Sam Bottoms

Sam Bottoms, of the 1970s classics Apocalypse Now and The Last Picture Show, died Tuesday of brain cancer in his Los Angeles home, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 53.

In Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic, Bottoms played pro surfer-turned-soldier Lance B. Johnson, faced with the insane orders of Robert Duvall's Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore.

"He was a handsome, tall young man and very sweet-natured and seemed to be right for that part," Coppola said Wednesday. "Sam was a good actor. Of course, he comes from a family that had a lot of theatrical activity." ... read more 5 Comments