Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

Type	Public S&P 500 Component
Traded as	NYSE: AMP
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1894
Founder(s)	John Tappan
Headquarters	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Key people	James Cracchiolo, Chairman & CEO
Products	Investments
Revenue	US$10.2 billion (FY 2011)[1]
Net income	US$1.08 billion (FY 2011)[1]
Total assets	US$134 billion (FY 2011)[2]
Total equity	US$10.3 billion (FY 2011)[2]
Website	www.ameriprise.com

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) is one of the leading diversified financial services companies in the U.S.^[3] Ameriprise Financial engages in business through its subsidiaries who provide a wide range of financial planning, products and services designed to be utilized as solutions for its clients’ cash and liquidity, asset accumulation, income, protection, and estate and wealth transfer needs, including wealth management, asset management, insurance, annuities and estate planning.

Ameriprise Financial, Inc., the holding company is incorporated in Delaware. The company's headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota. James Cracchiolo is the chairman and chief executive officer. The company's primary subsidiaries include Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC, and RiverSource Life Insurance Company. Threadneedle Asset Management is Ameriprise Financial's international asset manager and an award-winning provider of investment solutions to institutional and retail clients across the globe. The company's subsidiary in India, Ameriprise India Private Limited, offers holistic financial planning services to upwardly mobile Indian consumers.^[4]

History[link]

Spin-off from American Express[link]

Ameriprise Financial is the successor to American Express Financial Corporation (AEFC), a former subsidiary of the American Express Company. In 2005, American Express spun off AEFC as an independent company. AEFC's new name, Ameriprise Financial, Inc. came into effect August 1, 2005, and the spin-off transaction closed on September 30, 2005.

Timeline[link]

Ameriprise Financial began life as Investors Syndicate in 1894. Here are a few of the company's key milestones:

• 1894 - John Tappan founds Investors Syndicate
• 1937 - Company assets reach $100 million
• 1940 - Investors Syndicate introduces one of the first mutual funds, the Investors Mutual Fund, giving clients new investing options and two advantages: diversification and professional management. By the 1960s, Investors Mutual Fund is the largest balanced mutual fund in the world.
• 1949 - Investors Syndicate changes its name to Investors Diversified Services, Inc. (IDS)
• 1958 - IDS founds the Investors Syndicate Life Insurance and Annuity Company (now known as RiverSource Life Insurance Company)
• 1974 - the IDS Centre (now IDS Center) is opened in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota as the company's headquarters
• 1979 - IDS became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alleghany Corporation pursuant to a merger
• 1984 - American Express completes acquisition of IDS Financial Services from Alleghany Corporation; company renamed as American Express Financial Corporation (AEFC)
• 1986 - IDS acquires Wisconsin Employers Casualty Company of Green Bay and renames it IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company
• 1994 - IDS reaches $100 billion in assets and conducts business under the American Express brand
• 2003 - American Express Financial Corporation acquires London-based Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings
• 2005 - American Express Financial Corporation spins off and becomes an independent company named Ameriprise Financial, Inc.; begins trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AMP
• 2006 - Ameriprise Financial launches Ameriprise Bank, FSB
• 2007 - Ameriprise Financial debutes at 297 on the FORTUNE 500 list
• 2008 - Ameriprise Financial acquires H&R Block Financial Advisors for $315 million, and the asset management firm J. & W. Seligman & Co. for $400 Million; declines U.S. Government financial assistance
• 2009 - Ameriprise Financial acquires long-term asset management business of Columbia Management for $1.2 billion from Bank of America
• 2010 - Ameriprise Financial completes 116 years of existence and its fifth anniversary as an independent public company
• 2011 - Ameriprise Financial takes its proprietary Dream > Plan > Track > approach to Financial Planning to consumers in India^[5]

Business[link]

Ameriprise Financial is the largest financial planning company in the United States^[6] and is among the 25 largest asset managers in the world.^[7] It is ranked 246 in the 2011 Fortune 500.^[8]

Business Lines[link]

As a leader in wealth management and retirement in the U.S. and as an asset manager with an increasingly global business, Ameriprse Financial has earned top 10 positions in each of its main businesses, including mutual funds, life insurance and annuities.^[9]

Wealth Management and Retirement[link]

Ameriprise Financial specializes in meeting the retirement-related financial needs of the mass affluent. As of December 31, 2010, the company has a three-million-strong client base with more financial planning clients than any other firm, and $672.7 billion in owned, managed and administered assets worldwide.^[7] As part of its retirement capabilities, the company offers variable annuities and life and disability insurance exclusively to its clients. It also operates Ameriprise Bank, FSB which offers a variety of consumer banking and lending products and personal trust and related services.

Ameriprise Financial is also credited with moving faster than most other full-service wealth management firms to develop social media for its advisors and investors; the company has empowered its consumers to use LinkedIn to find connections who can provide references on prospective advisors since November 2011.^[10]

Asset Management[link]

Ameriprise Financial operates two complementary asset management platforms: Columbia Management in the U.S. and Threadneedle internationally. The company reported as having $436 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2011, placing it eighth in long-term mutual fund assets in the U.S., fourth in retail funds in the U.K. and 27th in global assets under management.^[11]

Principal Brands[link]

The company uses three principal brands for its businesses in the United States: Ameriprise Financial, Columbia Management and RiverSource. The Threadneedle brand is used for its international asset manager’s products.

Ameriprise Financial Services[link]

Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., a financial planning and retail distribution subsidiary which operates under the Ameriprise Financial brand name, is a registered broker-dealer and registered investment adviser. It has an integrated model of comprehensive and personalized financial planning, diversified product manufacturing and affiliated and unaffiliated distribution through its network of financial advisors and registered representatives.^[7] The retail products and services that use the Ameriprise Financial brand include those that the company provides through its affiliated advisors (e.g., financial planning, investment advisory accounts, retail brokerage services and banking products) and products and services that it markets directly to consumers (e.g., personal auto and home insurance).^[11]

Columbia Management[link]

This is the primary brand for the company's U.S. asset management products and services, including retail and institutional asset management products. Following the completion of the acquisition of the long-term asset management business of the Columbia Management Group from Bank of America in April 2010, the company combined RiverSource Investments, its legacy U.S. asset management business, with Columbia Management, under the Columbia Management brand.^[11]

RiverSource[link]

This is the brand for the company's annuities products and for the protection products issued by the RiverSource Life companies, including life and disability income insurance products.^[11]

Sale of Securities America[link]

Securities America Financial Corporation’s roots go back to Financial Dynamics, an insurance marketing organization founded in 1984 by Steve Wild that had between 10,000 and 12,000 independent insurance agents affiliated with the firm. Financial Dynamics created Securities America, an independent securities broker/dealer, to use its insurance sales force to offer investments. Securities America Advisors Inc., an SEC-registered Investment Advisory firm, was founded in 1993 to offer investment management, financial advice and financial planning through a national network of independent financial advisors. In 1998, Securities America was acquired by American Express. In October 2005, after Ameriprise Financial's spin-off from American Express, Securities America became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, but continued to operate independently as a Nebraska-based broker/dealer and serving independent financial advisers across the country. Securities America acquired Brecek & Young Advisors, a California-based broker/dealer, and its subsidiary, Iron Point Capital Management, from Security Benefit Corp. of Topeka, Kansas. Securities America had received the inaugural Practitioner Thought Leadership Award from the Retirement Income Industry Association in March 2011,^[12] and was ranked as the seventh largest independent broker-dealer based on total revenues in the U.S., according to a June 2011 Financial Planning Magazine survey.^[13]

On April 25, 2011, Ameriprise announced that it is trying to find an "appropriate buyer" for Securities America Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries. Ameriprise said that this move will independent allow Securities America advisors and registered representatives who conduct business without utilizing the Ameriprise brand “to focus on growth opportunities in the independent channel.”^[14] In November 2011, Ameriprise completed the sale of Securities America to Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services for $150 million in cash and potential future payments. Ameriprise claimed that selling this independent broker-dealer allows Ameriprise to focus its efforts on servicing and developing its branded advisor network.^[11]

International Subsidiaries[link]

Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings[link]

Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings SARL is a Luxembourg-based holding company for the Threadneedle group of companies and a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial which provides investment management products and services to clients in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. Though acquired by Ameriprise Financial in 2003, Threadneedle operates as an independent international asset manager, under its own brand name, management organization and operating, compliance and technology infrastructure. Threadneedle primarily provides international investment products and services, and Ameriprise Financial, through an arrangement with Threadneedle, offers certain international and U.S. equity strategies to its U.S. clients.

In 2008, Threadneedle acquired Invesco Perpetual's full service defined contribution pension business with total assets of £470m,^[15] followed by acquisition of Standard Chartered Bank’s World Express Funds investment funds business in 2009, the latter providing Threadneedle with an established Luxembourg-based SICAV platform with over US$2.38 billion worth assets under management as at April 30, 2009.^[16] In August 2011 it was announced that Threadneedle would acquire the investment assets of LV= amounting to some £8 billion.^[17] At December 31, 2010, Threadneedle had $105.6 billion in managed assets worldwide, and was expanding distribution of its institutional products in Europe, Asia, U.S., Middle East and Australia.

Ameriprise India[link]

In early 2012, Ameriprise announced that it had begun offering retail financial planning and distribution services in India through its subsidiary, Ameriprise India Private Limited. Ameriprise has also established an insurance brokerage entity in India that is licensed to deal in insurance products by India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Ameriprise India has established offices in Delhi, Gurgaon, Greater Noida and Mumbai, with a plan to expand to other Indian metro areas in the future. As with its U.S. financial planning business, Ameriprise India provides holistic financial planning services through its trained advisor force. Fees are received for delivering financial plans; however, Ameriprise India does not currently sell affiliated investment or insurance products, instead refers clients who elect to implement their financial plan to third-party product manufacturers to purchase recommended investment and/or insurance products.

Locations[link]

• Ameriprise Financial's headquarters is located at 55 Ameriprise Financial Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55474.
• It maintains executive offices at 7 World Trade Center, New York, New York 10007.
• Its offices in Wall Street, New York provides portfolio management, banking, marketing and various support functions.
• Ameriprise Financial's employee and franchised financial advisor branch offices are located throughout the United States.
• Columbia Management is based in Boston, and has investment management teams in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Menlo Park and Portland.
• RiverSource Life Insurance Company of New York and American Centurion Life are located in Albany, NY.
• RiverSource also has offices in Minneapolis, Green Bay, Phoenix, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and London.
• Ameriprise Advisor Center has locations in Minneapolis and Las Vegas.
• Ameriprise Auto & Home is located in Green Bay and Phoenix.
• Threadneedle is headquartered in Luxembourg and maintains its primary investment operations in London in the United Kingdom.
• Ameriprise Financial also has employees located in offices at Bangalore, the National Capital Region, and Mumbai in India.

Ameriprise advisors[link]

As of December 31, 2011, Ameriprise Financial reported as having more than 9,700 branded advisors, the fifth largest branded advisor force in the U.S.^[11] Ameriprise Financial advisors recommend actions and a broad range of product solutions consisting of investment, annuity, insurance, banking and other financial products to clients based on an appropriate range and level of risk. The financial advisors charge clients for financial advice and selling products. There are four ways the financial advisors affiliate with Ameriprise Financial:

• Approximately 60% of Ameriprise's financial advisors are independent contractor franchisees — they are not employed by Ameriprise, but are licensed registered representatives of Ameriprise and do not receive a salary from the parent company.
• About one quarter of financial advisors are employed by Ameriprise ("employee financial advisors"). Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. has the largest number of these professionals among any retail advisory force. The majority of the employee advisors work in local offices like their franchisee counterparts.
• Over 120 of the employee advisors work within the corporate office in Minneapolis as part of the Ameriprise Advisor Center (AAC). These Advisors are fully licensed Securities and Insurance professionals that have received additional training which allows them to assist clients exclusively by telephone. They are required to hold the Series 7 and Series 63 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) licenses, along with insurance licenses in all states they serve, and are encouraged to acquire their Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) professional designation from the College of Financial Planning, and are reimbursed for the cost.
• The company also has associate Financial Advisors, employed by the independent contractor franchisees.^[18]

Many Ameriprise advisors are Certified Financial Planners, and the company actively encourages attaining this designation. Many advisors also hold similar designations such as the CLU or ChFC.

Fee structure[link]

Ameriprise Financial advisors and their clients enter into an agreement whereby the client pays a flat annual fee (a negotiated percentage of the overall value of the account) for an on-going planning relationship (Wrap Account).^[19] This fee varies based on advisor experience, certifications, and the complexity of the given client's service needs. By doing so, all normal brokerage fees and commissions are waived.

Ameriprise Financial and its advisors also receive commissions when they sell their clients mutual funds, annuities, insurance, and various other investment products. Financial planning services and investment products purchased through 'managed accounts' are not assessed a commission but rather are fee-based.

Awards & accolades[link]

Financial industry and media experts have recognized Ameriprise Financial for its growth, innovative financial solutions and unique approach to financial planning. A few awards and recognition received by Ameriprise Financial are as follows:

2012[link]

• Corporate Volunteerism Council – Twin Cities honored Ameriprise Financial with the Community Partner Award in May 2012 for the company's 2011 National Day of Service (NDS) initiative.^[20]
• Ranked 248 on the 2012 Fortune 500, a list of top 500 largest U.S. corporations by revenue.^[21]
• Web Marketing Association presented Columbia Management with the Best Financial Services Online Campaign award as part of the 2012 IAC award for outstanding achievement in Internet Advertising.^[22]
• Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance named the "Next Generation Best Place to Work" by the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce.
• Lipper Fund Awards for five Columbia Management funds as "top-performing mutual funds" in their respective categories.
• The Wall Street Journal named nine Columbia Management funds as "Category Kings" in its "Investing in Funds: A Quarterly Analysis" issue.

2011[link]

• 2011 TNS Choice Award in Investment Services for its superior client retention performance, client satisfaction, and Ameriprise advisors' strong relationships with their clients.
• Ranked #29 in Barron's 13th annual Top 500 list of American companies that have generated "the most revenue growth and cash returns" released in May 2011.^[23]
• 2011 Lipper Fund Awards for seven Columbia Management funds as "top-performing mutual funds" in their respective categories.^[24]

2010[link]

• EarthShare National Campaign Partner Award for Excellence for Ameriprise's 2010 Annual Employee Giving Campaign.^[25]
• Ranked #1 (by Gross Revenue) on Financial Advisor Magazine 2009 Broker-Dealer Ranking^[26]
• Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality, Human Rights Campaign, 2010

2009[link]

• Barron's 500, Barron's, 2009
• Training Top 125, Training, 2009
• Listed in CollegeGrad's Top Entry Level Employers for 2009.^[27]
• Ranked fifth in overall client satisfaction in a 2009 J.D. Power & Associates survey of full-service financial advisory firms.^[28]
• Ranked as the 67th best place to launch a career in a 2009 national survey by BusinessWeek.^[29]

2008[link]

• 2008 Lavender Pride Award by Lavender Magazine.
• 2008 Jefferson Award for outstanding public and community service.
• Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality, Human Rights Campaign, 2008
• Training Top 125, Training, 2008
• Best Employers for Latinos to Work for, Latinos for Hire, 2008

Criticism & controversy[link]

• Securities America was fined $5.4 million in 2003 for letting a broker work under a false name in its Orlando office and allegedly make bogus investments.^[30] In 2005, Ameriprise agreed to pay a $12.3 million to settle NASD charges relating to favorable treatment allegedly given to some mutual funds in exchange for brokerage business.^[31]

• In mid-2005, the State of New Hampshire reached a $7.4 million settlement with American Express Financial Advisors, alleging the company had violated the law by rewarding their financial advisers for recommending underperforming in-house mutual funds to clients.^[32]

• Also in 2005, Ameriprise Financial entered into a $15 million settlement with the SEC for charges of market timing. The Minnesota Department of Commerce levied $2 million in fines for similar market timing violations. The National Association of Securities Dealers fined Ameriprise an additional $12.3 million for unsuitable share sales.^[33][34] Ameriprise, having become a separate company, had not revealed which funds were timed, or the names of the people involved and the exact nature of the disciplinary action taken. Morningstar temporarily reduced the stewardship grade for Ameriprise's funds, although it did not impact the fund's overall star ratings from that firm.^[35]

• In 2006, the NASD threatened to suspend the company for failing to pay an arbitration award to a former broker.^[36]

• In September, 2006, Securities America reached a $16.3 million settlement with a group of Exxon Mobil Corp. retirees for failing to supervise an associated broker.^[37][38]

• On July 11, 2007, the NASD fined Securities America $375,000 for improperly sharing directed brokerage commissions from a mutual fund company with a former Securities America broker.^[39] Another NASD arbitration panel awarded $9.3 million to three retired American Airlines pilots against Securities America and a formerly associated broker for allegedly mishandling their savings. Other airline pilots have arbitration claims pending.^[40]

• On July 10, 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced an enforcement action against Ameriprise for receiving millions of dollars in undisclosed revenue sharing as a condition for selling certain real estate investment trusts (REITs) to its brokerage customers. Ameriprise agreed to pay $17.3 million to settle the SEC's charges, however the period in which SEC states the violations took place were prior to the spinoff from American Express.^[41]

• On April 15, 2011, Securities America, Inc. (SAI) and its holding company, Securities America Financial Corporation, entered into settlement agreements related to the sale of private placement securities issued by Medical Capital and Provident Royalties that resulted in a $118 million pre-tax charge in the first quarter of 2011. The charge is in addition to a $40 million pre-tax charge in the fourth quarter of 2010.^[42]

Competitors[link]

• New York Life Insurance Co.
• John Hancock Financial Services
• Edward Jones Investments
• T. Rowe Price
• The Charles Schwab Corporation
• Merrill Lynch
• Morgan Stanley
• Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
• Linsco/Private Ledger (LPL)
• The Vanguard Group
• American Century Investments
• E*TRADE
• Scottrade
• Fidelity Investments

See also[link]

• American Express
• Columbia Management
• RiverSource

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Ameriprise Financial - Official Site
• Ameriprise Investor Relations
• A small group of historical corporate records of IDS are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.
• FINRA Brokercheck Page
• JD Power ranking of online brokers
• "Financial fact sheet and history". Ameriprise. http://www.ameriprise.com/amp/global/about-ameriprise/key-facts.asp. 
• "2006 Ameriprise Financial Completes First Year as an Independent, Public Company" (Press release). Ameriprise Financial. October 3, 2006. http://www.ameriprise.com/amp/global/press-center/press-release-84.asp. 
• "NASD Fines Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. $500,000 for Supervisory Violations in 529 College Savings Plan Sales" (Press release). NASD. October 26, 2005. http://www.nasd.com/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2005NewsReleases/NASDW_015319. 
• "Ameriprise Financial Chosen as New Name for American Express Financial Advisors" (Press release). Ameriprise Financial. May 25, 2005. http://www.ameriprise.com/amp/global/press-center/press-release-1.asp. 
• "American Express to Spin Off Financial Advisors Business to Shareholders" (Press release). Ameriprise Financial. February 1, 2005. http://www.ameriprise.com/amp/global/press-center/press-release-8.asp. 

Dennis Hopper
Hopper at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Dennis Lee Hopper (1936-05-17)May 17, 1936 Dodge City, Kansas
Died	May 29, 2010(2010-05-29) (aged 74) Venice, California
Cause of death	Prostate cancer
Resting place	Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Education	Helix High School
Alma mater	Actors' Studio
Occupation	Actor, director, artist
Years active	1954–2010
Notable work(s)	Easy Rider, Blue Velvet, Apocalypse Now, Hoosiers, Colors, Speed, Rumble Fish
Television	Crash
Spouse	Brooke Hayward (m.1961–1969; divorced) Michelle Phillips (m.1970; divorced) Daria Halprin (m.1972–1976; divorced) Katherine LaNasa (m.1989–1992; divorced) Victoria Duffy (m.1996–2010; divorced)
Children	3 daughters, 1 son
Family	Brothers: Marvin, David Cousin: William Hopper
Awards	Cannes Film Award, Boston Society of Film Critics Award, Los Angeles Film Critic Association Award, National Society of Film Critics Award, MTV Movie Award

Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). During the next 10 years, Hopper appeared frequently on television in guest roles, and by the end of the 1960s had played supporting roles in several films.

He directed and starred in Easy Rider (1969), winning an award at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as co-writer. Journalist Ann Hornaday wrote: "With its portrait of counterculture heroes raising their middle fingers to the uptight middle-class hypocrisies, Easy Rider became the cinematic symbol of the 1960s, a celluloid anthem to freedom, macho bravado and anti-establishment rebellion."^[1] Film critic Matthew Hays notes that "no other persona better signifies the lost idealism of the 1960s than that of Dennis Hopper."^[2]

He was unable to build on his success for several years, until a featured role in Apocalypse Now (1979) brought him attention. He subsequently appeared in Rumble Fish (1983) and The Osterman Weekend (1983), and received critical recognition for his work in Blue Velvet and Hoosiers, with the latter film garnering him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He directed Colors (1988) and played the villain in Speed (1994). He played another villain, King Koopa, in Super Mario Bros. (1993). Hopper also played heroes, such as John Canyon in Space Truckers. Hopper's later work included a leading role in the television series Crash. Hopper's last performance was filmed just before his death: The Last Film Festival, slated for a 2011 release. Hopper was also a prolific and acclaimed photographer, a profession he began in the 1960s.^[3]

Early life[link]

Hopper was born in Dodge City, Kansas, the son of Marjorie Mae (née Davis, July 12, 1917 - January 12, 2007)^[4][5] and Jay Millard Hopper^[6] (June 23, 1916 – August 7, 1982).^[4] Hopper had two brothers, Marvin and David.^[7]

After World War II, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where the young Hopper attended Saturday art classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. At the age of 13, Hopper and his family moved to San Diego, where his mother worked as a lifeguard instructor and his father was a post office manager (Hopper has acknowledged, though, that his father was in the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, in China with Mao Zedong).^[8] Hopper was voted most likely to succeed at Helix High School, where he was active in the drama club, speech and choir.^[9] It was there that he developed an interest in acting, studying at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, and the Actors' Studio in New York City (he studied with Lee Strasberg for five years). Hopper struck up a friendship with actor Vincent Price, whose passion for art influenced Hopper's interest in art. He was especially fond of the plays of William Shakespeare.

Film career[link]

Hopper was reported to have an uncredited role in Johnny Guitar in 1954 but he has stated that he was not even in Hollywood when this film was made.^[10] Hopper made his debut on film in two roles with James Dean (whom he admired immensely) in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). Dean's death in a 1955 car accident affected the young Hopper deeply and it was shortly afterwards that he got into a confrontation with veteran director Henry Hathaway on the film From Hell To Texas. Hopper refused directions for 80 takes over several days.

In his book Last Train to Memphis, American popular music historian Peter Guralnick says that in 1956, when Elvis Presley was making his first film in Hollywood, Hopper was roommates with fellow actor Nick Adams and the three became friends and socialized together. In 1959 Hopper moved to New York to study Method acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio.^[11] In 1961, Hopper played his first lead role in Night Tide, an atmospheric supernatural thriller involving a mermaid in an abandoned amusement park.

In a December 1994 interview on the Charlie Rose Show, Hopper credited John Wayne with saving his career, as Hopper acknowledged that because of his insolent behavior, he could not find work in Hollywood for seven years. Hopper stated that because he was the son-in-law of actress Margaret Sullavan, a friend of John Wayne, Wayne hired Hopper for a role in The Sons of Katie Elder. This role enabled Hopper to begin making movies again.^[12]

Hopper had a supporting role as "Babalugats," the bet-taker in Cool Hand Luke (1967). Hopper acted in mainstream films including The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and True Grit (1969). Both of these films starred John Wayne, and in both Hopper's character is killed in the presence of Wayne's character to whom he utters his dying words. During the production of True Grit, he became well acquainted with Wayne.

In 1968, Hopper teamed with Peter Fonda, Terry Southern and Jack Nicholson to make Easy Rider, which premiered in July 1969. With the release of True Grit a month earlier, Hopper had starring roles in two major box office films that summer. Hopper won wide acclaim as the director for his improvisational methods and innovative editing for Easy Rider^{[citation needed]}. The production was plagued by creative differences and personal acrimony between Fonda and Hopper, the dissolution of Hopper's marriage to Hayward, his unwillingness to leave the editor's desk and his accelerating abuse of drugs and alcohol.^{[citation needed]}

In 1971, Hopper released The Last Movie. Expecting an accessible follow-up to Easy Rider, audiences were treated to artistic flourishes (like the inclusion of "scene missing" card shots) and a hazily existentialist plot that dabbled in non-linearity and the absurd. After finishing first at the Venice Film Festival, the film was dismissed by audiences and critics alike during its first domestic engagement in New York City. During the tumultuous editing process, Hopper ensconced himself at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos, New Mexico, which he had purchased in 1970,^[13] for almost an entire year. In between contesting Fonda's rights to the majority of the residual profits from Easy Rider, he married Michelle Phillips in October 1970.

Hopper was able to sustain his lifestyle and a measure of celebrity by acting in numerous low budget and European films throughout the 1970s as the archetypical "tormented maniac", including Mad Dog Morgan (1976), Tracks (1976), and The American Friend (1977). With Francis Ford Coppola's blockbuster Apocalypse Now (1979), Hopper returned to prominence as a hyper-manic Vietnam-era photojournalist. Stepping in for an overwhelmed director, Hopper won praise in 1980 for his directing and acting in Out of the Blue. Immediately thereafter, Hopper starred as an addled short-order cook "Cracker" in the Neil Young/Dean Stockwell low-budget collaboration Human Highway. Production was reportedly often delayed by his unreliable behavior. Peter Biskind states in the New Hollywood history Easy Riders, Raging Bulls that Hopper's cocaine intake had reached three grams a day by this time period, complemented by an additional 30 beers, marijuana, and Cuba libres.

After staging a "suicide attempt" (really more of a daredevil act) in a coffin using 17 sticks of dynamite during an "art happening" at the Rice University Media Center (filmed by professor and documentary filmmaker Brian Huberman),^[14] and later disappearing into the Mexican desert during a particularly extravagant bender, Hopper entered a drug rehabilitation program in 1983.

Though Hopper gave critically acclaimed performances in Rumble Fish (1983) and The Osterman Weekend (1983), it was not until he portrayed the gas-huffing, obscenity-screaming iconic villain Frank Booth in David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986) that his career truly revived. After reading the script, Hopper contacted Lynch and told him "You have to let me play Frank Booth. Because I am Frank Booth!"^[15] Hopper won critical acclaim and several awards for this role and the same year received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as an alcoholic basketball lover in Hoosiers.

In 1988, Hopper directed the critically acclaimed Colors. He was nominated for an Emmy Award^[16] for the 1991 HBO films Paris Trout and Doublecrossed (in which he played real life drug smuggler and DEA informant Barry Seal). The same year he starred as King Koopa in Super Mario Bros., a 1993 critical and commercial failure loosely based on the video game of the same name.^[10] In 1993, he played Clifford Worley in True Romance. He co-starred in the 1994 blockbuster Speed with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and as magic-phobic H. P. Lovecraft in the TV movie Witch Hunt.

In 1995, Hopper played a greedy TV self help guru, Dr. Luther Waxling in Search and Destroy. The same year, he starred as Deacon, the one-eyed nemesis of Kevin Costner in Waterworld. In 2003, Hopper was in the running for the dual lead in the indie horror drama Firecracker, but was ousted at the last minute in favor of Mike Patton. In 2005, Hopper played Paul Kaufman in George A. Romero's Land of the Dead. In 2008, Hopper starred in An American Carol. In 2008 he also played The Death in Wim Wenders' Palermo Shooting. His last major feature film appearance was in the 2008 film Elegy with Sir Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz and Debbie Harry. For his last performance, he was the voice of Tony, the alpha-male of the Eastern wolf pack inside the 2010 3D computer animated film Alpha and Omega. He died before the movie was released. This brought the directors to dedicate the film to his memory. This is the first part of the movie credits.

Television work[link]

Hopper debuted in an episode of the Richard Boone television series Medic in 1955, portraying a young epileptic.

He appeared as an arrogant young gunfighter, the Utah Kid, in the 1956 episode "Quicksand" of the first hour-long television western television series, ABC's Cheyenne, starring Clint Walker. In the story line, the Kid gave Cheyenne Bodie no choice but to kill him in a gunfight.

He subsequently appeared in over 140 episodes of television shows such as Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Petticoat Junction, The Twilight Zone, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Defenders, The Investigators, The Legend of Jesse James, Entourage, The Big Valley, The Time Tunnel, The Rifleman in which he appeared in the premier episode as a sharpshooter ^[17] and Combat!.

Hopper teamed with Nike in the early 1990s to make a series of television commercials. He appeared as a "crazed referee" in those ads. He portrayed villain Victor Drazen in the first season of the popular drama 24 on the Fox television network.

Hopper starred as a U.S. Army colonel in the NBC 2005 television series E-Ring, a drama set at The Pentagon, but the series was cancelled after 14 episodes aired in the USA. Hopper appeared in all 22 episodes that were filmed. He also played the part of record producer Ben Cendars in the Starz television series Crash.

Photography and art[link]

Hopper in June 2008.

Hopper was a prolific photographer, painter, and sculptor.^[18] His photography is known for portraits from the 1960s. His painting style ranges from abstract impressionism to photorealism and often includes references to his cinematic work and to other artists.^[3][19]

Ostracized by the Hollywood film studios due to his reputation for being a "difficult" actor, Hopper eventually turned to photography in the 1960s with a camera bought for him by his first wife, Brooke Hayward. During this period he created the cover art for the Ike & Tina Turner single River Deep – Mountain High (released in 1966).^[20] Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961-1967 was published in February, 2011, by Taschen.^[21]

Hopper became a prolific photographer, and noted writer Terry Southern profiled Hopper in Better Homes and Gardens magazine as an up and coming photographer "to watch" in the mid 1960s.

He began working as a painter and a poet as well as a collector of art in the 1960s as well, particularly Pop Art. One of the first art works Hopper owned was an early print of Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans bought for $75. Hopper also once owned Andy Warhol's Mao which he shot one evening in a fit of paranoia, the 2 bullet holes possibly adding to the print's value. The print sold at Christie's, New York, for $302,500 in January 2011.^[22]

In March 2010, it was announced that Hopper was on the "short list" for Jeffrey Deitch's inaugural show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA).^[23]

In April 2010, Deitch confirmed that Hopper's work, curated by Julian Schnabel, will indeed be the focus of his debut at MOCA.^[24]

In May 2010 it was announced that Hopper will be the subject of an upcoming biography by American writer Tom Folsom, Hopper: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream.^[25] The subtitle is a direct reference to the Hunter S. Thompson book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.^[26]

On the Gorillaz album Demon Days, Hopper narrates the song "Fire Coming out of the Monkey's Head."^[27]

Personal life[link]

Hopper with Jack Nicholson at the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990.

According to Rolling Stone magazine, he was "one of Hollywood's most notorious drug addicts" for 20 years. He spent much of the 1970s and early 1980s living as "an outcast" in a small town after the success of Easy Rider. Hopper was also "notorious for his troubled relationships with women," including Michelle Phillips, who divorced him after less than two weeks of marriage.^[28] Hopper was married five times in total — he was in the process of divorcing Victoria Duffy, his wife of 14 years, at the time of his death — and was survived by:

• Brooke Hayward (born 1937), daughter of Leland Hayward and Margaret Sullavan; married 1961 – divorced 1969, 1 child, daughter Marin Hopper (born on June 26, 1962)
• Michelle Phillips (born 1944); married 31 October 1970 – divorced 8 November 1970
• Daria Halprin (born 1948); married 1972 – divorced 1976, 1 child, daughter Ruthanna Hopper (born circa 1974)
• Katherine LaNasa (born 1966); married June 17, 1989 – divorced April 1992, 1 child, son Henry Lee Hopper (born on September 11, 1990)
• Victoria Duffy (born 1968); married April 13, 1996 – separated January 12, 2010,^[29] 1 child, daughter Galen Grier Hopper (born on March 26, 2003)

Hopper has two granddaughters, Violet Goldstone and Ella Brill.^[30]

In 1999, actor Rip Torn filed a defamation lawsuit against Hopper over a story Hopper told on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Hopper claimed that Torn pulled a knife on him during pre-production of the film Easy Rider. According to Hopper, Torn was originally cast in the film but was replaced with Jack Nicholson after the incident. According to Torn's suit, it was actually Hopper who pulled the knife on him. A judge ruled in Torn's favor and Hopper was ordered to pay $475,000 in damages. Hopper then appealed but the judge again ruled in Torn's favor and Hopper was required to pay another $475,000 in punitive damages.^[31]

According to Newsmeat, Hopper donated $2,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2004 and an equal amount in 2005.^[32]

Hopper has been honored with the rank of commander of France's National Order of Arts and Letters, at a ceremony in Paris.^[33]

Hopper supported Barack Obama in the 2008 US Presidential election.^[34] Hopper confirmed this in an election day appearance on the ABC daytime show The View. He said his reason for not voting Republican was the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate.^[35]

Divorce from Victoria Duffy[link]

On January 14, 2010, he filed for divorce from his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy.^[36] After citing her "outrageous conduct" and stating Duffy was "insane", "inhuman" and "volatile", Hopper was granted a restraining order against her on February 11, 2010, and as a result, she was forbidden to come within 10 feet (3.0 m) of him or contact him.^[37] On March 9, 2010, Duffy refused to move out of the Hopper home, despite the court's order that she do so by March 15.^[38]

On March 23, 2010, Hopper filed papers in court alleging Duffy had absconded with $1.5 million of his art, refused his requests to return it, and then had "left town".^[39]

On April 5, 2010, a court ruled that Duffy could continue living on Hopper's property, and that he must pay $12,000 per month spousal and child support for their daughter Galen. Hopper did not attend the hearing.^[40] On May 12, 2010, a hearing was held before Judge Amy Pellman in downtown Los Angeles Superior Court. Though Hopper died two weeks later, Duffy insisted at the hearing that he was well enough to be deposed.^[41] The hearing also addressed who to designate on Hopper's life insurance policy; it currently lists his wife as a beneficiary.^[42] A very ill Hopper did not appear in court though his estranged wife did – case BD518046. Despite Duffy's bid to be named the sole designee of Hopper's million-dollar life insurance policy, the judge ruled against her and limited her claim to one-quarter of the policy. The remaining $750,000 was designated to go to his estate.^[43]

On November 14, 2010, it was revealed that (despite Duffy's earlier assertion in her court papers of February 2010 that Hopper was mentally incompetent, and that his children had rewritten his estate plan in order to leave Duffy and her daughter, Hopper's youngest child Galen, destitute) Galen would be receiving the proceeds of 40% of his estate.^[44]

Illness and death[link]

On September 28, 2009, Hopper, then 73, was reportedly brought into an unidentified Manhattan hospital by an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and “with numerous tubes visible.”^[45] On October 2, he was discharged, after receiving treatment for dehydration.^[46]

Hopper at his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star ceremony, March 2010

On October 29, Hopper's manager reported that Hopper had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.^[47] In January 2010, it was reported that Hopper's cancer had metastasized to his bones.^[48]

On March 18, 2010, he was honored with the 2,403rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in front of Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.^[49] Surrounded by friends including Jack Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen, David Lynch, Michael Madsen, family and fans, he attended its addition to the sidewalk six days later.^[50]

As of March 23, 2010, Hopper reportedly weighed only 100 pounds (45 kg) and was unable to carry on long conversations.^[51] According to papers filed in his divorce court case, Hopper was terminally ill and was unable to undergo chemotherapy to treat his prostate cancer.^{[52] [53]}

Hopper died at his home in the coastal Los Angeles district of Venice on the morning of May 29, 2010 at the age of 74, due to complications from prostate cancer.^[54]

Hopper's funeral took place on June 3, 2010 at San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico.^[55] He was buried in Jesus Nazareno Cemetery, Ranchos de Taos.^[56]

The film Alpha and Omega, which was his last movie role, was dedicated to him.

Bibliography[link]

• "Dennis Hopper, Riding High," Playboy (Chicago), Dec. 1969
• Interview with G. O'Brien and M. Netter, in Inter/View (New York), Feb. 1972
• Interview in Cahiers du Cinema (Paris), July–August 1980
• "How Far to the Last Movie?," Monthly Film Bulleting (London) Oct. 1982
• "Citizen Hopper," interview with C. Hodenfield, in Film Comment (New York) Nov/Dec. 1986
• Interview with B. Kelly, in American Film (Los Angeles) March 1988
• Interview with David Denicolo, in Interview (New York), Feb. 1990
• "Sean Penn," interview with Julian Schnabel and Dennis Hopper, Interview (New York) Sept. 1991
• "Gary Oldman," in Interview (New York), Jan. 1992

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

Academy Awards

• (1970) Nominated – Best Original Screenplay / Easy Rider (shared with Peter Fonda and Terry Southern)
• (1987) Nominated – Best Supporting Actor / Hoosiers

Golden Globe Awards

• (1987) Nominated – Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture / Hoosiers
• (1987) Nominated – Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture / Blue Velvet

Primetime Emmy Awards

• (1991) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie / Paris Trout

Cannes Film Festival Awards

• (1969) Won – Best First Work Award / Easy Rider
• (1969) Nominated – Palme d'Or / Easy Rider
• (1980) Nominated – Palme d'Or / Out of the Blue

Directors Guild of America Award

• (1970) Nominated - Outstanding Directing - Feature Film / Easy Rider

Independent Spirit Awards

• (1987) Nominated - Best Male Lead / Blue Velvet

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

• (1987) Won - Best Supporting Actor / Blue Velvet

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

• (1987) Won - Best Supporting Actor / Blue Velvet & Hoosiers

MTV Movie Awards

• (1995) Won - Best Villain / Speed

National Society of Film Critics Awards

• (1970) Won - Special Award ("For the director, co-writer and co-star") / Easy Rider
• (1987) Won - Best Supporting Actor / Blue Velvet

Writers Guild of America Award

• (1970) Nominated - Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen / Easy Rider (shared with Peter Fonda and Terry Southern)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Books

• Biskind, Peter. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, Simon and Schuster (1999)
• Hoberman, J. Dennis Hopper: From Method to Madness, Walker Art Center (1988)
• Hopper, Dennis. Dennis Hopper: Out of the Sixties, Twelvetrees Press (1986)
• Krull, Craig. “Photographing the LA Art Scene: 1955-1975”, Craig Krull Gallery (1996)
• Rodriguez, Elean. Dennis Hopper: A Madness to his Method, St. Martin's Press (1988)
• Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961-1967, Taschen (2011)
• Winkler, Peter L. "Dennis Hopper: The Wild Ride of a Hollywood Rebel," Barricade Books (2011)

Articles

• Macklin, F. A., "Easy Rider: The Initiation of Dennis Hopper," in Film Heritage (Dayton, Ohio), Fall 1969
• Burke, Tom, "Dennis Hopper Saves the Movies," in Esquire (New York), Dec. 1970
• Burns, Dan E., "Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie: Beginning of the End,", in Literature/Film Quarterly, 1979
• Algar, N., "Hopper at Birmingham," in Sight and Sound (London), Summer 1982
• Herring, H. D., "Out of the Dream and into the Nightmare: Dennis Hopper's Apocalyptic Vision of America," in Journal of Popular Film (Washington, D.C.), Winter 1983
• Scharres, B., "From Out of the Blue: The Return of Dennis Hopper," in Journal of the University Film and Video Assoc. (Carbondale, IL), Spring 1983
• Current Biography 1987, New York, 1987
• Martin, A., "Dennis Hopper: Out of the Blue and into the Black," in Cinema Papers (Melbourne), July 1987
• Weber, Bruce, "A Wild Man is Mellowing, Albeit Not on Screen," in New York Times, Sept. 8, 1994

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Dennis Hopper at the Internet Movie Database
• Dennis Hopper at the TCM Movie Database
• Dennis Hopper at AllRovi
• Dennis Hopper Exhibition History
• Dennis Hopper: Life & Times - slideshow by Life magazine
• Media related to Dennis Hopper at Wikimedia Commons

Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1946-09-15) September 15, 1946 (age 65)[1] San Saba, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1969–present
Spouse	Katherine "Kate" Lardner (1971–78) Kimberlea Cloughley (1981–96; 2 children) Dawn Laurel (2001–present)

Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive.

His notable film roles include federal marshal Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive and U.S. Marshals, Agent K in Men in Black and its sequels, Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men, the villain "Two-Face" in Batman Forever, terrorist William Strannix in Under Siege, former Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call in Lonesome Dove, a Texas Ranger in Man of the House and rancher Pete Perkins in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, and Colonel Chester Phillips in Captain America: The First Avenger. Jones has also portrayed real-life figures such as businessman Howard Hughes, executed murderer Gary Gilmore, Oliver Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter and baseball great Ty Cobb.

Early life[link]

Jones was born in San Saba, Texas.^[2] His mother, Lucille Marie (née Scott), was a police officer, school teacher, and beauty shop owner, and his father, Clyde C. Jones, was an oil field worker.^[1] The two were married and divorced twice. Jones has stated that his grandmother was of Cherokee ancestry.^[3] He was a resident of Midland, Texas, and attended Robert E. Lee High School.

Jones graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas,^[4] where he attended on scholarship and is now on the board of directors, and attended Harvard College on a need-based scholarship. He stayed in Mower B-12 as a freshman, across the hall from future Vice President Al Gore, the son of Sen. Albert Gore of Tennessee. As an upperclassman, he was roommates in Dunster House with Gore and Bob Somerby, who later became editor of the media criticism site the Daily Howler. Jones played offensive guard^[5] on Harvard's undefeated 1968 varsity football team, was nominated as a first-team All-Ivy League selection, and played in the 1968 Game, which featured a memorable and literally last-minute Harvard 16-point comeback to tie Yale. He recounts his memory of "the most famous football game in Ivy League history" in the documentary Harvard Beats Yale 29-29. Jones graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1969, and his senior thesis was on "the mechanics of Catholicism" in the works of Flannery O'Connor.^[6][7]

Career[link]

Tommy Lee Jones, August 2006

Jones moved to New York to become an actor, making his Broadway debut in 1969's A Patriot for Me in a number of supporting roles. In 1970 he landed his first film role, coincidentally playing a Harvard student in Love Story (Erich Segal, the author of Love Story, said that he based the lead character of Oliver on the two undergrad roommates he knew while attending Harvard, Jones and Gore).^[8]

In early 1971, he returned to Broadway in Abe Burrows' Four on a Garden where he shared the stage with Carol Channing and Sid Caesar. Between 1971 and 1975 he portrayed Dr. Mark Toland on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live. He returned to the stage for a 1974 production of Ulysses in Nighttown with Zero Mostel.

In films, he played an escaped convict hunted in Jackson County Jail (1976), a Vietnam veteran in Rolling Thunder (1977) and an automobile mogul, co-starring with Laurence Olivier, in the Harold Robbins drama The Betsy.

In 1980, Jones earned his first Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of country singer Loretta Lynn's husband, Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn, in the popular Coal Miner's Daughter. In 1981 he played a drifter opposite Sally Field in Back Roads, a comedy that received middling reviews.^[9]

In 1983, he received an Emmy^[10] for Best Actor for his performance as murderer Gary Gilmore in a TV adaptation of Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song. That same year he starred in a pirate adventure, Nate and Hayes, playing the heavily-bearded Captain Bully Hayes.

In 1989, he earned another Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Texas Ranger lawman Woodrow F. Call in the acclaimed television mini-series Lonesome Dove, based on the best-seller by Larry McMurtry.

In the 1990s, blockbuster hits such as The Fugitive co-starring Harrison Ford, Batman Forever co-starring Val Kilmer, and Men in Black with Will Smith made Jones one of the best-paid and most in-demand actors in Hollywood. His performance in The Fugitive received broad acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a sequel. When he accepted his Oscar, his head was shaved for his role in the film Cobb, which he made light of in his speech: "All a man can say at a time like this is 'I am not really bald.'"

Among his other well-known performances during the 1990s were those of the accused conspirator Clay Shaw/Clay Bertrand in the 1991 film JFK (which earned him another Oscar nomination), as a terrorist who hijacks a U.S. Navy battleship in Under Siege and as a maximum-security prison warden who's in way over his head in Natural Born Killers.

Jones co-starred with director Clint Eastwood as astronauts in the 2000 film Space Cowboys, leading a space rescue mission.

In 2005, the first theatrical feature film Jones directed, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, was presented at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Jones's character speaks both English and Spanish in the film. His performance won him the Best Actor Award. His first film as a director had been The Good Old Boys in 1995, a made-for-television movie.

Two strong performances in 2007 marked a resurgence in Jones's career, one as a beleaguered father investigating the disappearance of his soldier son in In the Valley of Elah, the other as a Texas sheriff hunting an assassin in the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men. For the former, he was nominated for an Academy Award.

Jones has been a spokesperson for Japanese brewing company Suntory since 2006. He can be seen in various Japanese TV commercials of Suntory's Coffee brand Boss as a character called "Alien Jones," an extraterrestrial who takes the form of a human being to check on the world of humans. There are 34 such commercials that can be seen on YouTube.^[11]

In 2010, Jones appeared alongside Ben Affleck in the recession drama, The Company Men. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where early reviews praised Jones's performance as "pitch-perfect."^[12] Jones had a role in the Marvel Studios film, Captain America: The First Avenger.^[13] He also directed, produced and co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson in an adaptation of The Sunset Limited.

Personal life[link]

At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, he presented the nominating speech for his college roommate, Al Gore, as the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.

Jones was married to Kate Lardner, the daughter of Ring Lardner Jr. from 1971 to 1978. He has two children from his second marriage to Kimberlea Cloughley, the daughter of Phil Hardberger, former mayor of San Antonio: Austin Leonard (born 1982) and Victoria Kafka (born 1991). On March 19, 2001, he married his third wife, Dawn Laurel.

Jones resides in Terrell Hills, Texas, a suburb of San Antonio and speaks fluent Spanish.^[14] He owns a 3000 acre cattle ranch in San Saba County, Texas^[15] and a ranch near Van Horn, Texas, which served as the set for his film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. He also owns a home and farm in polo mecca Wellington, Florida. Jones is a serious polo player, he has a house in a polo country club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is an avid San Antonio Spurs fan, he is often seen courtside at Spurs games.

In 2008, Jones signed on with Chesapeake Energy to be a spokesperson for a public relations campaign to promote shale gas (natural gas derived from shale rock through hydraulic fracturing or "fracking") in Texas.

Film and television credits[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Grunert, Andrea, "Les bons et les méchants selon Tommy Lee Jones", in: Francis Bordat et Serge Chauvin (eds.) Les bons et les méchants Université Paris X, 2005, p. 339–352, ISBN 2-907335-30-8

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tommy Lee Jones

• Tommy Lee Jones at the Internet Movie Database
• Tommy Lee Jones at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tommy Lee Jones at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Tommy Lee Jones at the TCM Movie Database
• Tommy Lee Jones at AllRovi
• Tommy Lee Jones at Emmys.com