Los Angeles (AFP)
American actor Peter Fonda, made famous by his role as a biker in the cult film "Easy Rider" (1969), which he co-wrote, died Friday morning at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 79 years, announced his entourage.
Son of Hollywood legend Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda's little brother and father of Bridget Fonda, Peter Fonda died of respiratory arrest caused by lung cancer, his publicist said in a statement.
"While we mourn the loss of this sweet and graceful man, we also wish to celebrate his indomitable spirit and his love of life.In honor of Peter, toast to freedom please," concludes the communiqué signed by his family.
"Easy Rider", written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, interpreted by the first two and directed by Hopper, is one of the banner films of the American counterculture of the sixties. It evokes the quest for freedom through a motorcycle odyssey in the great outdoors of the American Southwest.
The image of Peter Fonda with his legs extended on his Harley-Davidson chopper painted in the colors of the American flag is emblematic of the cinema of that time. A copy of this bike had sold at auction $ 1.35 million in 2014.
In 1998, he had competed at the Oscars for his role in Victor Nuñez's film "The Gold of Life", which earned him a Golden Globe.
More recently, Peter Fonda played Mephistopheles in "Ghost Rider" (2007). His latest film, "The Last Full Measure", starring Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman and Laurence Fishburne, is due out in late October in the United States.
An environmental activist from the beginning, the actor made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 when he called US President Barack Obama a "fucking traitor" by blaming him for managing a tide. black in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
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