R.I.P. American Graffiti and The Wild Bunch actor Bo Hopkins

The Wild Bunch, American Graffiti, and Midnight Express are some of the films that Bo Hopkins appeared in. Variety says the news was confirmed by the official website. The statement doesn't give a cause of death, but it does say that he loved hearing from his fans, and that he wasn't always able to respond to every email he received. He was 80.

Bo was adopted by his grandparents after his father died at a young age, at which point he took the name Bo from Bus Stop, his first off-Broadway play. He joined the military when he was a teenager and served in Korea for nine months before deciding he wanted to try acting.

After a few years in Kentucky, he moved to New York and Los Angeles. One of his first film roles was as Clarence in Sam Pekinpah's classic of the genre The Wild Bunch. He appeared in both American Graffiti and Midnight Express. As Variety points out, over a decades-long career with over 100 credits to his name,Hopkins gradually went from playing sadistic rednecks to more heroic and noble characters.

He played Papaw in Ron Howard's adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy, his last film role.