SAM BOTTOMSThe American actor Sam Bottoms died on 16 December, 2008, after suffering from brain cancer at 53.He was best known for his supporting role in the Copolla masterpiece Apocalypse Now (1979), playing the Californian surfing champion Lance Johnson who is an unlikely member of Martin Sheen's boat crew on his perilous mission.On the journey up the Nung River his character briefly becomes the protégé of lunatic Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore who launches an attack on a beach heavily fortified by the Vietnamese so Gunner Johnson can go surfing.During the film's climax, Johnson takes acid and has to be rescued from Colonel Kurtz's hedonistic tribe.He was also known for playing a mute boy in the coming-of-age classic The Last Picture Show (1971), his debut film. His brother Timothy starred in the movie.During his 36-year career he appeared alongside Clint Eastwood in westerns The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Bronco Billy (1980), in Francis Ford Coppola's other Vietnam film Gardens of Stone (1987) and in the Oscar-nominated hit Seabiscuit (2003).His television work included a TV adaptation of Christopher Hampton's Savages (1974), a miniseries of East of Eden (1981), two appearances in Murder, She Wrote (1989 and 1991) and a part in the X-Files (1995).His most recent role was in the spoof Bruce Lee documentary, Finishing the Game (2007).Samuel John Bottoms was born on 17 October, 1955, in Santa Barbara, California. He had three brothers, Timothy, Joseph and Ben, all of whom are actors. He was also survived by his wife Laura, two daughters from a previous marriage, and his parents, James and Betty.
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