The second recent passing that we missed over the past few days was that of Harry Dean Stanton. Stanton died of natural causes at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on September 15th.
Even if you’re unfamiliar with the name, there’s no doubt that you’ve likely seen him in something before. In a career that spanned across seven decades, Stanton has appeared in over 100 films and 50 television shows. He began his career in 1954 with an appearance on the TV show, Inner Sanctum, and made his film debut in 1957 in Tomahawk Trail. Over the course of his career, he had roles in films like Two-Lane Blacktop, The Godfather Part II, Alien, Escape from New York, and Pretty in Pink.
Stanton was also a frequent collaborator with director David Lynch. He had roles in Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, The Straight Story, and Inland Empire. He reprised the role of Carl Rodd in this year’s Twin Peaks: The Return after first playing the character in Fire Walk With Me. While not often a leading man, Stanton did star in a breakout performance in the 1984 road movie, Paris, Texas. Coincidentally, one of his final film performances will be as the title character in John Carroll Lynch’s directorial debut, Lucky, which comes out on September 29th.
All respects go to the family and friends of Harry Dean Stanton.
