"Hail to the King" of B-Actors
If you know Evil Dead, you know Bruce Campbell. If you love Evil Dead, then you're part of his own personal cult-following. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, the man's
extensive career in TV, movies, books and video games makes it almost certain that you've seen him
before. Just check out the list below.
The world received Campbell on June 22, 1958 in the city of Royal Oak, Michigan. Rumor has it that
he had the uncanny ability to speak right at birth, and greeted the attending nurse with "Gimme
some sugar, baby." Undoubtedly the world was a little brighter from that day on. Attending
Western Michigan University briefly, Campbell eventually got together with high-school friend Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. The three scraped $350,000 together from investors and put together the cult-horror classic Evil Dead. In the words of Campbell:
"In the early part of 1979, with buddy Sam Raimi and new associate Rob Tapert, I set out to become a professional filmmaker. We realized that the fastest way to break into the real world of "show biz" was to take fate into our own hands and raise the darn money ourselves. We put together a short super-8 horror film, "Within The Woods," which served as a good vehicle for raising money from potential investors. This resulted in a whopping $350,000 (almost as much as "Titanic") to make "Evil Dead." I starred in this epic and Co-Executive produced it as well."
Though its low-budget-ness is obvious, and the effects and acting quite cheesy, it is all part of the film's unique character. Attention was first given to the film at Cannes because of a personal endorsement by Stephen King himself.
The second and third installments in the series were very well received by fans, if not by critics,
and Bruce Campbell alone was the reason. The man may never win an Oscar but he has a stage
presence that is macho, goofy, and self-aware all at the same time. It is the kind of comedy you
enjoy when you don't take it too seriously, ie, you have a sense of humor. Campbell
went on to star in a number of films and tv shows, never shaking his B-actor image. Not that he is trying to. He released a book titled If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, glorifying his work as a b-actor and informing everyone that very few actors in Hollywood are the stereotypical Beverly Hills-mansion-owning,swimming-in-millions big-time players. Most of them are more like Campbell himself and he goes on to say that these actors actually have to work their asses off for a living. Recently, Campbell can be seen as the fight-promoter in Spiderman. He also did the narration for the Spiderman video game, being one of the many games he has worked on. Visit his website at www.bruce-campbell.com for extensive info on his projects, past, present and upcoming as well as some personal writings that he offers for visitors to read.
Thanks Bruce. Your work does not go unappreciated.
Evil Dead (film) 1982
Generations (tv) 1983
Going Back (film) 1983
Crimewave (Feature) 1985
Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (Feature) 1985
Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (Feature) 1987
Intruder (Feature) 1987
The Dead Next Door (Feature) 1988
Maniac Cop (Feature) 1988
Easy Wheels (Feature)
Moontrap (Feature) 1989
Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (Feature) 1989
Darkman (Feature) 1990
Maniac Cop II (Feature) 1990
Mindwarp (Feature) 1990
Lunatics: A Love Story (Feature) 1991
Waxwork II: Lost in Time (Feature) 1992
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (TV Series) 1993 - 94
Army of Darkness (Feature) 1993 - 94
The Hudsucker Proxy (Feature) 1994
American Gothic (TV Series) 1995
Congo (Feature) 1995
The Demolitionist (Feature) 1995
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (TV Series) 1995 - 99
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (TV Series) 1995
The Quick and the Dead (Feature) 1995
Assault on Dome 4 (TV Movie) 1996
Broken Helix (Video Game) 1996
Ellen (TV Series) 1996
Escape from LA (Feature) 1996
Fargo (Feature) 1996
Homicide: Life on the Street (TV Series) 1996
Menno's Mind (Feature) 1996
Tornado! (TV Movie) 1996
Xena: Warrior Princess (TV Series) 1996 - 99
Ellen (TV Series) 1997
In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (TV Movie) 1997
The Love Bug (TV Movie) 1997
McHale's Navy (Feature) 1997
Missing Links (TV Pilot) 1997
Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle (Video Game) 1997
Running Time (Feature) 1997
Timecop (TV Series) 1997
Goldrush (TV Movie) 1998
X-Files (TV Series) 1999
From Dusk Till Dawn II: Texas Blood Money (Feature) 1999
Evil Dead: Hail to the King (Video Game) 2000
Icebreaker (Feature) 2000
Jack of All Trades (TV Series) 2000
La Patinoire (Feature) 2000
Tachyon: The Fringe (Video Game) 2000
Beggars and Choosers (TV Series) 2001
Fanalysis (Documentary) 2001
Hubert's Brain (Animated Short) 2001
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a "B" Movie Actor (Autobiography) 2001
The Majestic (Feature) 2001
V.I.P. (TV Series) 2001
Charmed (TV Series) 2002
Serving Sara (Feature) 2002
Spider-Man (Feature) 2002
Spider-Man: The Movie Game (Video Game) 2002
Terminal Invasion (TV Movie) 2002
Drugs (Feature) 2003
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick (VG) 2003
Intolerable Cruelty (Feature) 2003
"
Duck Dodgers" (TV) 2003
"
My Life as a Teenage Robot" (TV) 2003
The Ladykillers (Feature) 2004
Spider-Man 2 (Feature) 2004
"
Megas XLR" (TV) 2004
Alien Apocalypse (TV) 2005
Man with the Screaming Brain (Feature) 2005
Sky High (Feature) 2005
Evil Dead: Regeneration (VG) 2005
The Woods (Feature) 2006
They Call Me Bruce (Feature) 2006
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