Harry Dean Stanton, star of Alien, Repo Man & Twin Peaks, has died at 91

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Harry Dean Stanton, one of our greatest actors, sadly passed away today due to natural causes at the age 91. With close to two hundred credits to his name, Stanton has been involved in some truly memorable films, and, more often than not, he proved to be the best part of them.

Born on July 14, 1926 in West Irvine, Kentucky, Harry Dean Stanton would later enroll at the University of Kentucky to study journalism and radio arts after serving in the Navy as a cook in the Pacific during World War II. The call of entertainment soon came calling however, and Stanton wound up studying at the Pasadena Playhouse and performing on L.A. stages in addition to touring the United States as a singer with a choral group. It was while touring with a children's play that he decided to break into the film and television business and quit the group during a stop in California.

His first credit was for Inner Sanctum, a horror and mystery anthology TV series, and from then on, he worked steadily throughout the decades with roles in Alfred Hitchcock's THE WRONG MAN, Stuart Rosenberg's COOL HAND LUKE, Francis Ford Coppola's THE GODFATHER PART II, Ridley Scott's ALIEN, John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, Alex Cox's REPO MAN, Wim Wenders' PARIS, TEXAS, John Milius' RED DAWN, Howard Deutch's PRETTY IN PINK, Martin Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, Terry Gilliam's FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, Frank Darabont's THE GREEN MILE, Joss Whedon's THE AVENGERS, and so much more. Seriously, just take a look at Harry Dean Stanton's filmography and you'll be blown away by the types of movies he's done and the people he was fortunate enough to work with over his long career, or, better put, the people who were fortunate enough to work with him.

It wasn't just the big-screen where Harry Dean Stanton made his home, as the actor also made appearances on some classic TV shows such as The Texan, The Rifleman, Have Gun – Will Travel, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, Bonanza, The Fugitive, The Wild Wild West, The Virginian, and Laverne & Shirley. In more recent years, Stanton won praise for his role of Roman Grant, leader of a polygamist sect and self-proclaimed Mormon prophet, on HBO's Big Love, as well as reprising his TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME role for David Lynch's recent Twin Peaks revival. In addition to his acting work, Stanton was also an accomplished musician, and quite a number of his roles feature the great actor singing a tune or strumming on his guitar.

We lost a great one today, there's no doubt about that, but with so many incredible roles and great memories, Harry Dean Stanton will never be forgotten, although his unique presence and unquestionable talent will certainly be missed.