http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61A4LX20100211
Dean Goodman
Feb 11, 2010
Civil war is raging at the house of cancer-stricken actor Dennis
Hopper, who is seeking a divorce from his fifth wife so that he can
spend more time with their 6-year-old daughter in what could be his
dying days.
Hopper, 73, who is undergoing chemotherapy for advanced, metastasized
prostate cancer, filed declarations along with his children, doctors
and assistant in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday to support
his divorce petition.
The director and co-star of "Easy Rider" filed for divorce from
Victoria Duffy, 42, on January 14, and said in a subsequent statement
that he wanted to spend "these difficult days surrounded by my
children and close friends."
The divorce battle is largely a tug-of-war over the couple's
daughter, Galen. A Los Angeles judge on Thursday awarded Hopper daily
visitation rights to Galen after the actor claimed Duffy had taken
her away from him for extended periods.
The judge also issued a restraining order against Duffy, saying she
must stay 10 feet away from Hopper and his adult children, and barred
her from entering Hopper's main residence.
The latest batch of court documents details a lot of screaming and
shouting among the inhabitants of the counter-culture icon's
five-home compound in the coastal Los Angeles suburb of Venice, with
Duffy cast as the villain.
She is variously described as "extremely volatile" "insane and out of
her mind," and "inhuman." Her husband of 13 years, meanwhile, has
shrunk to 120 pounds (54 kg) and vomits after taking his medication,
according to the papers.
"A LIVING HELL"
"Victoria has made my father's life a living hell over at least the
last six months," said a deposition from Henry Hopper, the actor's
19-year-old son with his fourth wife.
The teen, also an actor, was accused by Duffy last year of stealing
some of his father's priceless artworks. She changed the locks at the
compound to keep him out. They were later found in a basement where
they had long been in storage, the documents said.
For his part, Dennis Hopper said he spent Christmas "in utter
distress" after Duffy spirited their daughter Galen to Boston. "This
malevolent act ... has caused me to miss what may very well be my
last Christmas with my daughter Galen," Hopper said in his filing.
The declarations come on the heels of Duffy's own responsive
declaration in which she depicted her husband as an abusive,
gun-toting pot-smoker. She also claimed that he did not want a
divorce but was being pressured by his three adult children.
particularly his eldest daughter, Marin, 47.
Hopper, according to Duffy, was "more often than not incapable of
handling his legal and financial affairs."
Not true, countered Hopper, with supporting documents from two
doctors who determined that he was fully competent. He said he filed
for divorce "clearly and deliberately, without any pressure or
influence exerted upon me by any other person."
Moreover, said his personal physician David Agus, "It is my belief
and recommendation that the less Mr. Hopper has to do with his
estranged wife at this time, the more likely he is to have his life extended."
Hopper's domestic life has never been dull. One of his marriages
included an eight-day union with Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and
the Papas in 1970. Phillips later told Vanity Fair that she was
subjected to "excruciating" treatment.
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