At a glance
| Born | June 22, 1958, Royal Oak, Michigan |
| Known for | Ash Williams in the Evil Dead films |
| Role | Actor, director, author |
Overview
Bruce Campbell plays Ash Williams, the clerk who goes to a cabin, finds a book, and spends the rest of the series attached to a chainsaw. The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992) are the films. Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018) is the series that brought him back older and still loud. He is also Sam Raimi’s friend from Michigan, which is why he is in the Spider-Man films as a ringside announcer and a snooty usher, and why the Evil Dead movies exist at all.
Career
Campbell, Raimi, and Robert Tapert made Super 8 shorts together. The Evil Dead was the feature. Campbell has written about the shoot in If Chins Could Kill, his memoir: the injuries, the contact lenses, the investors who were local professionals. Evil Dead II turned the same story into slapstick and gave him the hand, the chainsaw, and the catchphrase. Army of Darkness sent the character to 1300. He has said the medieval film is the one where Ash becomes a cartoon on purpose.
He did not play Ash in the 2013 Evil Dead or in Evil Dead Rise. Those films are in the same universe and use other leads. A post-credits beat in the 2013 film nods at him. The television series is the actual continuation. He also directed episodes and features of his own, including Man with the Screaming Brain, and he has a long convention career that treats the fans as the job.
Other roles include Brisco County Jr. on television, the lead in Bubba Ho-Tep as an aging Elvis, and a run of supporting parts in Raimi films. The chin is the joke he leaned into. The work is the physical comedy in Evil Dead II, which is harder than the joke suggests.
Ash credits
- The Evil Dead (1981)
- Evil Dead II (1987)
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018)
- A brief appearance tied to Evil Dead (2013), not the lead
Trivia
- “Groovy” is from Army of Darkness, not the first film.
- The chainsaw hand is a gag that started as a survival choice in Evil Dead II.
- He wrote If Chins Could Kill and a follow-up, Hail to the Chin.
- Raimi’s Delta 88 is in the films with him. So is Ted Raimi, usually under makeup.
- He has been clear that he is done playing Ash as a series lead. The door is not locked. He has still said it.