Bruce Campbell

Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead horror series. He has also featured in many low-budget cult movies, such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop (1988), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002).

Campbell had the main roles of the television series 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 (1995–1999) and Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001). He played Sam Axe on the USA Network series Burn Notice (2007–2013) and reprised his role as Ash for the Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015–2018).

Campbell directed, produced, and featured in the documentaries Fanalysis (2002) and A Community Speaks (2004); co-wrote, directed, produced, and featured in the movie Man with the Screaming Brain (2005); and directed, produced, and featured in a parody of his career My Name Is Bruce (2007).

Campbell is known for frequent collaborations with Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi, Josh Becker, and Scott Spiegel.

Early life Bruce Lorne Campbell was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, on June 22, 1958, the son of advertising executive and college professor Charles Newton Campbell and homemaker Joanne Louise (née Pickens). He is of English and Scottish ancestry, His father was also an actor and director for local theater.

Career Film

Campbell and Raimi collaborated on a 30-minute Super 8 version of the first Evil Dead movie, titled Within the Woods (1979), which was initially used to attract investors. He and Raimi got together with family and friends to begin working on The Evil Dead (1981). While featuring as the protagonist, Campbell also had participation with the production of the movie, receiving a co-executive producer credit. Raimi wrote, directed, and edited the movie, while Rob Tapert produced. After an endorsement by horror author Stephen King, the movie slowly began to receive attention and offers for distribution. Four years after its original release, it became the most popular movie in the UK. It was then distributed in the United States, resulting in the sequels Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992).

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 become zombies (deadites) while in search of the Necronomicon (Book of the Names of the Dead).

He has appeared in several of Raimi's movies other than the Evil Dead series, notably having cameo appearances in the director's Spider-Man film series. Campbell also joined the cast of Raimi's movie Darkman and The Quick and the Dead, though having no actual screen time in the latter movie's theatrical version. 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 often performs quirky roles, such as Elvis Presley for the movie 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 movies for Campbell include supporting or featured roles in the Coen Brothers movie The Hudsucker Proxy, the Michael Crichton adaptation Congo, the movie 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 movie Sky High.

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

Campbell produced the 2013 remake of The Evil Dead, along with Raimi and Rob Tapert, appearing in the movie's post-credits scene in a cameo role with the expectation he would reprise that role in Army of Darkness 2. The next year, 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.

Campbell worked as an executive producer for the Evil Dead spin-off films Evil Dead Rise (2023), Evil Dead Burn (2026), and Evil Dead Wrath (2028).

In August 2025, Campbell had an interview with The Horror Zine, where he talked about a new project that he directed, and produced with his wife Ida, Ernie & Emma, a comedy film about a salesman who goes on a roadtrip across the country with his late wife's ashes; he stars as the titular Ernie in the film. On February 4, 2026, he released a trailer for it via YouTube. It premiered at the Holly Theatre in Medford, Oregon on February 14.

Television

Campbell has appeared in a number of television series in both lead and recurring roles. He featured in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. a boisterous science fiction comedy western created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse that played 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 featured 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 was broadcast 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 actor of the television series 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 obtained the main role of race car driver Hank Cooper for the Disney made-for-television remake of The Love Bug.

Campbell had 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 featured 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-featured in the television series Burn Notice, which was broadcast from 2007 to 2013 by 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 for 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 series that began 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 new version of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! reality series, with 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 for several video games. He provides the voice of Ash in the four games based on the Evil Dead movies series: Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick, Evil Dead: Regeneration and Evil Dead: The Game. He also provided the voice of Ash in Dead by Daylight, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0.

Campbell also provided voice talent in other titles such as Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, and The Amazing Spider-Man.

He provided the voice of main character Jake Logan for the 2000 PC game, Tachyon: The Fringe, the voice of main character Jake Burton for the 1997 PlayStation game Broken Helix, and the voice of Magnanimous in the animated TV series Megas XLR. the voice of Rod "Torque" Redline in Cars 2, the voice of Himcules in the 2003 Nickelodeon TV series My Life as a Teenage Robot, and the voice of Fugax in the 2006 movie The Ant Bully. 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. It describes Campbell's career to date as an actor in low-budget movies and television, providing his insight into "Blue-Collar Hollywood". He later recorded an audio play adaptation of Make Love with fellow Michigan actors, including longtime collaborator Ted Raimi. This radio drama was released by the independent label Rykodisc and spans six discs with a six-hour running time.

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 ended. Hail to the Chin was released in August 2017, and accompanied by a book tour across the United States and Europe.

Campbell maintained a weblog on his official website, where he posted mainly about politics and the movie industry. However, the website has since been deleted.

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 was originally from August 21 to 25, 2014, presented by Wizard World, as part of the Chicago Comicon. The second festival was 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 married Christine Deveau in 1983; they had two children before divorcing in 1989. He met costume designer Ida Gearon while working on Mindwarp. They married in 1991. They reside in Jacksonville, Oregon. Campbell was raised in a Christian Science household, but since becoming an adult, he has sought a more individual "journey" of belief, preferring to describe himself as a "citizen of the world" rather than identifying with any religious denomination.

Campbell is a Kentucky Colonel.

On March 2, 2026, Campbell announced on social media that he was diagnosed with "a type of cancer that's 'treatable' not 'curable'".

Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film YearFilm Role Director Notes 1977 It's Murder! Cop on Bicycle Sam Raimi 1978 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 Within the Woods Bruce Sam Raimi Short film; also executive producer 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 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 cameoAlso 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 David O'Malley Producer The Dead Next Door Raimi & Commander Carpenter 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 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 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 2023 Evil Dead Rise Ash Williams Lee Cronin Voice; uncredited cameo; also executive producer Ernie & Emma Ernie Tyler Himself Also producer Evil Dead Burn Sébastien Vaniček Cameo in photographs; also executive producer 2028 Evil Dead Wrath Francis Galluppi Executive producer Highly Functional Chili Youngfield Marc Forby Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1983 Generations Alan Stuart Soap opera 1987 Knots Landing Joel Benson Episode: "Say Uncle" 1993–1994 The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Brisco County, Jr. 27 episodes 1995 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Bill Church Jr. 3 episodes American Gothic Lt. Drey Episode: "Meet the Beetles" 1995–1999 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Autolycus 10 episodes; also directed 7 episodes 1996 Homicide: Life on the Street Jake Rodzinsky Episodes: "Justice Parts 1 & 2" Tornado! Jake Thorne Television film Assault on Dome 4 Alex Windham 1996–1997 Ellen Ed Billik 8 episodes 1996–1999 Xena: Warrior Princess Autolycus 8 episodes; also directed 2 episodes 1997 Weird Science Gene the Genie Episode: "I Dream of Gene" The Love Bug Hank Cooper Television film Goldrush: A Real Life Alaskan Adventure Pierce Thomas 'PT' Madison 1998 Timecop Agent Tommy Maddox Episode: "The Future, Jack, the Future" 1998–1999 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Rob Tapert 2 episodes 1999 The X-Files Wayne Weinsider Episode: "Terms of Endearment" 2000 Jack of All Trades Jack Stiles / Daring Dragoon 22 episodes; also co-executive producer 2001 Beggars and Choosers Jack 2 episodes The Legend of Tarzan Max Liebling (voice) Episode: "Tarzan and One Punch Mullargan" 2002 Charmed FBI Agent Woody Jackman Episode: "" Terminal Invasion Jack Television film 2003 Duck Dodgers Pork Piggler (voice) Episode: "K-9 Kaddy/Pig of Action" My Life as a Teenage Robot Himcules (voice) Episode: "Daydream Believer/This Time with Feeling"2004 Megas XLR Magnanimous (voice) 2 episodesBench PresslyBench Pressly (voice)Pilot 2005 Alien Apocalypse Dr. Ivan Hood Television film 2006 Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! Captain Shuggazoom (voice) 2 episodes Touch the Top of the World Ed Weihenmayer Television film Robot Chicken Himself / Red Power Ranger / Car Chase Reporter (voices) Episode: "Dragon Nuts" 2006–2009 The Replacements Phil Mygrave / Gordo Glideright (voices) 6 episodes 2007 El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera The Industrialist (voice) Episode: "Burrito's Little Helper/Crouching Tigre, Hidden Dragon" 2007–2013 Burn Notice Sam Axe 111 episodes 2011 Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe Television film; also executive producer 2013 1600 Penn Doug Gilchrist Episode: "Skip the Tour" 2014 Psych Dr. Ashford N. Simpson Episode: "A Nightmare on State Street"The Librarians Santa Claus Episode: "And Santa's Midnight Run" 2015 Last Fan Standing Presenter Streaming Amazon Prime 10 episodes Fargo Ronald Reagan 2 episodes Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja The Creep (voice) Episode; "Ball's Well That Friend's Well" 2015–2018 Ash vs Evil Dead Ash Williams 30 episodes; also executive producer 2018 Eli Roth's History of Horror Himself Docuseries; 2 episodes 2018–2020 Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure King Edmund (voice) 7 episodes 2018 Lodge 49 Gary Green 3 episodes 2019 Ripley's Believe It or Not! Himself (host) 10 episodes; also executive producer 2020–2021 The Last Kids on Earth Chef (voice) 11 episodes 2021 Adopted John Voss Unaired pilotA.P. Bio John Griffin Episode: "Tons of Rue"Archer McGinley (voice) Episode: "Dingo, Baby, et Cetera" One December Night Steve Bedford Television film 2022 My Southern Family Christmas Everett Bergeron Television film 2023 Impractical Jokers Himself (guest host) Episode: "Bruce Campbell" Discontinued Himself (host) Streaming series, 10 episodes 2024 Hysteria! Chief Ben Dandridge 7 episodes 2025–present Invincible Satan (voice) 2 episodes

Video games Year Title Role Notes 1997 Broken Helix Jake Burton 1998 Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle Pitfall Harry Jr 2000 Tachyon: The Fringe Jake Logan Evil Dead: Hail to the King Ash Williams 2002 Spider-Man Tutorial Narrator 2003 Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick Ash Williams 2004 Spider-Man 2 Tutorial Narrator 2005 Evil Dead: Regeneration Ash Williams The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate DestructionTutorial Narrator 2006 The Ant Bully Fugax 2007 Spider-Man 3 Tutorial Narrator 2011 Army of Darkness: Defense Ash Williams Game Closed Cars 2 Rod "Torque" Redline 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man The Extreme Reporter 2014 TOME: Immortal Arena Tutorial Narrator Game Closed 2015 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Lennox Exo Zombies DLC 2019 Dead by Daylight Ash Williams Ash vs Evil Dead DLC 2022 Evil Dead: The Game Also producer 2023 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result 1993 Fangoria Chainsaw Award Best Actor Army of Darkness 2003 DVD Exclusive Award Best Audio Commentary (Limited Edition) The Evil Dead The Comedy Festival Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Actor Bubba Ho-Tep 2004 Chlotrudis Award Best Actor Fangoria Chainsaw Award 2005 Fantasporto Film Festival International Fantasy Film Award for Best Actor 2007 Ashland Independent Film Festival Rogue Award 2010 Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Burn Notice 2016 Fangoria Chainsaw Award Best Actor on Television Ash vs Evil Dead Saturn Awards 2017 Fangoria Chainsaw Award Best TV Actor Saturn Awards Best Actor on a Television Series 2018