The following was written by the man himself
(with a special thanks to JusinW3, who forwarded it to me, and Bruce
My basic, boring story
The Beginning
I was born june 22, 1958 at the beaumont hospital in Royal Oak,
Michigan - any questions, so far?
I grew up in Birmingham, Michigan just outside of the Detroit area -
that's right, a filthy suburbanite and let me tell you, it was rough!
My interest in acting began at an early age, stemming from my old man's
own desire to be an artist - as in a painter - his name was Charlie - and
still is. see, Chas. worked in the advertising industry, but spent his
spare time as a member of a local community theater - as a creative outlet
from his unsatisfying job as an advertising executive.
At the tender age of eight, I saw Dad perform in a production of
"The Pajama Game." he was having a hoot and acting goofy and it
finally dawned on me that adults could still have fun and screw
around - if you were an actor. needless to say, this event left a
lasting impression.
Soon after, at the same theater group, I was cast in my first play, "The
King and I." At first, I was only in the chorus, but as fate would have
it, a much bigger role presented itself: the role of Chu Lu Long Horn, the
king's son, became open - some kid fell ill - you know the age old story.
for some reason, unknown to this day, I was mysteriously cast in his
place.
This part was my first opportunity to speak lines of dialogue and even
sing (god forbid!) in front of an audience. The experience turned out to
be a good one and little Brucie was hooked. The following years at the
community theater brought new roles (since I was getting taller), and I
finally was able to join the community theater at the age of eighteen.
During a high school drama class (1975), i met a snot-nosed kid
named Raimi - that's Sam Raimi to you. We both did lame pantomimes and
wound up consoling each other. Eventually, I became his magic show
assitant (Sam performed at various bar mitzvahs, etc.) and we plunged into
amateur filmmaking. Throughout high school, we wrote, produced, directed,
and acted in about 50 super-8mm movies, developing our primitive skills.
The summer after graduating from high school, I applied for (and got) an
apprenticeship with the Cherry County Playhouse in
Northern Michigan. There, i worked for nothing all summer under the thumb
of such tv stars as Abe Vigoda, Doug Mcclure, and Tommy Smothers. This
small dose of "professional" experience cemented my interest in this
ridiculous "business."
That fall, I enrolled in college - Western Michigan University. I
soon found, however, that the textbook theories and formulas of college
failed to compare with my recent hands-on experience - basically, to me,
college sucked. so, after six whole months, I dropped out and went to work
as a production assistant (a gopher - a runner, a lackey, a whipping boy)
for a Detroit TV production company. I worked there for about a year,
performing odd jobs, running errands, sometimes literally sweeping studios
and basically learning the nuts and bolts of the film industry.
Later, after I got tired of seeing lame actors get cast in stuff
that I felt I could do as lamely, I got into the maddening world of
commercials and industrial films (training films) for the
automotive industry. These presentations, rife with long
passages of technical dialogue, shot in continuous, uncut takes
were unquestionably the toughest work I've ever done - before or since.
see, you can't improvise or change anything - it's a
nightmare...
Right around this time, I met Robert Tapert, a roommate of Sam
Raimi's brother at Michigan State University - is that convoluted
enough for you? Rob had become interested in filmmaking after
seeing Sam's early films - go figure. later, both Sam and Rob also left
college early and we became a trio of drop-out losers!
In 1979, with Sam and Rob, we raised $350,000 for a low-budget film, "Evil
Dead." I starred and co-executive produced. completed
piecemeal over four years (after all, what was the rush?), the film first
gained notoriety in England where it became the best-selling video of
1983, beating out The Shining - suck on that! After its appearance at
Cannes (that's a fancy, pretentious festival in France), where Stephen
King dubbed it "the most ferociously original horror film of the year,"
New Line Cinema stepped forward to release Evil Dead in the U.S. - after
first rejecting it, I might add...
After filming "Crimewave," a cross-genre picture Rob Tapert and I
co-produced - written by Sam, with his newfound partners Ethan and Joel
Coen (who was the assistant editor of the original "evil dead"), Dino
Delaurentiis agreed to cough up the dough for the sequel to "ED." Blessed
with a budget ten times the original, "Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn" was
released in 1987 and I again starred in and co-produced (with Rob) this
"less gory, more funny" sequel. A move to Los Angeles followed, and I
gained a slippery foothold in a series of independent genre films
(classics! all of 'em!) such as "Maniac Cop," "Moontrap," and "Sundown: a
Vampire in Retreat." I met my wife, (then a costume designer) Ida Gearon,
on the set of "Mindwarp," a "post-apocalyptic Jeremiah Johnson." After
that, I put my producer hat back on and co-executive produced the biker
yarn "Easy Wheels" and produced "Lunatics: A Love Story," for
RCA/Columbia.
In 1992, I rejoined Sam and Rob and made the third of the Evil Dead
trilogy, "Army of Darkness," which I starred in again and co-produced for universal studios. Immediately following that,
those nutty Coen brothers allowed me to weasel my way into
their "big business comedy" "The Hudsucker Proxy" for Warner
Bros.
I then made my foray into the whacky world of television, first
starring in the touted Fox series "The Adventures of Brisco
County Jr.," then as a recurring guest-star (billionaire bad guy Bill
Church, Jr.) on "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman."
With these under my little belt, I was able to bull my way into the
director's chair, helming several episodes and guest-starring in the wild
and wooley syndicated series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys." I have
since reprised my "Autolycus: The King of Thieves" character in the new
"Hercules" companion series "Xena: Warrior Princess."
In the last two years or so, I've been able to get a little deeper
into this thing called television, with appearances on Sam Raimi's
cryptic "American Gothic" (hard to guess how I got that part, eh?),
Disney's TV movie update of "The Love Bug," and a dramatic turn on that
darn serious show - "Homicide." I joined up again with Fox earlier this
year for their high-rated "Twister"-like tv film (okay, i'll admit it...),
"Tornado."
But, I haven't abandoned the old film roots, though. During this
time, I snuck into "Congo," (which actually made a bag full of
dough) and John Carpenter's upcoming "Escape From LA."
Here is a run-down of upcoming stuff that will soon make their
way to a theater/video store/television set near you...I'll play:
it's an independent effort, bound for art house theaters,
directed by a long-time associate Josh Becker (Lunatics: A Love Story,
Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except). no release date yet.
Don't hold your breath just yet...there are currently no plans to do
another "Evil Dead" flick. Time, economics and the schedules of the
principal participants are all factors. However, I would be happy to do
another one if Sam Raimi directs. You never know...
There are two endings. In the original, the wise man gives Ash a
potion and tells him to drink one drop for each century he wants to sleep.
Ash seals himself up in a cave and, true to his genius, takes one drop
too many of the potion. When he finally wakes up, he's one century too
far into the future, and the world is a post-apocalyptic nightmare.
Oddly enough, universal thought that ending was too depressing (since it
didn't "test" well), so we had to shoot a second, "happier" ending. As
far as I know, the original ending can only be found on the Japanese laser
disc called "Captain Supermarket," or on bootleg versions.
Personally, I prefer the original ending - it's more appropriate for the
character and the series, since it left the door open for #4!
Yeah...run!
It's a tough business, but there are no secrets. The entertainment
business is the last gold rush - that's why so many flakes come to LA to
discover fame and fortune. But, as my pal Robert Tapert always says, "it
takes all kinds to fill the freeways."
Basically, you can be a Harvard grad (like Jodi Foster - or
wherever she went...) or you can come from the pig
slaughterhouse - like Tom Arnold - it just doesn't matter.
What matters, I have found, is hard work and persistance. Patience is a
big attribute out here in la-la land. but, you can't be lazy. All those
horror stories you hear are told by lazy people.
There is a heck of a lot more than that, but I recommend that you
get involved enough in the end of entertainment that interests
you (in Iowa or not) and find out if it's for you. It might not be, and
that's all right.
"Bridge Over the River Kwai," "Tender Mercies," "Sound of Music."
Robert Duvall - actor
Jennifer Jason Leigh - actress
I'm a 70's ballads kind-of-guy and - eeek! Country! Hey, you asked...all I
can say is that I'll still be able to hear in a few years...
What, are you nuts? what do you care?
BRUCE CAMPBELL
Frequently Asked Questions
The rest is...well...personal...
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the one and only lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-sarcastic-wiseass ditzy
blonde in bloomington (and proud of it, too)
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