Stanton appeared in indie and cult films ("Two-Lane Blacktop", "Cockfighter", "Escape from New York", "Repo Man"), as well as many mainstream Hollywood productions, including "Cool Hand Luke", "The Godfather Part II", "Alien", "Red Dawn", "Alpha Dog", "Pretty in Pink", Stephen King's "Christine", and "The Green Mile". He was a favorite actor of the directors Sam Peckinpah, John Milius, David Lynch, and Monte Hellman, and was also close friends with Francis Ford Coppola and Jack Nicholson. He was best man at Nicholson's wedding in 1962.