Bo HopkinsBirth Place: Greenville, South Carolina, USA Date of Birth: February 2, 1942 Heritage: American Contact Bo Hopkins | 
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Dynasty's Matthew Blaisdel
Background: Sandy haired character actor and occasional lead of films and television Bo Hopkins has amassed over one hundreds film and television credits under his belt since launching his professional career in 1966. A former student of Uta Hagen of the prestigious HB studio in New York, Hopkins is probably better known as Matthew Blaisdel in the ABC hit series “Dynasty” (1981, 1987) and for his recurring role as lawyer John Cooper in the NBC crime series “The Rockford Files” (1978-1979). His film credits include Sam Peckinpah's “The Wild Bunch” (1969), “The Getaway” (1972) and “The Killer Elite” (1975), George Lucas' “American Graffiti” (1973) and its 1979 installment, “More American Graffiti,” G.D. Spradlin's “The Only Way Home” (1972), Alan Parker's “Midnight Express” (1978), Oliver Stone's “U Turn” (1997), Richard Linklater's “The Newton Boys” (1998), Damian Nieman's “Shade” (2003) and Mia Goldman's “Open Window” (2006). The tough, laconic performer was handed the Golden Boot in 1995. Alum of NY's HB Studio Childhood and Family: Bo Hopkins was born on February 2, 1942, in Greenville, South Carolina. After his father left the family when he was 9, Bo lived under the care of his mother and grandmother. He joined the US Army at age 16 and later, upon his release from the military, he studied acting at the HB Studio in New York under the renowned acting coach Uta Hagen. In 1989, Bo married Sian Eleanor Green. Their son, Matthew McCoy Hopkins, was born on July 11, 1995. Bo also has one daughter named Jane Hopkins from a previous marriage. The Wild Bunch Career: Bo Hopkins got his early acting experience through performances in summer productions and several TV episodes like “The Phyllis Diller Show” (1966), “The Virginian” (1967), “Gunsmoke” (1967), “ The Wild Wild West” (1967), “The Andy Griffith Show” (1967), “The Rat Patrol” (1968) and “The Guns of Will Sonnet” (1968). His big break arrived when he was cast in the role of Clarence 'Crazy' Lee on the western film “The Wild Bunch” (1969) after director Sam Peckinpah saw him on television. The film was nominated for tow Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Material Not Previously Published or Produced and Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical). Hopkins continued to appear in a string of films, such as the John Guillermin directed war movie “The Bridge at Remagen” (1969, with George Segal, Ben Gazzara and Robert Vaughn), “The Thousand Plane Raid” (1969), “The Moonshine War” (1970), “Macho Callahan” (1970), “Monte Walsh” (1970) and “The Culpepper Cattle Co.” (1972), before making his debut as the leading actor in the 1972 drama “The Only Way Home,” by director G.D. Spradlin. He reunited with Peckinpah for the film adaptation of a novel by Jim Thompson, “The Getaway” (1972), starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. The film was a commercial success, earning over $36 million against a budget of $3,352,254. Additionally, Hopkins worked with Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford in the George Lucas coming of age film “American Graffiti,” with Burt Reynolds, Sarah Miles and Lee J. Cobb in the western film “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing” and again with Reynolds for the action movie “White Lightning,” in which he portrayed Reynolds' sidekick, Roy Boone (all 1973). Meanwhile, on the small screen, Hopkins guest starred in “Mod Squad” (2 episodes, 1969-1970), “Ironside” (1972), “Nichols” (1972) and “Hawaii Five-O” (1973) and appeared in a Western/comedy series pilot called “Cat Ballou” (1971), which was based on the hit film of 1965. He co-starred with Norman Lloyd and Sondra Locke in the based on book telepic “The Gondola” (1973) and had his first TV series debut, as Eldred McCoy, in the ABC drama series “Doc Elliot” (1973), starring James Franciscus. Hopkins next could be seen in such films as “The Nickel Ride” (1974), “Judgment: The Court Martial of Lieutenant William Calley” (1975, TV), “The Runaway Barge” (1975, TV), “The Day of the Locust” (1975), “Posse” (1975), “The Kansas City Massacre” (1975, TV), “The Killer Elite” (1975), for which he reunited with director Sam Peckinpah, “A Small Town in Texas” (1976), “The Invasion of Johnson County” (1976), “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway” (1976, TV), The Italian production “Tentacles” (1976), which marked the actor's first non American film, “Thaddeus Rose and Eddie” (1978, TV), “Crisis in Sun Valley” (1978, TV), “The Busters” (1978, TV), Alan Parker 's version of Billy Hayes's 1977 book, “Midnight Express” (1978, with Brad Davis, Randy Quaid and John Hurt), “The Fifth Floor” (1978), the sequel to George Lucas's 1973 hit, “More American Graffiti” (1979), where he reprised his role of Little Joe, “Beggarman, Thief” (1979, TV) and “The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang” (1979, TV). Apart from guest spots in the television shows, “The Manhunter” (1974), “The Rookies” (1974), “Barnaby Jones” (1975), “ Jigsaw John” (1976), “Supertrain” (1979) and “Charlie's Angels” (1976, 1979), the energetic actor also played Budd Townsend in the television miniseries adaptation of “Aspen” (1977), opposite Sam Elliott, and offered memorable turn as Rockford's attorney, John Cooper, on several episodes of “The Rockford Files” during 1978-1979. Hopkins was cast as Matthew Blaisdel, Krystle Jennings' former flame and a Denver-Carrington employee, in the first season of the ABC prime time serial drama “Dynasty” (1981). He later reprised the role in several episodes around May to October 1987. Hopkins also acted in various films like “The Plutonium Incident” (1980, TV), “Casino” (1980, TV), “Rodeo Girl” (1980),“Sweet 16” (1983), “Ghost Dancing” (1983, TV), “Night Shadows” (1984), “Dark Horse” (1985), “What Comes Around” (1986), “Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills” (1986, TV), “Houston: The Legend of Texas” (1986, TV), “ A Smoky Mountain Christmas” (1986, TV), which marked his last TV movie for five years, “Death Street USA” (1988), “Trapper County War” (1989) and “The Man from Nowhere” (1989) as well as in episodes of “Fantasy Island” (1982), “Matt Houston” (1984), “The A-Team” (1984), “Hotel” (1984), “Finder of Lost Loves” (1984), “The Hitchhiker” (1985), “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” (1985), “Crazy Like a Fox” (1986), “The Fall Guy” (1986) and “The New Mike Hammer” (1987). Early 1990s saw Hopkins appear in “Fertilize the Blaspheming Bombshell,” “The Bounty Hunter,” Burt Kennedy's drama “Big Bad John,” where he played the role of Lester, “The Final Alliance,” which was filmed in South Africa, “Blood Ties” (TV), his first TV film since 1986, “Center of the Web,” “The Legend of Wolf Mountain” and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee “Inside Monkey Zetterland.” In 1993, he co-starred along with Suzy Amis and Ian McKellen in the drama/western movie “The Ballad of Little Jo,” which was written and helmed by Maggie Greenwald. In the next year, he played Rattlesnake Reynolds in the western film “Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone,” starring Hugh O'Brian as the title role, co-starred with Kelly Preston and Dan Haggerty in the made for television film “Cheyenne Warrior” and appeared as Billly's father in “Radioland Murders.” From 1995 to 1999, Hopkins had roles in such films as “OP Center” (TV), “Riders in the Storm,” “Texas Payback,” “Shaughnessy” (TV), “Lunker Lake,” Oliver Stone's adaptation of John Ridley's book, “U Turn,” starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte, “Painted Hero,” the film version of “Phantoms,” where he was cast as Agent Hawthorne, Richard Linklater's “The Newton Boys,” “Getting to Know You” and “Time Served” (TV). Entering the new millennium, Hopkins co-starred in the action/drama film “The Thundering 8th” (2000), which was directed and written by star Donald Borza II, Dwight Yoakam's “South of Heaven, West of Hell” (2000) and Ralph E. Portillo's “Big Brother Trouble” (2000) as well as starred in the comedy/drama “Vice” (2000), for director/writer John Woodward. He appeared with Jeff Fahey, Caia Coley and Dylan Kasch in the family/drama film “Choosing Matthias” (2001), with Mario López and Gary Busey in the horror “A Crack in the Floor” (2001) and with Kiefer Sutherland, Marcus Thomas and Daryl Hannah in Western movie “Cowboy Up” (2001). He also had an uncredited part in “City of Ghosts” (2002), appeared as The Boss in the award winning drama “Don't Let Go” (2002), by director/writer Max Myers, portrayed Lieutenant Scarne in Damian Nieman's crime/action movie, “Shade” (2003) and was featured in Drew Johnson's drama, “The Road Home” (2003). Hopkins made his last film appearance to date, as Tucker Brennan, in the 2006 Mia Goldman drama “Open Window,” starring Joel Edgerton, Robin Tunney and Cybill Shepherd. Hopkins is set to play the role of King Frederick in the upcoming romance film “Of God and Kings” (2012), opposite Eleonora Maria Volpe, Gregory Fawcett and Lesley-Anne Down. The film is directed by Joe Estevez and written by Eleonora Maria Volpe. Awards: Golden Boot: 1995 |
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