William Hopper

This article is about the American actor. For other uses, see William Hopper (disambiguation).

William Hopper
William Hopper in 1934, photo by Carl Van Vechten
Born	DeWolf Hopper, Jr. (1915-01-26)January 26, 1915 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	March 6, 1970(1970-03-06) (aged 55) Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Rose Hills Memorial Park
Other names	DeWolf Hopper, Jr. Bill Hopper William Dewolf Hopper
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1916; 1936–1966; 1970
Spouse(s)	Jane Gilbert ​ ​ (m. 1940; div. 1959)​ Jeanette Juanita Ward ​ ​ (m. 1959⁠–⁠1970)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Hedda Hopper DeWolf Hopper

William Hopper (January 26, 1915 – March 6, 1970) was an American stage, film and television actor. Hopper is best remembered for playing private detective Paul Drake in more than 250 episodes of television's Perry Mason and for his role as the father of the Natalie Wood character in Rebel Without a Cause.

Early life

DeWolf Hopper, Jr. was born in New York City, the only child of singer and comic stage actor DeWolf Hopper (1858–1935) and actress and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (1885–1966). He had one older half-brother from his father's second marriage in the 1880s. Hopper made his film debut as a baby in his father's 1916 silent movie Sunshine Dad. His mother divorced his father in 1922 and moved to Hollywood with their son.

He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942, served as a frogman, and received a Bronze Star for bravery and heroic action during operations in the Pacific. He was discharged when the war ended in 1945.

Acting career

1930s–1940s

Hopper began his acting career as a teenager, working in summer stock in Ogunquit, Maine. He went from there to Broadway, where he appeared in two plays in 1934, Order Please and Romeo and Juliet.

Early in his film career, Hopper appeared uncredited in numerous movies or under the name DeWolf Hopper. In 1936, he played a small role as a photographer in the Columbia Pictures film The King Steps Out starring Grace Moore and Franchot Tone. In 1937 he portrayed the leading man in two films, Public Wedding with Jane Wyman and Over the Goal. He also enjoyed significant roles alongside Ann Sheridan in The Footloose Heiress (1937) and Mystery House (1938).

After that he had roles that included playing a sergeant in the Western Stagecoach (1939) starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne; an intern in The Return of Dr. X starring Humphrey Bogart; a New York reporter in Knute Rockne, All American (1940) starring Pat O'Brien, Gale Page, Ronald Reagan and Donald Crisp; a reporter in the post-Hollywood Production Code version of The Maltese Falcon (1941) starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor; and a reporter in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) starring James Cagney and Walter Huston. Reagan and Hopper appeared in nine films together between 1937 and 1942.

1950s–1970s

In the mid 1950s Hopper resumed his movie career with the part of Roy in The High and the Mighty (1954) starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, and Robert Stack. In 1956 Hopper had a supporting role in Wayne's production of Good-bye, My Lady.

Other appearances included his iconic role as the father of Natalie Wood in the James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause (1955), as Robert Mitchum's ill-fated older brother Arthur in the William Wellman adventure Track of the Cat (1954), and as the often absent father Col. Kenneth Penmark in The Bad Seed (1956) also starring Nancy Kelly and Patty McCormack. Hopper, along with Joan Taylor and a very young Bart Braverman, starred in the classic Ray Harryhausen science fiction film 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).

Also in 1957 he played a supporting role in the pilot episode of the television series The Restless Gun, which was broadcast as an episode of Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. His television guest appearances included the The Joseph Cotten Show, Gunsmoke, Fury, Studio 57, The Millionaire, and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.

He made two movie appearances during his years on Perry Mason but retired after the television show ended in 1966. He made one final movie appearance as a judge, Frederic D. Cannon in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckinridge (1970) starring Raquel Welch, John Huston, Farrah Fawcett, Rex Reed, and Mae West.

Perry Mason

Hopper is best known for his regular role as the private investigator Paul Drake on CBS's courtroom television series Perry Mason (1957–1966) with Raymond Burr in the title role and Barbara Hale as secretary Della Street. He originally auditioned for the role of Perry Mason, and Raymond Burr auditioned for the role of Mason's rival, district attorney Hamilton Burger. After Burr was given the role of Perry Mason, Hopper was cast as Mason's friend and private detective, Paul Drake. In the 1959 episode, "The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma," Hopper played the defendant, the only time in the series' nine-year run that Paul Drake was tried for murder.

In 1959, Hopper was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series for his performance as Paul Drake.

Personal life

In the mid to late 1930s, Hopper occasionally visited nightclubs with film actress Isabel Jewell. He married actress Jane Gilbert (née Kies), sister of the better-known Margaret Lindsay, in 1940; they had one daughter, Joan (born 1942); the couple divorced in 1959.

Shortly after his divorce, he married Jeanette Juanita Ward (August 9, 1929 - October 20, 2008) and became stepfather to her son, Gordon Casimire Williamsii (né Gordon Patrick Williams, July 5, 1957 - June 15, 2013). Jeanette died on October 20, 2008, of cardiac arrest from atherosclerosis in El Monte, California.

Although self-published Entertainment Celebrities is credited with claiming that actor Dennis Hopper was his cousin, the Chicago Tribune stated that they were not related.

Death

Hopper was hospitalized on February 14, 1970, after suffering a stroke at his home in Yucca Valley, California. He died of pneumonia three weeks later, on March 6, at age 55. He was buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.

Stage credits

• Order Please (1934), Playhouse Theatre, New York City (as Victor Neilson)
• Romeo and Juliet (1934–35), Martin Beck Theatre, New York City

Selected filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1916	Sunshine Dad	Infant in carriage	Uncredited
1937	The Big Broadcast of 1937	Ship's Officer	Credited as DeWolf Hopper Jr.
1937	Love Is on the Air	Eddie Gould
1937	Dick Tracy	Dirigible Pilot	Uncredited
1937	Mr. Dodd Takes the Air	Second Production Manager	Uncredited
1938	Love, Honor and Behave	Yale Tennis Player	Uncredited
1939	Stagecoach	Sergent	Uncredited
1939	Nancy Drew... Reporter	Bit role	Uncredited
1939	Daughters Courageous	Striped-Shirted Man at Beach	Uncredited
1939	The Old Maid	John	Credited as DeWolf Hopper
1939	The Angels Wash Their Faces	Photographer	Uncredited
1939	Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase	Reporter	Credited as DeWolf Hopper
1939	Dust Be My Destiny	Reporter	Uncredited
1939	Espionage Agent	Student	Uncredited
1939	On Your Toes	Ronald - Peggy's Escort	Uncredited
1939	The Return of Doctor X	Intern	Credited as DeWolf Hopper
1939	Invisible Stripes	Society Gent in Top Hat	Uncredited
1940	The Fighting 69th	Private Turner	Credited as DeWolf Hopper
1940	Calling Philo Vance	Clerk at Hotel Nino in Chicago	Uncredited
1940	Castle on the Hudson	Reporter	Uncredited
1940	Virginia City	Lieutenant Reporting Murrell's Attack	Uncredited
1940	'Til We Meet Again	Man	Uncredited
1940	Brother Orchid	2nd Reporter on Return Ship	Uncredited
1940	No Time for Comedy	First-Nighter	Uncredited
1940	Knute Rockne, All American	New York Reporter When Knute is Ill	Uncredited
1940	Lady with Red Hair	Lyceum Theater Attendant	Uncredited
1941	Affectionately Yours	Airline Attendant	Uncredited
1941	The Bride Came C.O.D.	Keenan's and Brice's pilot	Credited as DeWolf Hopper
1941	Manpower	Power Company Telephone Operator	Uncredited
1941	The Maltese Falcon	Reporter	Uncredited
1941	They Died with Their Boots On	Lt. Frazier	Uncredited
1941	All Through the Night	Reporter	Uncredited
1941	You're in the Army Now	Supply Man - Gas Masks	Uncredited
1942	The Male Animal	Reporter on porch	Uncredited
1942	Lady Gangster	John	Credited as DeWolf Hopper
1942	Larceny, Inc.	Traffic Policeman	Uncredited
1942	Yankee Doodle Dandy	Reporter	Uncredited
1942	Across the Pacific	Orderly	Uncredited
1942	Desperate Journey	Radio Operator	Uncredited
1942	Beyond the Line of Duty	University of Texas classmate	Uncredited
1943	The Hard Way	Hotel Desk Clerk	Uncredited
1943	Action in the North Atlantic	Canadian Soldier	Uncredited
1954	The High and the Mighty	Roy	Credited as William Dewolf Hopper
1954	Sitting Bull	Charles Wentworth	Credited as Bill Hopper
1954	Track of the Cat	Arthur Bridges
1955	Conquest of Space	Dr. George Fenton
1955	Rebel Without a Cause	Judy's father
1956	Good-bye, My Lady	Walden Grover	Alternative title: The Boy and the Laughing Dog
1956	The First Texan	William Barret Travis
1956	The Bad Seed	Col. Kenneth Penmark
1957	The Deadly Mantis	Dr. Nedrick (Ned) Jackson
1957	20 Million Miles to Earth	Col. Robert Calder
1970	Myra Breckinridge	Judge Frederic D. Cannon	Uncredited

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Mayor of the Town	Girard	Episode: "Minnie's Job"
1955-1956	Lux Video Theatre	Various	3 episodes
1956	Fury	Dr. Steve Brown/Steve Wilson	Episode: "The Hobo"
1956	The 20th Century Fox Hour	Philip Harland	Episode: "One Life"
1956	Celebrity Playhouse		Episode: "Stagecoach to Paradise"
1956	The Millionaire	Capt. Jonathan Carroll	Episode: "The Captain Jonathan Carroll Story"
1956	Gunsmoke	John Henry Jordan Tasker	2 episodes
1956	Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre	Rick Gordon	Episode: "One Percent"
1956	Matinee Theater		Episode: "Madame de Treymes"
1956-1957	Studio 57	Kip	2 episodes
1957	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Dan Mailer	Episode: "The Restless Gun"
1957	The Joseph Cotten Show	Arnold Bait	Episode: "The Case of the Jealous Bomber"
1957-1966	Perry Mason	Paul Drake	271 episodes

External links

• William Hopper at IMDb
• William Hopper at the Internet Broadway Database
• William Hopper at Aveleyman
• William Hopper as Paul Drake
• William Hopper at Find a Grave