Curtain Down

After five decades of hard living, two Oscar nominations and a hundred films, US actor Dennis Hopper has died of prostate cancer at 74. Hopper's career – in such movies as Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider and Speed – was one of the longest in an industry notorious for chewing up its stars. His private life was at times as chaotic as the wild-eyed mad villains he specialised in portraying. He married five times - one of those lasting just eight days! He received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame last March.
...and on the eve of the launch of TVNZ's Heartland (revisiting classic old kiwi tv shows), one of New Zealand's best known actresses Dame Pat Evison OBE has died after a long illness at 85. She trained at London's Old Vic Theatre, returned to NZ to direct, before acting on stage, radio and TV in Oz and NZ. She is probably best known for her roles in the Australian TV series Prisoner and The Flying Doctors. She was in the landmark 1970s NZ drama Pukemanu, and the Close to Home series. Her film appearances included Grampire and Bad Blood.