Harry Dean Stanton, the prolific character actor with an often-rumpled, down-and-out look that endeared him to audiences in films including “Pretty in Pink,” “Repo Man” and “Alien,” died Friday in Los Angeles at age 91.
Stanton died of natural causes at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to his agent.
A native of Kentucky, Stanton served in the Navy during World War II then did his first acting work in a University of Kentucky production of “Pygmalion.”
After moving to Los Angeles, he performed at the Pasadena Playhouse. He moved to film and television in the mid-1950s, toiling in generally small roles on television and film but working steadily for decades, with appearances on shows including “Rawhide,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “How the West Was Won.”
By the late 1960s and into the 1970s, he began appearing in bigger- budget projects, including Paul Newman’s “Cool Hand Luke,” Clint Eastwood’s “Kelly’s Heroes,” “The Godfather: Part II” and as a member of the doomed crew in the original “Alien.” He appeared with longtime friend Jack Nicholson in “The Missouri Breaks.”
He had his first leading role in “Paris, Texas,” playing a drifter trying to reconnect with family and friends.
That same year, he appeared in what would become a cult classic — “Repo Man” — portraying a hard-drinking veteran of the trade who tries to educate new recruit Emilio Estevez. He also portrayed Molly Ringwald’s father in “Pretty in Pink.”
Stanton’s other credits include “Escape from New York,” “Alpha Dog,” “Christine,” “Red Dawn,” “Twister” and several David Lynch films, including “Wild at Heart” and “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.”
“The great Harry Dean Stanton has left us,” Lynch said Friday. “There went a great one. There’s nobody like Harry Dean. Everyone loved him. And with good reason. He was a great actor, actually beyond great, and a great human being.”
Stanton portrayed a cult leader on HBO’s “Big Love,” and he starred in Showtime’s recent revival of Lynch’s “Twin Peaks.”
He will be seen in the upcoming film “Lucky,” set to be released at the end of September.
Stanton was also a longtime musician, singing and playing guitar, often with the Harry Dean Stanton Band.
According to his agent, Stanton “is survived by family and friends who loved him.”
–City News Service