Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper

There may have been plenty to celebrate in the world of movies in 2010; Toy Story 3 becoming the biggest grossing animation movie and Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar, but it has been tinged with sadness.

Yes this year has been no different to any other as we have lost a string of stars over the last twelve months.

- Dennis Hopper

The actor passed away in May as he lost his battle against cancer at the age of 73 this month, leaving behind a life time of work that any actor would be proud of.

After a career that spanned more than five decades, Dennis Hopper engraved his name into the history of Hollywood with a collection of truly great performances.

His first taste of the big screen came in the classic rebel Without A Cause in 1955 and he went on to work on some of cinema's most memorable movies and created some unforgettable characters.

Easy Rider demonstrated that he had a flare behind the camera as well as in front when it was released in 1969.

He went to star in roles in apocalypse now and Blue Velvet and Rumble Fish - showing his versatility throughout his career.

- Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen was one of the most recognisable comic actors to have ever graced the big screen as he enjoyed a career that spanned over sixty years.

The actor enjoyed success in TV and movies throughout the seventies but it was Airplane in 1980 that really showed off his comic talent.

He went on to star in the Naked Gun series of movies and he cemented himself as a comic icon.

He passed away in November after complications from pneumonia at the age of eighty four.

- Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis, who appeared in over 140 movies in a career that spanned decades, has died at the age of eighty five.

The actor was at the height of his power during the fifties and sixties and was part of a golden age of cinema and stars.

His breakthrough role came in 1957 with Sweet Smell of Success - a movie which grabbed everyone's attention.

From there his career soared as he became one of Hollywood's most versatile and popular leading men.

He followed up Sweet Smell of Success with The Vikings and The MIdnight Story but it was The Defiant Ones that earnt him an Oscar nomination.

The actor passed away in September form a cardiac arrest.

- Lynn Redgrave

Lynn Redgrave was part of the Redgrave acting dynasty and enjoyed a hugely successful theatre and film career, a career that spanned over forty years.

She made her stage debut in 1962 and enjoyed a very successful stage career throughout the sixties.

Lynn was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2002, and she went on to have a mastectomy and chemotherapy.

She died from breast cancer on 2nd May at the age of sixty seven, just a month after her brother Corin passed away.

- Peter Graves

Peter Graves, a star of television and movies, who enjoyed a career that spanned over sixty years has died at the age of eighty three.

After serving in the air force he returned to an acting career in the early fifties and he got Up Front, Fort Defiance and The Congregation under his belt.

While he continued to work in movies throughout the fifties he also established himself as a television star with NBC's series Fury.

He went on to appear in the likes of Whiplash and Mission Impossible.

Graves collapsed outside his home in March from a suspected heart attack.

- Corey Haim

Corey Haim was a child star who broke into acting at the age of ten. He went on to star in Lucas, The Lost Boys and License to Drive.

Haim was awarded two Young Artist Awards during the 1980s - Exceptional Young Actor in TV show A Time to Live in 1985, and Best Young Actor in 1989, which he shared with Feldman for their parts in License to Drive.

He collapsed at his home in March and while it was believed to have been a drug overdose an inquest into his death was from natural causes.

Others to have passed away this year include Blake Edwards, Jill Clayburgh, Ingrid Pitt, George Hickenlooper, Lisa Blount, Arthur Penn and Glenn Shadix.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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