Bruce Campbell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bruce Campbell
Campbell at the 2014 Phoenix Comicon
Born	Bruce Lorne Campbell (1958-06-22) June 22, 1958 (age 64) Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Western Michigan University
Occupation	Actor director
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Christine Deveau ​ ​ (m. 1983; div. 1989)​ Ida Gearon ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	2

Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film Within the Woods. He has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave (1985), Maniac Cop (1988), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002).

In television, Campbell had lead roles in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993–1994) and Jack of All Trades (2000), and a recurring role as Autolycus, King of Thieves, in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–1999). He played Sam Axe on the USA Network series Burn Notice (2007–2013) and reprised his role as Ash Williams on the Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015–2018).

Campbell started his directing career with Fanalysis (2002) and A Community Speaks (2004), and then with the horror comedy feature films Man with the Screaming Brain (2005) and My Name Is Bruce (2007), the latter being a spoof of his career. He can also be seen as the role of the father in The Escort (2015).

Early life

Campbell was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, to Joanne Louise (née Pickens), a homemaker, and Charles Newton Campbell, who worked in advertising for 35 years in roles ranging from traveling billboard inspector to company vice-president, later teaching at nine colleges as an adjunct professor, and was also an actor and director in local theater.

Campbell has an older brother, Don, and an older half-brother, Michael Rendine. He is of Scottish and English descent.

Career

Early years

Campbell signing a VHS copy of The Evil Dead at a fan meet-and-greet

Campbell began acting as a teenager and soon began making short Super 8 movies with friends. After he met Sam Raimi in Wylie E. Groves High School, the two became very good friends and started making movies together. Campbell would go on to attend Western Michigan University while he continued to work on his acting career. Campbell and Raimi collaborated on a 30-minute Super 8 version of the first Evil Dead film, titled Within the Woods, which was initially used to attract investors.

Major film roles

A few years later, Campbell and Raimi got together with family and friends and began work on The Evil Dead. While starring in the lead role, Campbell also worked behind the camera, receiving a "co-executive producer" credit. Raimi wrote, directed and edited, while fellow Michigander Rob Tapert was producer. Following an endorsement by horror writer Stephen King, the film slowly began to receive distribution. Four years following its original release, it became the number one movie in the UK. It then received distribution in the United States, spawning two sequels: Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness.

Campbell was also drawn in the Marvel Zombie comics as his character, Ash Williams. He is featured in five comics, all in the series Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness. In them, he fights alongside the Marvel heroes against the heroes and people who have turned into zombies (deadites) while in search of the Necronomicon (Book of the Names of the Dead). Campbell also played as Coach Bummer in the movie “Sky High”.

He has appeared in many of Raimi's films outside of the Evil Dead series, notably having cameo appearances in the director's Spider-Man film series. Campbell also joined the cast in Raimi's Darkman and The Quick and the Dead, though having no actual screen time in the latter film's theatrical cut. In March 2022, Campbell was announced to have a cameo in Raimi's Marvel Cinematic Universe film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Campbell at WonderCon in 2013

Campbell often takes on quirky roles, such as Elvis Presley in the film Bubba Ho-Tep. Along with Bubba Ho-Tep, he played a supporting role in Maniac Cop and Maniac Cop 2, and spoofed his career in the self-directed My Name is Bruce.

Other mainstream films for Campbell include supporting or featured roles in the Coen Brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy, the Michael Crichton adaptation Congo, the film version of McHale's Navy, Escape From L.A. (the sequel to John Carpenter's Escape From New York), the Jim Carrey drama The Majestic and the 2005 Disney film Sky High.

Campbell had a starring voice role in the hit 2009 animated adaptation of the children's book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and a supporting voice role in Pixar's Cars 2.

Campbell produced the remake of The Evil Dead, along with Raimi and Rob Tapert. Campbell appeared with the expectation he would reprise that role in Army of Darkness 2. He later worked as an executive producer for the 2023 film, Evil Dead Rise.

Television roles

Outside of film, Campbell has appeared in a number of television series. He starred in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. a boisterous science fiction comedy western created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse that ran for one season. He played a lawyer turned bounty hunter who was trying to hunt down John Bly, the man who killed his father. He starred in the television series Jack of All Trades, set on a fictional island occupied by the French in 1801. Campbell was also credited as co-executive producer, among others. The show was directed by Eric Gruendemann, and was produced by various people, including Sam Raimi. The show aired for two seasons, from 2000 to 2001. He had a recurring role as "Bill Church Jr." based upon the character of Morgan Edge from the Superman comics on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

From 1996 to 1997, Campbell was a recurring guest star on the show Ellen as Ed Billik, who becomes Ellen's boss when she sells her bookstore in season four.

He is also known for his supporting role as the recurring character Autolycus ("King of Thieves") on both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, which reunited him with producer Rob Tapert. Campbell played Hercules/Xena series producer Tapert in two episodes of Hercules set in the present. He directed a number of episodes of Hercules and Xena, including the Hercules series finale.

Campbell also landed the lead role of race car driver Hank Cooper in the Disney made-for-television remake of The Love Bug.

Campbell made a critically acclaimed dramatic guest role as a grief-stricken detective seeking revenge for his father's murder in a two-part episode of the fourth season of Homicide: Life on the Street. Campbell later played the part of a bigamous demon in The X-Files episode "Terms of Endearment". He also starred as Agent Jackman in the episode "Witch Way Now?" of the WB series Charmed, as well as playing a state police officer in an episode of the short-lived series American Gothic titled "Meet the Beetles".

Campbell co-starred on the television series Burn Notice, which aired from 2007 to 2013 on USA Network. He portrayed Sam Axe, a beer-chugging, former Navy SEAL now working as an unlicensed private investigator and occasional mercenary with his old friend Michael Westen, the show's main character. When working undercover, his character frequently used the alias Chuck Finley, which Bruce later revealed was the name of one of his father's old co-workers. Campbell was the star of a 2011 Burn Notice made-for-television prequel focusing on Sam's Navy SEAL career, titled Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe.

In 2014, Campbell played Santa Claus in an episode of The Librarians. Campbell played Ronald Reagan in season 2 of the FX original series Fargo. More recently Campbell reprised his role as Ashley "Ash" Williams in Ash vs Evil Dead, a series based upon the Evil Dead franchise that launched his career. Ash vs Evil Dead began airing on Starz on October 31, 2015, and was renewed by the cable channel for second and third seasons, before being cancelled.

In January 2019, Travel Channel announced a reboot of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! reality series, with Bruce Campbell serving as host and executive producer. The 10-episode season debuted on June 9, 2019.

Voice acting

Campbell is featured as a voice actor in several video game titles. He provides the voice of Ash in the four games based on the Evil Dead film series: Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick, Evil Dead: Regeneration and Evil Dead: The Game. He also provided voice talent in other titles such as Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Dead by Daylight.

He provided the voice of main character Jake Logan in the PC title, Tachyon: The Fringe, the voice of main character Jake Burton in the PlayStation game Broken Helix and the voice of Magnanimous in Megas XLR. Campbell voiced the pulp adventurer Lobster Johnson in Hellboy: The Science of Evil and has done voice-over work for the Codemaster's game Hei$t, a game which was announced on January 28, 2010 to have been "terminated". He also provided the voice of The Mayor in the 2009 film Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, the voice of Rod "Torque" Redline in Cars 2 and the voice of Fugax in the 2006 film The Ant Bully.

Despite the inclusion of his character "Ash Williams" in Telltale Games' Poker Night 2, Danny Webber voices the character in the game, instead of Bruce Campbell.

He has a voice in the online MOBA game, Tome: Immortal Arena in 2014. Campbell also provided voice-over and motion capture for Sgt. Lennox in the Exo Zombies mode of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Writing

In addition to acting and occasionally directing, Campbell has become a writer, starting with an autobiography, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, published in June 2001. The autobiography was a successful New York Times Best Seller. The paperback version of the book adds a chapter about the reaction of fans at book signings.

"Whenever I do mainstream stuff, I think they're pseudo-interested, but they're still interested in seeing weirdo, offbeat stuff, and that's what I'm attracted to".

If Chins Could Kill follows Campbell's career to date as an actor in low-budget films and television, providing his insight into "Blue-Collar Hollywood".

Campbell's next book was published on May 26, 2005. The book's plot involves Bruce (depicted in a comical way) as the main character struggling to make it into the world of A-list movies.

In addition to his books, Campbell also wrote a column for X-Ray Magazine in 2001, an issue of the popular comic series The Hire, and comic book adaptations of his Man with the Screaming Brain. Most recently he wrote the introduction to Josh Becker's The Complete Guide to Low-Budget Feature Filmmaking.

In late 2016, Campbell announced that he would be releasing a third book, Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor, which will detail his life from where If Chins Could Kill left off. Hail to the Chin was released in August 2017, and accompanied by a book tour across the United States and Europe.

Campbell maintained a blog on his official website, where he posted mainly about politics and the film industry. The blog has since been discontinued.

Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival

Since 2014, the Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival, narrated and organized by Campbell, was held in the Muvico Theater in Rosemont, Illinois. The first festival had its original run from August 21 to 25, 2014, presented by Wizard World, as part of the Chicago Comicon. The second festival ran from August 20 to 23, 2015, with guests Tom Holland and Eli Roth. The third festival took place over four days in August 2016. Guests of the event were Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert and Doug Benson.

Personal life

Campbell's first wife was Christine Deveau, whom he married in 1983. They had two children, and divorced in 1989. Campbell currently lives in Jacksonville, Oregon, with his second wife, costume designer Ida Gearon, whom he met on the set of the movie Mindwarp. He is also an ordained pastor and has performed marriage ceremonies.

Trivia

The comedy metal band Psychostick released a song titled 'Bruce Campbell' on their album IV: Revenge of the Vengeance that pays a comedic tribute to his past roles.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Film	Role	Director	Notes
1977	It's Murder!	Cop on Bicycle	Sam Raimi
1978	Within the Woods	Bruce	Sam Raimi	Short film; also executive producer
	Shemp Eats the Moon	Shemp Malone	John Cameron	Short film; also producer
1979	Attack of the Helping Hand	The Hamburger Helper Helping Hand / The Pillsbury Doughboy	Scott Spiegel	Uncredited roles Short film; also cinematographer
1980	The Blind Waiter	The Blind Waiter	Josh Becker and Scott Spiegel	Uncredited role Short film
1981	The Evil Dead	Ash Williams	Sam Raimi	Also executive producer
1982	Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter	Cleveland Smith	Josh Becker	Short film
	Blood Simple investor trailer	Julian Marty	Joel and Ethan Coen	Short film
1983	Going Back	Brice Chapman	Ron Teachworth
1985	Crimewave	Renaldo 'The Heel'	Sam Raimi	Also co-producer
	Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except	Video newscaster	Josh Becker	Uncredited cameo Also story writer
1987	Evil Dead II	Ash Williams	Sam Raimi	Also co-producer
1988	Maniac Cop	Jack Forrest	William Lustig
1989	Intruder	Officer Howard	Scott Spiegel
	Moontrap	Ray Tanner	Robert Dyke
	Easy Wheels	N/A	David O'Malley	Producer
	The Dead Next Door	N/A	J.R. Bookwalter	Voices
1990	Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat	Robert Van Helsing	Anthony Hickox
	Maniac Cop 2	Jack Forrest	William Lustig
	Darkman	Final Shemp	Sam Raimi	Cameo
1991	Lunatics: A Love Story	Ray	Josh Becker	Also producer
1992	Eddie Presley	Asylum Attendant	Jeff Burr	Cameo
	Waxwork II: Lost in Time	John Loftmore	Anthony Hickox
	Mindwarp	Stover	Steve Barnett
	The Nutt House	N/A	Adam Rifkin	Writer
	Army of Darkness	Ash Williams	Sam Raimi	Also co-producer
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Smitty	Joel and Ethan Coen
1995	Congo	Charles Travis	Frank Marshall
	The Quick and the Dead	Wedding Shemp	Sam Raimi	Deleted scene
	The Demolitionist	Raffle Winner	Robert Kurtzman	Uncredited cameo
1996	Fargo	Soap opera actor on TV	Joel and Ethan Coen	Uncredited cameo
	Escape from L.A.	Surgeon General of Beverly Hills	John Carpenter
1997	In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory	Jeff Erickson	Dick Lowry
	Menno's Mind	Mick Dourif	Jon Kroll
	Running Time	Carl	Josh Becker
	McHale's Navy	Virgil	Bryan Spicer
1998	The Ice Rink	Actor	Jean-Philippe Toussaint
1999	From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money	Barry	Scott Spiegel	Direct-to-DVD
2000	Icebreaker	Carl Greig	David Giancola
	Timequest	William Roberts	Robert Dyke
2001	Hubert's Brain	Thompson	Phil Robinson	Voice Short film
	The Majestic	Roland the Intrepid Explorer	Frank Darabont	Cameo
2002	Spider-Man	Ring Announcer	Sam Raimi	Cameo
	Hatred of a Minute	N/A	Michael Kallio	Producer
	Bubba Ho-Tep	Elvis Presley	Don Coscarelli
	Serving Sara	Gordon Moore	Reginald Hudlin
	Fanalysis	Himself	Himself	Documentary; also producer
2003	Intolerable Cruelty	Soap opera actor on TV	Joel and Ethan Coen	Uncredited cameo
2004	The Ladykillers	Humane Society Worker	Joel and Ethan Coen	Uncredited cameo
	Comic Book: The Movie	Himself	Mark Hamill	Direct-to-DVD
	A Community Speaks	Himself	Himself & Ida Gearon	Documentary; also producer and editor
	Spider-Man 2	Snooty Usher	Sam Raimi	Cameo
2005	Man with the Screaming Brain	William Cole	Himself	Also writer and producer
	Sky High	Tommy Boomowski / Coach Boomer / Sonic Boom	Mike Mitchell
2006	The Woods	Joe Fasulo	Lucky McKee
	The Ant Bully	Fugax	John A. Davis	Voice
2007	Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters	Chicken Bittle	Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis	Voice
	Spider-Man 3	Maître d'	Sam Raimi	Cameo
	My Name Is Bruce	Faux Bruce Campbell	Himself	Also producer
2009	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs	Mayor Shelbourne	Phil Lord and Chris Miller	Voice
	White on Rice	Muramoto	Dave Boyle	Voice
2011	Cars 2	Rod "Torque" Redline	John Lasseter and Brad Lewis	Voice
2012	The Color of Time	Goody	Various
2013	Oz the Great and Powerful	Winkie Guard	Sam Raimi	Cameo
	Evil Dead	Ash Williams	Fede Álvarez	Uncredited cameo; also producer
2015	The Escort	Charles Cooper	Will Slocombe
2021	Black Friday!	Jonathan	Casey Tebo	Also producer
	18½	President Richard Nixon	Dan Mirvish	Voice
2022	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	Pizza Poppa guy	Sam Raimi	Cameo
2023	Evil Dead Rise	N/A	Lee Cronin	Executive producer
TBA	Highly Functional	Chili Youngfield	Marc Forby	Post-production

Television

Video games

Accolades