RANCHOS DE TAOS, N.M. – Jack Nicholson and Val Kilmer were among the actors who mixed Wednesday in New Mexico with dozens of Dennis Hopper’s relatives, friends and Taos locals to remember the two-time Oscar nominee at a memorial Mass.
Hopper’s simple wooden coffin was ushered into the adobe chapel at historic San Francisco de Asis church.
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Hopper, who was twice nominated for Oscars and earned a star this year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, died Saturday at age 74 at his home in Los Angeles. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009.
Nicholson, cast alongside Hopper in “Easy Rider” as a drunken young lawyer in a breakout role, described Hopper as “an all-around guy.”
“We were soul mates in a way. I really miss him,” Nicholson said.
The church’s bells chimed as Hopper’s casket was brought into the chapel and again as it was taken out after the two-hour service. The rumbles of about half a dozen motorcycles could be heard in the distance as the casket was taken away in a funeral procession.
Hopper came to New Mexico in 1969 to scout locations for the iconic “Easy Rider.” He lived in Taos for 12 years through the early 1980s.
Mourners who poured out of the chapel after the service described it as “lovely,” without mention of Hollywood or Hopper’s public persona.
Obamas host McCartney tribute in East Room
WASHINGTON – If the first British invasion of the White House ended with the building on fire, the latest had Barack and Michelle Obama and their kids bouncing in their seats at a tribute concert for former Beatle Paul McCartney.
The setting for the McCartney tribute was the ornate East Room, chandeliers overhead, George and Martha Washington portraits on the walls and an all-star lineup cranking out some of McCartney’s greatest hits.
Stevie Wonder had the Obamas clapping to “We Can Work It Out.” The Jonas Brothers did “Baby You Can Drive My Car.” Corinne Bailey Rae slowed things down with “Blackbird.” And Faith Hill stroked “Long and Winding Road.”
Elvis Costello crooned “Penny Lane,” and called it a “thing of wonder and beauty,” noting that his mother grew up not far away from the now-famous street in Liverpool, England.
Jerry Seinfeld had lots of compliments for McCartney and one complaint – he couldn’t quite figure some of McCartney’s lyrics.
Such as: “She was just 17. You know what I mean.”
Seinfeld: “I’m not sure I do know what you mean, Sir Paul. I think I know what you mean. And I think there’s a law enforcement agency in a couple of states that might want to ask you a few questions.”
The event’s executive producer, Cappy McGarr, said Wednesday’s concert was probably “the smallest venue that Sir Paul has played since the Cavern” in his days in Liverpool.
Sheen reaches agreement on domestic violence charges
ASPEN, Colo. – Charlie Sheen has reached an agreement with authorities in Colorado over domestic violence allegations involving his wife, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Sheen has pleaded not guilty to menacing, criminal mischief and assault charges stemming from an argument with his wife, Brooke Mueller Sheen, on Christmas Day.
The most serious charge is menacing, a felony that carries a maximum three-year prison sentence.
A police officer’s arrest affidavit quoted Brooke Sheen as saying the actor pinned her down and held a knife to her throat while making a threat.
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