Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician and singer.
Harry Dean Stanton started his acting career when he appeared in the Gregory Peck film Pork Chop Hill in 1959. Since then, he has done some indie and cult films such as Two-Lane Blacktop, Cockfighter, Escape from New York, and Repo Man.
In 1962, he had a very small part in How The West Was Won. He played the role of one of the members of Charlie Gant's gang. That was followed by the Danny Kaye film The Man from the Diner's Club in 1963.
In 1984, Stanton's breakthrough role in Wim Wenders' film Paris, Texas. In 2012, he had cameo appearances in The Avengers and Seven Psychopaths, and appeared in The Last Stand in 2013.
He also appeared in numerous mainstream Hollywood productions such as Cool Hand Luke, The Godfather Part II, Alien, Red Dawn, Pretty in Pink, Stephen King's Christine and The Green Mile.
Stanton is the subject of a 2013 documentary titled Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction. The documentary, directed by Sophie Huber, featured film clips and interviews with collaborators including Wenders, Shepard, Kris Kristofferson, and David Lynch.
His exposure in television series are extensive which includes eight appearances between 1958 and 1968 on CBS' Gunsmoke and four on Rawhide, as well as a cameo as himself on Two and a Half Men.
In 2011, the Lexington Film League created a festival to honor Stanton in the city where he spent much of his adolescence. The first Harry Dean Stanton Fest involved three days of film screenings, including Paris, Texas, Repo Man, Cool Hand Luke, and the premiere of a PBS documentary by director Tom Thurman entitled Harry Dean Stanton: Crossing Mulholland. The annual festival was held in Kentucky Theater.
Meanwhile, aside from being an actor, Stanton has also occasionally toured nightclubs as a singer/guitarist, playing mostly country-inflected cover tunes. He appeared in the Dwight Yoakam music video for "Sorry You Asked", portrayed a cantina owner in a Ry Cooder video for "Get Rhythm", participated in the video for Bob Dylan's "Dreamin' of You", and in 2003, appeared in the video for "Stop" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Harry Dean Stanton was born on July 14, 1926 in West Irvine, Kentucky. Stanton attended Lafayette High School and the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Before he embarked a career in acting, he is a US Navy veteran of World War II. He served as a cook aboard an LST during the Battle of Okinawa.