- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWilliam Mauldin Hopkins
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Sandy-haired American actor Bo Hopkins was born William Mauldin Hopkins in Greenville, South Carolina, and was raised by his mother and grandmother after his father died when Bo was only nine years old. He joined the US Army at the age of 16. After serving his hitch he decided on acting as a career and gained experience in summer stock productions and guest spots in several TV episodes.
Hopkins broke into feature films as the ill-fated "Crazy Lee" in the Sam Peckinpah landmark western The Wild Bunch (1969), and was subsequently hired by Peckinpah for another none-too-bright role as a bank robber in The Getaway (1972) and then as a hired killer pairing up with CIA agent James Caan in The Killer Elite (1975). He was busy on television during the 1980s and 1990s, guest-starring on The Rockford Files (1974), Charlie's Angels (1976), The A-Team (1983), Hotel (1983) and Matt Houston (1982), and was featured on Dynasty (1981). In addition, he starred in dozens of feature films, such as Midnight Express (1978), American Graffiti (1973), The Bounty Hunter (1989), U Turn (1997) and Shade (2003). With his "good old boy" persona and Southern drawl, Hopkins often played lawmen, psychos, or oily villains.
He makes his home in Los Angeles with his wife Sian and son Matthew, and is a keen fisherman, fan of the Anaheim Angels baseball team, and enjoys raising koi fish.- IMDb mini biography by: [email protected]
- SpousesSian Eleanor Green(1989 - May 28, 2022) (his death, 1 child)Norma Lee Woodle(October 30, 1959 - August 15, 1962) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenMatthew McCoy HopkinsJane Hopkins
- ParentsJohnnie McCoy HopkinsLaura D. Graham
- Unhinged Villains in Sam Peckinpah films (that even the central villains/anti-heroes don't trust)
- Similar Expressions and Attributes of James Dean
- Resembles Jerry Reed (they played brothers in What Comes Around (1985))
- Profiled in "Names You Never Remember, With Faces You Never Forget" by Justin Humphreys (BearManor Media).
- Although he began his career playing heavies--often trigger-happy cowboys (i.e., The Wild Bunch (1969)) or sadistic rednecks--he graduated into more "law-abiding" roles as he got older, and in the 1980s and 1990s especially was often cast as a small-town sheriff.
- He appeared in two films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: American Graffiti (1973) and Midnight Express (1978).
- In March 2013 he attended the Western Film Festival in Williamsburg, VA.
- Did a private signing with Rocky & Brenda Whitehead in Tucson, AZ, , on 7/9/2000, where he signed 60 of the Limited Edition American Graffiti (1973) 1951 Mercury Coupe 1:18 scale Ertl American Muscle Diecast cars.
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