Dennis Hopper died on May 29, 2010, at his home in Venice, Los Angeles, and his ex-wife Katherine LaNasa has now opened up on his final days, praising the hospice nurses who cared for the award-winning actor. The Pitt actress Katherine made an appearance at the End Well Conference on November 20, which HELLO! attended, joining a panel alongside Nikki Boyer and Tembi Locke that discussed how pop culture, from podcasts to TV, has been helping people talk about dying with humor, honesty, and heart.
During the emotional conversation, Katherine revealed that she "learned so much from them: a compassionate attachment and steadiness," that she used when creating the character Dana Evans in The Pitt. "Fifteen years ago when the hospice nurses were with my ex-husband – my son's dad – I spent a lot of time, months, with them when he was dying, and I learned so much from them: a compassionate detachment and it was that steadiness and the compassion, that I really tried to put into Dana," Katherine told the audience, praising the nurses for following their "calling".
She continued: "I realized with my ex-husband, when he was dying, that I was very able to be present and that I wasn't afraid and I wanted to be there. I considered it an honor and I learned so much about what it looks like when people are dying."
The actress, who also spent time with her grandmother when she was dying, added: "Then when my grandmother was dying, I felt greater use because I was able to tell the carers to take a break." A crucial, yet often overlooked aspect of caregiving is the needs of the caregivers and hospice workers themselves.
At the age of 73, Dennis' manager shared the news that he had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and that it had metastasized to his bones. The Oscar-nominated actor was in the process of divorcing his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, and documents confirmed that the cancer was terminal and he was not able to be treated with chemotherapy.
Dennis died at his home at the age of 74.
End Well is a nonprofit dedicated to the belief that all people should experience the end of life in a way that matches their values and goals. The 2025 conference's theme was Radical Bravery, about the everyday courage to "face grief, illness, caregiving, and dying with open eyes and open hearts".
Katherine, who pulled off a remarkable performance as Dana a hardworking nurse of decades who, underneath her tough exterior, was struggling with the overwhelming mental toll of leading a short-staffed team post-COVID, won an Emmy for her role in the HBO series.
The show and her performance have both resonated with nurses and medical professionals, with Katherine sharing that she has received numerous comments online and in person, thanking her for showing the honest hardships faced in ER departments.
For her work in The Pitt, Katherine studied with real nurses, shadowing staff in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. "I heard a podcaster once say, 'You never know what you're going to see when you go to the crime scene,' and that's how I feel about going to the emergency department," she added. "Portraying a nurse on television accurately is so much about the tone, and the vibe, the way that they are."
Born in 1966 in New Orleans, Katherine was a dancer as a teenager who toured professionally for the Salt Lake City Ballet West and the Armitage troupe. In Los Angeles in 1987, she met Hollywood actor Dennis, and the pair married in 1990.
The pair welcomed a son together, Henry Hopper, but divorced in 1992.
In 2023, Katherine was diagnosed with breast cancer. "Due for my annual mammogram, I went in to see the doctor. After two mammograms and two biopsies, the results, this time, came back cancerous," she told Women's Health in an op-ed in early 2025.
Katherine underwent surgery and about three weeks of daily radiation.
Katherine will return to The Pitt for season two, currently filming and set to premiere in January 2026.