A prolific supporting player with a weathered, leathered face, and drooping features capable of projecting menace or poignancy, Harry Dean Stanton spent the first 25 years of his career specializing in playing outsiders, psychotics and heavies. Then came the dignified leading role in "Paris, Texas" (1984), followed by his discovery by the younger generation of Hollywood filmmakers, who turned Stanton into the wizened cult figure of their flock.

After World War II service, Stanton attended the University of Kentucky where he got the acting bug after appearing in a production of "Pygmalion.” He