Actor Stanton dies

Harry Dean Stanton, the craggyfaced American character actor who for decades filled memorable and often eccentric roles, including a prisoner in Cool Hand Luke and a creepy polygamist prophet in Big Love, has died. He was 91. Stanton died yesterday at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles of natural causes, said his agent. Born in Kentucky, Stanton headed west after serving in the United States Navy during World War II and broke into acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. His career, and his credits, were sweeping, and included Escape from New York, Paris, Texas, Pretty in Pink and Repo Man. Stanton had a fondness for director David Lynch, and Lynch had a fondness for him, casting him in Wild At Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and the recent reboot Twin Peaks: The Return. Stanton never married, though he had a long relationship with actress Rebecca De Mornay.