# Bo Hopkins died at 80 or 84 (Wild Bunch, American Graffiti) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357 "2022-05-30T14:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/1 "2022-05-30T14:54:28Z")
Bo didn’t do a lot of tv. Did 4 episodes of Rockford Files and 18 episodes of Dynasty. His Best known films are Sam Peckinpah’s _The Wild Bunch_, _The Getaway_ and _American Graffiti_. Bo worked with major stars like William Holden, Ernest Borgnine,Steve McQueen. His last film was in 2020. Most articles say Bo was 80. Imdb claims 84. Bo joined the army at 16 and probably used a alternate birth date. Bo was in the 101st Airborne Division and served in Korea for nine months. RIP Bo and thank you for all the great movies > **[American Graffiti Star, The Wild Bunch Actor Bo Hopkins Dead at 84](https://people.com/movies/bo-hopkins-american-graffiti-the-wild-bunch-actor-dead-84/)** > > The veteran actor died at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys after suffering a heart attack earlier this month > **[Bo Hopkins, Actor in ‘American Graffiti’ and Sam Peckinpah Classics, Dies at 80](https://variety.com/2022/film/news/bo-hopkins-dead-american-graffiti-the-wild-bunch-1235280660/)** > > Bo Hopkins, the actor who has appeared in classics like “American Graffiti,” “The Wild Bunch,” “Midnight Express” and “The Getaway,” died Friday. He … ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/2 "2022-05-30T17:40:55Z")
I always wanted to be a Pharao.\* ☹ \*Pronounced “Fay-ro.” RIP, Bo. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/3 "2022-05-30T19:14:17Z")
I plan to rewatch American Graffiti later this week. I need to check my dvds. I think I have season 5 of Rockford. I looked it up and Bo played a lawyer that worked with Rockford. It was only a few episodes. I always wondered why Bo didn’t get his own series. He had all the leading man qualities. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/4 "2022-05-30T19:26:03Z")
I love his character in American Graffiti; a gangster trying to look more dangerous than he really was. “Toby Juarez? Yeah, we know him……we killed him last night” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/5 "2022-05-30T20:05:56Z")
Seeing what happened to him in _ **More American Graffiti** _ was a real punch in the gut. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/6 "2022-05-30T20:59:42Z")
I don’t remember. What happened? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/7 "2022-05-30T21:04:24Z")
Killed in Vietnam. He took a round in the chest while a machine gunner in a Huey helicopter. Toad was listed as MIA because he deserted. We never found out if he survived the war. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/8 "2022-05-30T21:06:18Z")
Yup, sad. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/9 "2022-05-30T22:00:01Z")
The first I’ve ever heard of him was seeing him play Lavrenti Beria, the head of the NKVD during the Stalin years in the film ‘The Inner Circle’. He presence was so casually menacing. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/10 "2022-05-30T22:08:41Z")
Bo was really good playing bad guys. He got killed in several movies. > [@](#): > > In _The Wild Bunch_ , Hopkins’ character, a volatile young member of the gang, terrorizes a group of hostages inside a bank before meeting a horrible end in a hail of bullets. Just before his demise, he utters one of the film’s most quotable lines — “Well, how’d you like to kiss my sister’s black cat’s ass?” > > “They took me to special effects and had wires runnin’ up my ass, up my legs. I was squibbed up 26 times,” he recalled of his first big movie role. “I fuckin’ thought I was gonna go to the moon if them things ever went off. I’d never worked with squibs. Sam asked me if I wanted a T-shirt. ‘No, sir,’ I said. ‘I want to feel it.’ … Well, see, I didn’t know. I wanted to feel it, experience it, just like we talked about at the Actors Studio. And like a damn fool, I didn’t wear a T-shirt.” Site: [Bo Hopkins, ‘Wild Bunch’ and ‘American Graffiti’ Actor, Dies at 84](https://news.yahoo.com/bo-hopkins-wild-bunch-american-193057230.html) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-hopkins-died-at-80-or-84-wild-bunch-american-graffiti/965357/11 "2022-05-30T22:20:43Z")
“You seem like a nice guy, Billy. I really do feel sorry for you. But if you still try anything or try to run away again, I’ll blow your fucking brains out!” Everyone from _Midnight Express_ is now gone but Randy Quaid.