In 1959 Hopper was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series for his performance as Paul Drake. In the 1959 episode, "The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma," Hopper played the defendant, the only time in the series' nine-year run that Paul Drake was tried for murder.Ī heavy smoker, Hopper can be seen smoking in numerous episodes of the show. Hopper is best known for his regular role as the private investigator Paul Drake on CBS's courtroom television series Perry Mason (1957–1966) with Raymond Burr in the title role and Barbara Hale as secretary Della Street. Cannon in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge (1970) starring Raquel Welch, John Huston, Farrah Fawcett, Rex Reed, and Mae West. He made one final movie appearance as a judge, Frederic D. He made two movie appearances during his years on Perry Mason but retired after the television show was canceled in 1966. His television guest appearances included the The Joseph Cotten Show, Gunsmoke, Fury, Studio 57, The Millionaire, and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. Hopper, along with Joan Taylor and a very young Bart Braverman, starred in the classic Ray Harryhausen science fiction film 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).Īlso in 1957 he played a supporting role in the pilot episode of the television series The Restless Gun, which was broadcast as an episode of Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. Kenneth Penmark in The Bad Seed (1956) also starring Nancy Kelly and Patty McCormack. Other appearances included his iconic role as the father of Natalie Wood in the James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause (1955), as Robert Mitchum's ill-fated older brother Arthur in the William Wellman adventure Track of the Cat (1954), and as the often absent father Col. In 1956 Hopper had a supporting role in Wayne's production of Good-bye, My Lady. In the mid 1950s Hopper resumed his movie career with the part of Roy in The High and the Mighty (1954) starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, and Robert Stack. Reagan and Hopper appeared in nine films together between 19. X starring Humphrey Bogart a New York reporter in Knute Rockne, All American (1940) starring Pat O'Brien, Gale Page, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Crisp a reporter in the post-Hollywood Production Code version of The Maltese Falcon (1941) starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor and a reporter in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) starring James Cagney and Walter Huston. He also enjoyed significant roles alongside Ann Sheridan in The Footloose Heiress (1937) and Mystery House (1938).Īfter that he had roles that included playing a sergeant in the Western Stagecoach (1939) starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne an intern in The Return of Dr. In 1937 he portrayed the leading man in two films, Public Wedding with Jane Wyman and Over the Goal. In 1936, he played a small role as a photographer in the Columbia Pictures film The King Steps Out starring Grace Moore and Franchot Tone. He went from there to Broadway, where he appeared in two plays in 1934, Order Please and Romeo and Juliet.Įarly in his film career, Hopper appeared uncredited in numerous movies or under the name DeWolf Hopper. Hopper began his acting career as a teenager, working in summer stock in Ogunquit, Maine. armed forces, may have contributed to his premature death. Like a lot of war veterans, chain smoking came commonplace, within all the ranks in the U.S. The stress of his military action as a frogman in the Pacific caused his hair to turn from blonde to grey. He was discharged when the war ended in 1945. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942, served as a frogman, and received a Bronze Star for bravery and heroic action during operations in the Pacific. His mother divorced his father in 1922 and moved to Hollywood with their son. Hopper's debut motion picture appearance was as a baby in his father's 1916 silent movie Sunshine Dad.
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