Dennis Hopper, who was perhaps best known for directing and starring in the 1969 film "Easy Rider," died Saturday in Los Angeles, a friend announced. He was 74.

Hopper, who had been battling prostate cancer, died at his home in Venice surrounded by family and friends, said his friend Alex Hitz.

While Hopper's nearly 50-year career included roles in "Rebel Without a Cause," "Blue Velvet," "Apocalypse Now" and "Hoosiers," he was best known for "Easy Rider," in which he starred with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.

The film, about drug-using bikers headed to Mardi Gras, helped usher in the so-called "New Hollywood" era in which young filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola explored the gritty underbelly of society with shocking realism.

Hopper had a reputation for being difficult on film sets amid allegations of drug and alcohol abuse. He fought with Fonda during the making of "Easy Rider," so much so that the experience ruined their friendship. Hopper also argued with Rip Torn, the actor he first chose to play the drunken young lawyer who was eventually portrayed by Nicholson.

It has also been reported that John Wayne became so angry at Hopper that he chased his "True Grit" co-star around the set with a loaded gun.

"Much of Hollywood," wrote critic-historian David Thomson, "found Hopper a pain in the neck."

Made for a mere $380,000, "Easy Rider" went on to gross $40 million worldwide, a blockbuster in its day.

Hopper, Fonda and Terry Southern were nominated for the Best Screenplay Oscar for the movie, which now sits on the American Film Institute's list of top 100 American films.

Hopper's success with the movie led Universal Pictures to give him an $850,000 budget for his next film, "The Last Movie," which told the story of a Peruvian tribute corrupted by a movie company.

His behaviour, on-set drug use and troubles with local authorities prolonged the shoot, and when it was finally completed, the film bombed so badly Hopper was abandoned by Hollywood for the next decade.

He appeared in a number of European films before Coppola cast him as a strung-out journalist in "Apocalypse Now."

While he began making Hollywood films again, his drug and alcohol use continued to threaten his career and his life. He eventually quit drinking and drugs in the 1980s, and mounted his comeback in 1986 with "Hoosiers," which garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

After that success, he worked steadily in film and television until he became ill last year.

"Work is fun to me," Hopper said in a 1991 interview. "All those years of being an actor and a director and not being able to get a job -- two weeks is too long to not know what my next job will be."

Hopper's on-set tensions were mirrored in the actor's personal life. In January, Hopper filed for divorce from his fifth wife Victoria Duffy, who claimed her husband was trying to keep her from an inheritance.

His first wife was Brooke Hayward, daughter of actress Margaret Sullavan and agent Leland Heyward. The couple split eight years and one daughter later as Hopper's drug use spiraled out of control.

The actor's second marriage, to singer-actress Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, lasted eight days. Hopper was also married to actress Daria Halprin, with whom he had a daughter, and dancer Katherine LaNasa, with whom he had a son.

Hopper married the 32-years-younger Duffy in 1996. The couple had one daughter.

Last March, a frail-looking Hopper was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

As well as being a world famous actor and director, Hopper was also an accomplished artist and photographer who had been collecting art since the 1960s.

Michael Rechtshaffen, a Canadian journalist with The Hollywood Reporter, described Hopper's Venice, California home as "half residence and half gallery."

"There's Andy Wharhol on the wall and Jackson Pollock and Julian Schnabel," he told CTV News Channel. "And then in the corner there would be a 'Waterworld' pinball machine, because he had a sense of humour about himself too."

"That was him. He was a fascinating character."

With files from The Associated Press