Cancer-stricken Easy Rider star Dennis Hopper files for divorce from his deathbed

Reports suggest the Easy Rider star could be trying to cap the amount his wife will receive from his will. (REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier)

Cancer-stricken actor Dennis Hopper has filed for divorce from his wife of nearly 14 years, court records have shown.

Hopper, 73, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, filed his petition to divorce Victoria Hopper in Los Angeles Superior Court last Thursday. He is said to have less than a month to live after the cancer spread to his bones.

Reports suggest the Easy Rider star could be trying to cap the amount his wife will receive from his will.

The couple married on April 12, 1996 and separated last Tuesday, according to the petition, which cited "irreconcilable differences" for the split. He is seeking joint legal and physical custody of the couple's daughter, Galen, 6.

Hopper has appeared in several classic films during a career spanning more than half a century.

A notable early role came in the James Dean hit "Rebel Without a Cause" in 1955, and he later appeared in 1969's "Easy Rider," "Apocalypse Now" (1979) and "Blue Velvet" (1986)