 29, 2010, at the age of 74, is largely remembered today as one of the fathers of edgy, boundary-pushing American cinema. After making his film debut in 1955 with a small role in Rebel Without a Cause, the Actors Studio-trained Hopper went on to write, direct and star in the generation-defining Easy Rider, and appear in similarly edgy films like River’s Edge, Blue Velvet, and Basquiat. He also made a name for himself as a character actor in major Hollywood films like Hoosiers and Speed.
But before he was considered one of Hollywood’s most iconic rebels, Hopper got his career going with a decade-long period in which he largely appeared as a guest star on TV Westerns.
Cheyenne (1956-7)
Everett Collection
Hopper appeared in three episodes of this series, which was the first one-hour Western on TV — but his most notable appearance might have been in the 1957 episode “The Iron Trail.” In it, Hopper portrays one of the unhinged bad guys who would become his speciality: Abe Larson, a young criminal who takes a group of train passengers hostage as part of a larger plan to kidnap President Ulysses S. Grant. Cheyenne (Clint Walker) leads some of the passengers in a plan to turn the tables on the bandits — a situation that naturally ends with Cheyenne winning, and Larson exploded by his own bomb.
Sugarfoot (1957)
That same year, Hopper didn’t just play another Western baddie — he played THE baddie, notorious outlaw Billy the Kid, in the pilot episode of Sugarfoot. In the episode “Brannigan’s Boots,” Sugarfoot (Will Hutchins) is appointed sheriff in a small town by the corrupt mayor, who thinks the new sheriff is too incompetent to solve crimes. Sugarfoot gets to work solving the previous sheriff’s murder … a case that brings him face-to-face with Hopper’s villain.
The Rifleman (1958)
@themowermedic1 DENNIS HOPPER 1959 THE RIFLEMAN #dennishopper #therifleman #thesharpshooter ♬ original sound – themowermedic1
Hopper didn’t only play bad guys during his Western years! He appeared on the pilot episode of The Rifleman as an orphaned boy who’s a crack-shot — a talent exploited by his greedy uncle, who takes the lonely boy from town to town to compete in shooting contests. This brings them into contact with the Rifleman, Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors), who is trying to win the same contest to set a new home for himself and his son.
Hopper turns in an intense performance as the tragic teen — a feat made easier by the fact that the script was written by Sam Peckinpah, who would go on to become the Oscar-nominated co-writer and director of 1969’s The Wild Bunch.
Wagon Train (1963)
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By the early ’60s, Hopper considered himself at a career low point; he often credits his appearance as the villain’s son in the 1965 film The Sons of Katie Elder — a part wrangled for him by family friend John Wayne — as the performance that helped resuscitate him professionally. But two years prior, Hopper appeared as the title character in “The Emmett Lawton Story.” Lawton is the son of the sheriff in the town of High Times; by the time Duke Shannon (Denny Miller) shows up, Lawton’s father has been murdered and Lawton crippled by bandits who have overtaken the town.
Even after his 1965 comeback, Hopper continued popping up on Western TV shows, appearing in Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and The Legend of Jesse James. His 1967 appearance on The Big Valley would be his last TV appearance for over a decade, and his final foray into the world of TV Westerns; that same year, his wordless yet impactful appearance in Cool Hand Luke helped begin to develop the film career that he’s known for today.