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‘Easy Rider’ actor Peter Fonda dead at age 79

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Oscar nominated actor Peter Fonda, who played a cool and introspective motorcyclist in the 1969 film “Easy Rider” that captured the spirit of the era’s counterculture movement, died on Friday at age 79, his family said in a statement.

Fonda, the son of Hollywood leading man Henry Fonda and the brother of Jane Fonda, died at his home in Los Angeles on Friday morning of respiratory failure from lung cancer, the statement said.

“It is with deep sorrow that we share the news that Peter Fonda has passed away,” it said, adding: “In honour of Peter, please raise a glass to freedom.”

“While we mourn the loss of this sweet and gracious man, we also wish for all to celebrate his indomitable spirit and love of life,” the family said.

Fonda played the wanderer Wyatt in “Easy Rider,” opposite the late Dennis Hopper who co-starred as fellow biker Billy and directed the film.

In the movie, Wyatt and Billy set out on their motorbikes to discover America and have a number of misadventures, befriending an attorney played by Jack Nicholson, before meeting violent deaths.

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