Harry Dean Stanton has died at 91

— -- Actor Harry Dean Stanton died Friday of natural causes at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, his representative confirmed to ABC News.

The actor was 91 years old.

Stanton, a Kentucky native, began his prolific acting career after serving in the Navy during World War II and attending the University of Kentucky. After he dropped out of college to pursue theater, he studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse in California and went on to appear TV shows including "Rawhide," "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza." He also made his mark early on in his career on the big screen, landing roles in classic films including "Cool Hand Luke," "The Godfather Part II," and "Alien."

However, the role that's been lauded as his big breakthrough came in 1984 when he played amnesiac Travis Henderson in "Paris, Texas" -- the same year he starred in the cult classic "Repo Man." Those two films, he told Vulture in 2013, were his favorites.

Stanton also scored memorable parts in the 1986 film "Pretty in Pink," in which he played the father to Molly Ringwald's character, and in David Lynch's "Wild at Heart," which featured Stanton as a private investigator.

More recently, Stanton could seen in the HBO series "Big Love" and in the reboot of Lynch's "Twin Peaks." One of his final projects, the film "Lucky," will be released later this month.

Stanton, who never married, is survived by beloved family and friends.