The Pitt’s Katherine LaNasa praises hospice nurses who cared for ex-husband Dennis Hopper when he was dying

Dennis Hopper died on Could 29, 2010, at his house in Venice, Los Angeles, and his ex-wife Katherine LaNasa has now opened up on his last days, praising the hospice nurses who cared for the award-winning actor. The Pitt actress Katherine made an look on the Finish Nicely Convention on November 20, which HELLO! attended, becoming a member of a panel alongside Nikki Boyer and Tembi Locke that mentioned how popular culture, from podcasts to TV, has been serving to individuals discuss dying with humor, honesty, and coronary heart.

In the course of the emotional dialog, Katherine revealed that she “discovered a lot from them: a compassionate attachment and steadiness,” that she used when creating the character Dana Evans in The Pitt.  “Fifteen years in the past when the hospice nurses have been with my ex-husband – my son’s dad – I spent quite a lot of time, months, with them when he was dying, and I discovered a lot from them: a compassionate detachment and it was that steadiness and the compassion, that I actually tried to place into Dana,” Katherine instructed the viewers, praising the nurses for following their “calling”.

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She continued: “I spotted with my ex-husband, when he was dying, that I used to be very capable of be current and that I wasn’t afraid and I needed to be there. I thought-about it an honor and I discovered a lot about what it seems like when individuals are dying.”

The actress, who additionally frolicked together with her grandmother when she was dying, added: “Then when my grandmother was dying, I felt higher use as a result of I used to be capable of inform the carers to take a break.” A vital, but usually missed facet of caregiving is the wants of the caregivers and hospice employees themselves.

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On the age of 73, Dennis’ supervisor shared the information that he had been identified with superior prostate most cancers and that it had metastasized to his bones. The Oscar-nominated actor was within the technique of divorcing his fifth spouse, Victoria Duffy, and paperwork confirmed that the most cancers was terminal and he was not capable of be handled with chemotherapy.

Dennis died at his house on the age of 74.

© Patrick McMullan by way of Getty Picture

Finish Nicely is a nonprofit devoted to the idea that each one individuals ought to expertise the tip of life in a approach that matches their values and targets. The 2025 convention’s theme was Radical Bravery, in regards to the on a regular basis braveness to “face grief, sickness, caregiving, and dying with open eyes and open hearts”.

Katherine, who pulled off a exceptional efficiency as Dana a hardworking nurse of a long time who, beneath her robust exterior, was battling the overwhelming psychological toll of main a short-staffed crew post-COVID, gained an Emmy for her position within the HBO sequence.

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The present and her efficiency have each resonated with nurses and medical professionals, with Katherine sharing that she has acquired quite a few feedback on-line and in individual, thanking her for exhibiting the sincere hardships confronted in ER departments.

For her work in The Pitt, Katherine studied with actual nurses, shadowing workers in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. “I heard a podcaster as soon as say, ‘You by no means know what you are going to see once you go to the crime scene,’ and that is how I really feel about going to the emergency division,” she added. “Portraying a nurse on tv precisely is a lot in regards to the tone, and the vibe, the way in which that they’re.”

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Born in 1966 in New Orleans, Katherine was a dancer as an adolescent who toured professionally for the Salt Lake Metropolis Ballet West and the Armitage troupe. In Los Angeles in 1987, she met Hollywood actor Dennis, and the pair married in 1990.

The pair welcomed a son collectively, Henry Hopper, however divorced in 1992.

© Ron Galella Assortment by way of Getty

In 2023, Katherine was identified with breast most cancers. “Due for my annual mammogram, I went in to see the physician. After two mammograms and two biopsies, the outcomes, this time, got here again cancerous,” she instructed Ladies’s Well being in an op-ed in early 2025.

Katherine underwent surgical procedure and about three weeks of day by day radiation.

Katherine will return to The Pitt for season two, presently filming and set to premiere in January 2026.