Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe HOPPER: CORPSES USED IN 'APOCALYPSE NOW' When it comes to Hollywood, actor/filmmaker Dennis Hopper knows where all the bodies are buried. Literally. Advertisement While promoting his latest project, "Knockaround Guys," Hopper dropped a bombshell regarding one of his earlier films, "Apocalypse Now." Real cadavers were used in Francis Ford Coppola's controversial 1979 Vietnam War epic. "Well, the prop guys had gone in and gotten these -- I don't know about digging them up -- (they) went into the morgue and got them out and kept them in the refrigerator truck and kept hanging them up every day with fake bodies," the "Easy Rider" writer/director recalls. "And one day, Martin Sheen came down and went, 'Wow, it looks so real,' and touched a toe and freaked out because it was real and then he freaked out about disease ... that's what I remember. But, I knew the prop guys were getting them because I was hanging out with the prop guys and they were taking them out of the refrigerator thing and hanging them in the trees everyday," he claims. Advertisement Acknowledging it might have been easier to use fake cadavers and just pretend they were real, Hopper ("Rebel Without a Cause," "Giant") argues: "Yeah, but you don't get a response out of Martin Sheen everyday like that. Come on." Hopper says he is not aware of anybody getting in trouble for the incident. He also claims he doesn't know if director Coppola ordered the bodies to be used or if the prop guys just took initiative in securing them. NYC MAYOR BOYCOTTS PARADE New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg boycotted Manhattan's traditional Columbus Day parade Monday rather than march without his pals from the HBO mob drama, "The Sopranos." However, that doesn't mean Hizzoner isn't honoring Italians and Italian-Americans. Bloomberg headed to the Bronx and walked in the borough's parade yesterday, announcing to the crowd, "It's great to be in the Bronx, and it's great to be at a parade where you can march with all your friends." The mayor's remark was widely interpreted as a slap at Manhattan parade organizers who banned "Sopranos" stars Lorraine Bracco and Dominic Chianese from taking part in the festivities. Claiming the HBO series promotes negative stereotypes of Italian-Americans, parade organizers went to court to bar Bloomberg from walking with the actors. Advertisement The New York Daily News reports Bloomberg planned to dine with Bracco and Chianese at an Italian eatery in the Bronx Monday. "I'm sure there'll be a few people in the Bronx that we can walk down the street and say hello to and to express our feelings," he told reporters. 'OUR TOWN' IS SEASON'S HOT TICKET The Broadway revival of "Our Town," starring "Road to Perdition" actor Paul Newman, already has racked up $1.5 million in its first five days of ticket sales. Variety reports that figure represents nearly half of the production's gross potential. The show's nine-week run begins Nov. 22 and ends Jan. 26, the actor's 78th birthday. PORTMAN, CRUZ TO STAR IN WW2 ROMANCE Natalie Portman, Penelope Cruz and Jay Rodan reportedly have signed on to star in writer-director John Duigan's epic World War II romance, "Head in the Clouds." The Hollywood Reporter says shooting will begin in Paris in December, then continue in Montreal until the end of February. The project, which Duigan ("Wide Sargasso Sea," "Sirens") has shepherded for several years, is being produced by Dakota Films and Remstar. Advertisement Portman, of Star Wars episodes one and two fame, will play Gilda Besse, a young budding fashion photographer who gets involved with Guy Penrose (Rodan) only to see their relationship torn apart as Guy's political interests lead him astray. Cruz ("Vanilla Sky," "All the Pretty Horses") plays Mia, a gypsy whom Gilda befriends.
