Cool isn't a leather jacket and shades...it's wrinkles,creases and a generous sized pair of ears

If you asked me who defines the word cool, I wouldn't have to think very long and hard on my answer. The answer is a man who is now 85 and still has yet to reach his prime. Cool is not an image or a way of walking or keeping up with the current fads and fleeting trends. Cool is someone who walks to their own inner rhythm and beat, cool is someone who can make a film memorable by just being in it for 5 minutes.
Cool is a man who at 60 years of age decided to add singer / songwriter and musician to his already impressive CV by co writing and singing on the classic Ry Cooder song 'Across the borderline'.... his warm weather beaten vocals adding a gentle yet powerful backbone to an amazing song.
The man in question is Harry Dean Stanton, an actor who first grabbed my attention without me even realising how in films of such caliber as 'Alien', 'Repo Man' and 'Paris Texas'.He is blessed with a face that looks like it's bore witness to a thousand lifetimes, at times world weary,quietly amused or deeply sad. He is the owner of the original hangdog expression, jaded yet resigned to the hand that fate has dealt. His eyes betray glimpses of a sad smile.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the swirling emotional dustbowl of  modern cinema that is 'Paris Texas'. As the haunted amnesiac he carries the story of a man who forgot his life,slowly leading up to a powerful endgame of total recall, love, redemption and forgiveness. In somebody else's hands this character could have been ruined by trying to convey feelings through ticks and mannerisms, but not Harry Dean Stanton. He is a virtual emotional blank slate until the time of his recollection of his life which is told in a matter of fact way as a man recounting a fable to a child. I haven't seen the film fully in almost 15 years but i can still remember it vivdly, such was the power of his performance.
Later on in his career he became a staple of many a David Lynch film. Kindred spirits maybe? Both bear the outside appearence of good old down homey Americana from a bygone age, but viewed through a glass darkly.
Nowhere is Harry Deans bubbling undercurrent of menace more prevelant than as the Mormon Sect leader in the fantastic HBO series 'Big Love'. You wouldn't want to cross him.
To see if you agree about my opinion of this quiet giant of an actor I recommend the following films/tv shows to show the diversity of character he can display:

PRETTY IN PINK
PARIS,TEXAS
REPO MAN
WILD AT HEART
THE GREEN MILE
BIG LOVE -TV SERIES