Dennis Hopper Battles for Daughter, Calls Wife 'Malevolent'
Dennis Hopper files restraining order against wife Victoria Duffy-Hopper.
Feb. 11, 2010— -- While Dennis Hopper battles cancer, he's also battling his wife, Victoria Duffy-Hopper, for custody of their six-year-old daughter, Galen.
Hopper, 73, currently undergoing chemotherapy for advanced prostate cancer, filed declarations along with his children, doctors and assistant in Los Angeles Superior Court today to support his divorce petition from Duffy-Hopper, 42, his wife of 14 years.
Court papers portray Duffy-Hopper as a villian, Reuters reports. The papers describe her as "extremely volatile," "insane and out of her mind" and "inhuman."
In the papers, Hopper, the star of "Easy Rider" and other films, claims his wife has kept Galen from him for long periods of time. He said he spent Christmas "in utter distress" after Duffy-Hopper took Galen to Boston, a trip he learned about from her attorney.
"This malevolent act ... has caused me to miss what may very well be my last Christmas with my daughter Galen," Hopper said in his filing.
Also contained in the court papers are allegations from Hopper's family that Duffy-Hopper stole pieces from her husband's priceless art collection and changed the locks on his house. The papers say cancer has reduced Hopper's weight to 120 pounds. They say he vomits after taking his medication.
In court today, a judge ruled Duffy-Hopper must stay at least 10 feet away from Hopper; his son, Henry; his daughter, Marin; and his assistant, Emily Davis, according to TMZ.com. The judge also ruled that Duffy-Hopper may not enter the main Hopper residence in Venice, Calif. or any other portion of the property other than the unit in which she is currently living.
However, Duffy-Hopper maintains primary custody of Galen. The judge granted Hopper the right to visit his daughter every day for two hours.
Hopper's claims come in the wake of Duffy-Hopper's response to his divorce filing, in which she said the ailing actor was being coerced to leave her by his adult children, who want a larger piece of his estate.
