US actor Peter Fonda, whose starring role in classic road movie “Easy Rider” made him a symbol of 1960s counterculture, died Friday aged 79 at his Los Angeles home following a battle with lung cancer, his family said.
Fonda was the son of famed Hollywood actor Henry, and the brother of activist and actress Jane, who described him as “my sweet-hearted baby brother” in a statement sent to AFP.
“I am very sad … I have had beautiful alone time with him these last days. He went out laughing,” she said.
Fonda co-wrote and produced 1969’s “Easy Rider,” in which he appeared alongside its director Dennis Hopper and a young Jack Nicholson.
The wildly successful film about two bikers travelling through the great outdoors of the American Southwest in a quest for freedom became an anti-establishment cult classic.
It earned Fonda an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and is credited with ushering in an era of counterculture, independent filmmaking.
