His performance as Frank Booth in Blue Velvet (1986) is ranked #54 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
His personal assistant accused Victoria Duffy of trying to kill Hopper during their legal divorce proceedings in 2010.
Hopper is quoted in the book "Marilyn Beck's Hollywood" (1973) as saying that the Manson Massacre of Sharon Tate and friends was the backlash from a sex and drugs party the week previously, in which a drug dealer was tied up and whipped before a crowd for selling "bad dope" to the residents of 10050 Cielo Drive. As can be seen by Rip Torn's success in prosecuting a defamation suit against Hopper in the 1990s, he is not the most reliable witness to history.
Hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles shortly before Christmas 2009.
In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), he says "Boys, boys, boys." when he first meets Leatherface and the Sawyer family. Hopper says the exact same thing when he first meets the heroes in Super Mario Bros. (1993).
In 1999, he, his young son, Henry, and two buddies were in Jamaica, heading to a golf course to play a few holes. As they drove through a small village, a speeding truck barreled head-on into their car. Hopper's friends were badly injured in the crash -- broken legs, head traumas -- but Hopper climbed out of the passenger seat without a scratch. He pulled Henry, then 10 years old, from the backseat, covered in splattered blood, also eerily unhurt. "At that point, I really thought, maybe there is a force looking out for me, because I can't figure out how we survived," Hopper said.
Is portrayed by Jarrod Dean in The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004) (TV).
Lamenting to an audience Q & A in Sydney that he had "never had any great roles", Hopper nominated Splendor in the Grass (1961) as the one he most wished he'd been given.
Lives in Venice, California.
Member of the US Republican Party.
On 29 October 2009, he revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002.
One of three cast members of the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955) to have died within the first six months of 2010. He was followed in death by castmates Corey Allen and was predeceased by Steffi Sidney.
Provided the narration for the Gorillaz song "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head".
Ranked #87 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Received the 2,403th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 26, 2010.
Reported that Rip Torn has won a $475,000 defamation suit against Hopper. Lawsuit came about after remarks made by Hopper on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992) on 31 May 1994. [14 March 1997]
Rushed to a New York City hospital with flu-like symptoms on September 30, 2009.
Thinks that James Dean is the best actor he ever worked with since he met him on the set of Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
Was due to appear in the Doctor Who 2007 Christmas Special, Voyage of the Damned, guest starring along with Kylie Minogue. However, Hopper was not available for long enough, so the part had to be recast. Clive Swift eventually took on Hopper's intended role, Mr. Copper.
Was in the process of divorcing Victoria Duffy at the time of his death. He filed for divorce in January 2010.