Bruce (I) Campbell filmography and biography
Date of birth: 22 June 1958, Birmingham, Michigan, USA
Bruce (I) Campbell biography
"Uncle Sam's favorite son" as the lyrics to the theme of Jack of All Trades go, was born June 22, 1958 (the youngest of 3 brothers) in Royal Oak, Michigan. As a child, Bruce watched Lost in Space on TV, and ran around dressed as Zorro. He got the acting bug at age 8; his dad was performing in local community theater. At 14, Bruce got to play the young prince in "The King and I" and even got to sing. He went on to appear in several community theater productions, including "South Pacific". However, he was also interested in directing, and shot super-8 flicks with a neighborhood pal. Perhaps through fate, he met future director Sam Raimi in a high school drama class in 1975. Soon, along with Sam, and now a bunch of other high school pals, Bruce filmed about 50 super-8 movies. During the summer of 1976, he was an apprentice in northern Michigan at Traverse City's Cherry County Playhouse, a summer-stock company. Bruce worked 18-hour days putting up sets, being assistant stage manager, doing errands, etc. No money, but it was a learning experience (it was show biz). He attended Western Michigan University and took theater courses. Bruce became a production assistant for a company that made commercials in Detroit. In the early part of 1979, with buddy Sam Raimi, he decided to become a pro filmmaker. Armed with a super-8 horror film Within the Woods which they showed potential investors, they raised $350,000 to make The Evil Dead which Bruce co-produced and starred in as "Ash". Four years later, the completed film became the best-selling video of 1983 in England, and New Line Cinema got it a US release. Around this time, he married his first wife, and they had 2 kids. They raised 10 times as much cash for the sequel Evil Dead II again co-produced by Bruce and starring him as "Ash". He moved to L.A. In 1990, while filming Mindwarp, he met his future second wife (costume designer Ida Gearon) on the set. In 1992, he rejoined Sam, and Bruce co-produced and starred as "Ash" in the 3rd of the Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness for Universal Studios. On TV, Bruce directed many episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Bruce also acted as the recurring character "Autolycus", the King of Thieves; he portrayed this villain with zest in both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. Bruce's latest television venture was starring as the title rogue of Jack of All Trades. Everybody loves Jack. And everybody's heard of him -- "There ain't a French or pirate rogue who don't know Jack!".
Bruce (I) Campbell trivia
- The L-shaped scar on his chin came from fighting with his brother,
Don Campbell (I).
- Son of Charlie Campbell (I).
- He baby-sat Ted Raimi, the younger brother of Sam Raimi
and Ivan Raimi.
- Often associated with Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert.
- Thought by Sam Raimi and other directors to take "the best head
shot in the business."
- Was considered for the role of Agent Doggett on
The X Files.
- (1976) Attended Western Michigan University for six months before
leaving to continue his already budding acting career.
- Now lives in a small town just outside of Medford, Oregon.
- Screen-tested for the lead role in The Phantom.
- 26 July 2003 - Received minor injuries in a car accident near Ashland,
Oregon. He was hit by a man who was charged as DUI.
- Considered to be the best "Reverse Actor" in Hollywood.
- Announced the winner of the 2nd Annual SPACEY Awards on April 18th, 2004
for "Favorite Horror Movie" - 28 Days Later....
- In Fargo and Intolerable Cruelty, he is
uncredited for playing soap actors.
- Recorded a full length commentary for BubbaHo-Tep in
character as Elvis.
- He won the audition for the lead role in
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. by grabbing the
back of his shirt collar and flipping himself. He then had to repeat
the trick at every callback, totaling about 5 or 6 flips!.
- Long time friend and frequent collaborator Sam Raimi originally
wanted him to play the lead role in Darkman but the
producers refused to cast him because they didn't think he could handle
it. He appears at the end of the film as "Final Shemp".
- Has been used several times by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
(including twice as an uncredited soap opera actor).
- Was the first choice to play Louis Creed in Pet Sematary.
- #22 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]
- Favorite movie is The Bridge on the River Kwai
- He appeared in every project of Sam Raimi's (including both TV
shows) until the mid-'90s, when his scenes were cut from
The Quick and the Dead.
- Auditioned for the role of "Bruce Wayne/Batman" in
Batman Forever.
- Has expressed an interest in working with Kevin Smith (I).
- He met his current wife (Ida Gearon) on the set of
Mindwarp.
- Attended high school and remains close friends with director
Sam Raimi and producer John Cameron (II).
- 1976 graduate of Birmingham Groves High School, Birmingham, Michigan.
- Second cousin of actor, Bill Campbell (I).
- Married his second wife in the same wedding chapel where
Ronald Reagan (I) married Nancy Davis (I).
- Once worked as a security guard at a beer brewery until a co-worker
realized he was in The Evil Dead.
- Brisco County Jr was Bruce Campbell's favourite role.
Bruce (I) Campbell quotes
- There is a large element of me in every role I do. Actors who say they
can dive inside a character are either schizophrenic or lying.
- [When asked what he would want with him if stuck on a deserted island]
"A continent."
- [about Assault on Dome 4 (1996) (TV) and Moontrap]:
The movies that are the easiest to make are the hardest to watch.
- [about his fans] Thanks for being very loyal . . . they're very
well-informed and they're very loyal. Tell 'em I'll need them on that
opening weekend.
- [About the Evil Dead trilogy] For me, the first film was frankly about
learning how to act. I can watch [The Evil Dead] from
about halfway on without cringing . . . When
Army of Darkness came around, we decided to make a
different type of movie altogether and made an action-adventure picture
with the same imbecile.
- Don't aspire to be a B-movie director, you'll be there soon enough.
- If you go to Hollywood, you've already sold out. By the sheer act of
going there, you're saying, 'I need to go there because this is the
only way I can get my movie made.' Baloney! Indiana's the place to make
your movie. Pontiac, Michigan. Whatever. Then you're just making it on
the merits of the movie. You don't have to have any discussions about
what's hip now. Who can we get to do the soundtrack? You can actually
put a score to your movie instead of a soundtrack. I get this thing all
the time. Filmmakers go, 'Can I send you a script? You'll read it and
attach yourself and we'll package it.' Why can't you get the money
based on nothing, just the script? This whole packaging thing is out of
control. Then you get absurd casting because it's all packaged by the
same talent agency. The sensibility is so bizarre.
- I can't vouch for the script because they never gave us full scripts for
Spider-Man. They would only give you the pages, and they
all had serial numbers, and if it ever wound up on the Internet, they
would sue you and murder you and take your children.
- [On why he turned down the chance to reprise his role in a sequel to
Bubba Hotep]: Don Coscarelli is a very passionate filmmaker. We
got to a few points that we couldn't reconcile. I want to keep our
friendship, so we parted ways. So I'm not part of that project.
- It seemed that my lot in life was to either have big parts in small
films or small parts in big films.
- I'm not interested in making a $60-million studio film with a bunch of
24-year-olds telling me what to do.