Campbell, Bruce 1958- (R. O. C. Sandstorm)

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CAMPBELL, Bruce 1958- (R. O. C. Sandstorm)

PERSONAL: Born June 22, 1958, in Royal Oak, MI; son of Charlie (a traveling billboard inspector) and Joanne (a homemaker) Campbell; married Christine Deveau, March 13, 1983 (divorced); married Ida Gearon, 1991; children: (first marriage) Rebecca, Andy. Education: Attended Western Michigan University.

ADDRESSES: Home—Jacksonville, OR. Offıce—c/o 14431 Ventura Blvd., Suite 120, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. Agent—Agency for the Performing Arts, 9200 West Sunset Blvd., Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90069-3604.

CAREER: Actor, producer, director, film editor, and screenwriter. Actor in films, including (as police officer on bicycle) It's Murder! 1977; (as Bruce; also executive producer) Within the Woods (short film), 1978; Clockwork, 1978; (as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams; also executive producer) The Evil Dead (also known as Book of the Dead), New Line Cinema, 1981; (as Brice Chapman) Going Back, 1983; (as Renaldo "The Heel"; also producer, with others) Crimewave (also known as Broken Hearts and Noses and The XYZ Murders), Embassy, 1985; (as video newscaster; also supervising sound editor) Stryker's War (also known as Thou Shalt Not Kill . . . Except), Film World Distributors, 1985; (as Ashley "Ash" J. Williams; also producer, with others) Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Rosebud, 1987; (as Jack Forrest) Maniac Cop, Shapiro-Glickenhaus, 1988; (as voice) The Dead Next Door, Tempe Video, 1988; (as Officer Howard) Intruder (also known as Night Crew: The Final Checkout), Phantom Productions, 1989; (as Ray Tanner) Moontrap, Movies Unlimited, 1989; (as Final Shemp) Darkman, Universal, 1990; (as Jack Forrest) Maniac Cop 2, Cordell Productions, 1990; (as Stover) Mindwarp, Columbia/TriStar, 1990; (as Robert Van Helsing) Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Vestron, 1991; (as Ray; also producer) Lunatics: A Love Story, Columbia/Tristar, 1991; (as John Loftmore) Waxwork II: Lost in Time (also known as Space Shift: Waxwork II), Electric Pictures/LIVE Home Video, 1992; (as himself) Chiller Theatre Expo Video, Volume 1, E. I. Independent Cinema, 1992; (as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams; also producer, with others, and editor, under the name R. O. C. Sandstorm) Army of Darkness (also known as Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3, Bruce Campbell vs. the Army of Darkness, and The Medieval Dead), Universal, 1993; (as Smitty) The Hudsucker Proxy, Warner Bros., 1994; (as Wedding Shemp; scenes cut) The Quick and the Dead, TriStar, 1995; (as Charles Travis) Congo, Paramount, 1995; (as raffle winner) The Demolitionist, Planet Productions, 1995; (as soap opera actor) Fargo, Gramercy Pictures, 1996; (as surgeon general of Beverly Hills) John Carpenter's Escape from L.A., Paramount, 1996; (as Alex Windham) Assault on Dome 4 (also known as Chase Moran), 1996; (as Mick Dourif) Menno's Mind (also known as Power.com), 1996; (as Carl) Running Time, Panoramic Pictures, 1997; (as Virgil) McHale's Navy, Universal, 1997; (as the actor) La patinoire (also known as The Ice Rink), Studio Canal, 1998; (as Carl Greig) Icebreaker, Blockbuster Video, 1999; (as Barry) From Dusk 'till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, Dimension Home Video, 1999; (as himself) The Making of "Evil Dead II," or, The Gore the Merrier, 2000; (as himself; also director and producer) Fanalysis, 2001; (as Thompson) Hubert's Brain (short film), 2001; (as Roland the Intrepid Explorer) The Majestic, Warner Bros., 2001; (as William Roberts) Second Chance (also known as Time Quest), 2002; (as wrestling ring announcer) Spider-Man, Columbia, 2002; (as Elvis) Bubba Ho-Tep, 2002; (as Gordon Moore) Serving Sara, Paramount, 2002; (as himself) Ladies of the Evil Dead: Two-sided Chainsaw, 2003; (as Marine) Phantasm's End, 2003; (as William Roberts) TimeQuest (also known as Second Chance), Ardustry Home Entertainment, 2003; and The Amazing Spider-Man, in production.

Actor in television series, including (as Alan Stuart) Generations, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1989-91; (as Brisco County, Jr.) The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Fox, 1993-94; (as Bill Church, Jr.) Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, American Broadcasting Companies (ABC), 1994-95; (as Gene the genie) Weird Science, USA Network, c. 1995-97, Sci-Fi Channel, 1998; (as Autolycus) Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (also known as The Legendary Journeys of Hercules), syndicated, 1995-99; (as Ed Billik) Ellen (also known as These Friends of Mine), ABC, 1996-97; (as Autolycus) Xena: Warrior Princess, syndicated, 1996-99; (as Jack Stiles/The Daring Dragoon; also executive producer, with others) Jack of All Trades, syndicated, 2000.

Actor in made-for-television movies, including (as Jake Thorne) Tornado! Fox, 1996; (as Hank Cooper) The Wonderful World of Disney: The Love Bug, ABC, 1997; (as Jeff Erickson) In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (also known as In the Line of Duty: Jeff and Jill, NBC, 1997; (as Ray) Missing Links, 1997; (as Pierce Thomas Madison) The Wonderful World of Disney: Goldrush: A Real-Life Alaskan Adventure (also known as Gold Rush!), ABC, 1998; (as Jack) Terminal Invasion, 2002; (as host) Masters of Horror, 2002; and Man with the Screaming Brain, Sci Fi Channel, 2003.

Also producer of films Easy Wheels, Fries Entertainment, 1989, and Hatred of a Minute, 2001. Also director of film The Night Man, 2001. Director of episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, syndicated, 1995-99, and Xena: Warrior Princess, syndicated, 1996-99; director of episode of V.I.P., syndicated, 1998-2002. Did uncredited sound work of the film Darkman, 1990. Provided voices for video games, including (as Pitfall Harry) Pitfall 3-D: Beyond the Jungle, 1997; (as Ash) Evil Dead: Hail to the King (also known as Evil Dead: Ashes to Ashes and Evil Dead IV), Heavy Iron Studios/THQ, 2000; (as Jake Logan) Tachyon: The Fringe, 2000; (as tour guide) Spider-Man: The Movie Game, 2002; and (as Ash) Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick (also known as Evil Dead V), THQ, 2002. Cherry County Playhouse, Traverse City, MI, apprentice, 1976; actor in stage productions Hooker's Night Off, Indianapolis, IN, 1986; and Shane, Xenia, OH, 2002.

WRITINGS:

(As R. O. C. Sandstorm; with Sam and Ivan Raimi) The Nutt House (screenplay), Image Entertainment, 1992.

(With Ivan Raimi) If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a "B" Movie Actor, LA Weekly Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Also created the story for Stryker's War (also known as Thou Shalt Not Kill . . . Except), Film World Distributors, 1985.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way (a humorous book about relationships), 2004; A Community Speaks, a documentary about land stewardship; Earwigs, a horror film, for the Sci Fi Channel, 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Self-proclaimed "B" movie actor Bruce Campbell may be best known for playing the character Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in the cult-favorite horror films The Evil Dead, The Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, and Army of Darkness, but as his fans know, Campbell has made a career out of playing large roles in low-budget films and television programs and smaller roles in major productions.

Campbell was born and grew up in Royal Oak, Michigan, which was also the home of the future Spider-Man director Sam Raimi and his brother, Ivan, who also went on to write and act in some films. Campbell began acting on stage as a child, alongside his father in a community theater, and around that time he also started making 8mm films with a friend. Campbell met Sam Raimi in a high school theater class, and the two began collaborating with others from their high school to make "heaps of super-8 movies—about fifty or so," Campbell recalled on his Web site. After graduating from high school and spending a few years working odd jobs in theater and television in Michigan, Campbell and Raimi, along with future Hollywood producer Rob Tapert, set out to make their own feature-length film. First they made a short horror film, Within the Woods, and showed it to investors who were intrigued enough to put up $350,000 to make The Evil Dead. The latter film "made up in imagination what it lacked in funds," Bill Kelley wrote in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, and before long it was one of the most-rented videos in the country. The success of The Evil Dead and its sequels launched Campbell's, Raimi's, and Tapert's careers.

Campbell tells the story of making The Evil Dead, along with tales from his childhood and from life in Hollywood, in his 2001 memoir If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a "B" Movie Actor. (The title refers to Campbell's legendary jutting, "lantern-jaw" chin.) The book "balanc[es] how-to tips on no-budget filmmaking," including how to mix up your own batch of fake blood, "with backlot anecdotes and droll commentary," Lisa Rose explained in the Star-Ledger. Throughout the book, Campbell admits that movie-making is not all fun, especially for the people who are not stars but are just trying to make a living. His tale of shooting The Evil Dead in horrible weather and a badly weatherproofed cabin, with a soft-spoken director who was lacking in confidence and a minuscule budget, "is an expert primer on the importance of staying focused in the face of adversity," Kelley wrote. However, the book "also succeeds as an evocative memoir that allows the reader to know Campbell," Bruce Henson wrote in Library Journal.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 32, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000.

periodicals

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 11, 1999, Steve Murray, review of Running Time, p. P11.

Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX), June 3, 1999, Chris Garcia, interview with Campbell, p. 36.

Booklist, June 1, 2001, Mike Tribby, review of If ChinsCould Kill: Confessions of a "B" Movie Actor, p. 1818.

Boston Herald, January 23, 2000, Bob Sassone, review of Jack of All Trades, p. 70.

Capital Times (Madison, WI), July 18, 2001, Rob Thomas, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. B3.

Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), April 23, 1997, P. S. Colbert, review of McHale's Navy, p. 9; June 29, 2001, Dann Gire, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 37; July 26, 2002, Dann Gire, "Bruce Comes Back from the Dead for Sci-Fi Weekend," p. 35; August 15, 2002, Dann Gire, review of Bubba Ho-Tep, p. 4.

Daily Variety, August 23, 2002, Robert Koehler, review of Serving Sara, pp. 2-3; November 1, 2002, John Dempsey, "Sci-Fi, Campbell OK 2-Pic Deal," p. 6.

Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH), June 26, 2002, Terry Morris, review of Shane, p. C3; June 28, 2002, Anand Mathai, review of Shane, p. C1; August 23, 2002, Dave Larsen, review of Serving Sara, p. 12.

Entertainment Weekly, March 5, 1993, Doug Brod, "Don of the Dead," p. 40; Owen Gleiberman, review of Army of Darkness, pp. 40-42; August 27, 1993, Ken Tucker, review of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., p. 97, Ty Burr, review of Army of Darkness, p. 118; January 24, 1997, Ty Burr, review of Escape from L.A., pp. 62-63; January 14, 2000, Daniel Fierman, review of Goldrush: A Real Life Alaskan Adventure, p. 82; August 10, 2001, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 46.

Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA), November 29, 1997, Kevin McDonough, review of The Wonderful World of Disney: The Love Bug, p. E6; November 30, 1999, Suzanne Gill, review of The Love Bug, p. 3.

Grand Rapids Press (Grand Rapids, MI), August 5, 2001, Mike McCarty, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. J7.

Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), October 17, 2002, Leigh Paatsch, review of Enough, p. I07; March 6, 2003, Leigh Paatsch, review of Serving Sara, p. I09; March 27, 2003, Leigh Paatsch, review of Below, p. I07.

Hollywood Reporter, October 21, 2002, "Two Sci Fi Pics in Campbell Brain," p. 6; November 15, 2002, Irv Letofsky, review of Masters of Horror, p. 20; June 13, 2002, David Hunter, review of Bubba Ho-Tep, p. 22.

Houston Chronicle, October 20, 2002, Bruce West-brook, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 5.

Independent (London, England), May 13, 1999, Matthew Sweet, profile of Sam Raimi, p. 11.

Lansing State Journal (Lansing, MI), February 11, 2003, Mike Hughes, "'Evil Dead' Star to Appear at Fest," p. E1; March 23, 2003, Mike Hughes, "Cult Hero Campbell Returns to Roots," p. D8; March 25, 2003, Mike Hughes, "E. L. Film Fest Most Successful Yet," p. D6.

Library Journal, June 1, 2001, Bruce Henson, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 165.

Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1983, Kevin Thomas, review of The Evil Dead, p. 4; February 26, 2003, David Chute, review of Bubba Ho-Tep, p. E3.

Mediaweek, October 18, 1999, Anne Torpey-Kemph, review of Jack of All Trades, p. 40.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 16, 2001, Jane Sumner, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 1.

New Statesman, September 20, 1996, Boyd Tonkin, review of Escape from L.A., p. 43.

New York, December 15, 1997, John Leonard, review of Menno's Mind, p. 84.

People, March 15, 1993, Ralph Novak, review of Army of Darkness, pp. 17-18; August 30, 1993, review of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., p. 13; December 6, 1993, Susan Schindehette, "Up from the Dead" (interview with Campbell), pp. 135-136.

Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), August 26, 2002, Joan E. Vadeboncoeur, review of Serving Sara, p. D3.

Publishers Weekly, May 21, 2001, review of If ChinsCould Kill, p. 92.

Record (Bergen County, NJ), December 21, 2001, Roger Ebert, review of The Majestic, p. 3; August 23, 2002, Christy Lemire, review of Serving Sara, p. 8.

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), August 9, 1996, Robert Denerstein, review of Escape from L.A., p. 6D.

Sarasota Herald Tribune (Sarasota, FL), June 29, 2001, Bill Kelley, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 14.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 18, 2000, "Speaking of X-Men," p. E1.

Seattle Times, January 21, 2000, Kinney Littlefield, review of Jack of All Trades, p. E6.

Sight and Sound, June, 1993, Kim Newman, review of Army of Darkness, pp. 46-47.

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), June 21, 2001, Lisa Rose, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 53.

Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), June 20, 2002), Ron Cowan, review of The Majestic, p. O8.

Tampa Tribune (Tampa, FL), September 17, 2001, review of If Chins Could Kill, p. 2.

Teen Magazine, February, 1988, review of Evil Dead2: Dead by Dawn, p. 47.

TV Guide, August 21, 1993, Jeff Jarvis, review of TheAdventures of Brisco County, Jr., p. 37; March 4, 2000, John Sellers, interview with Campbell, p. 4.

Variety, February 9, 1983, review of The Evil Dead, pp. 19-20; May 22, 1985, review of Crimewave, p. 29; June 11, 1986, review of Hooker's Night Off, p. 96; March 18, 1987, review of Evil Dead 2, p. 16; December 27, 1989, review of Moontrap, p. 12; May 11, 1992, Joe Leydon, review of Mindwarp, p. 122; October 19, 1992, Peter Besas, review of Army of Darkness, p. 160; August 30, 1993, Todd Everett, review of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., p. 26; November 24, 1997, Ray Richmond, review of The Love Bug, p. 49; January 5, 1998, Leonard Klady, review of Running Time, p. 80; January 17, 2000, Laura Fries, review of Jack of All Trades, p. 72.