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Bradford Claude Dourif (March 18, 1950, Huntington, West Virginia) is an American Academy Award nominated actor with a popular reputation for playing deranged or unbalanced character roles. Director Werner Herzog has called him "one of the greatest living actors".
He was formerly married to businesswoman and self-proclaimed psychic Joni Dourif with whom he has two daughters, Kristina and Fiona. He is the uncle of Nat Friedman.
Background
His father owned and operated a dye factory, and died in 1953. His mother remarried champion golfer Bill Campbell, who helped raise him and his five siblings (three sisters and two brothers). From 1963 to 1965, Dourif attended Aiken Preparatory School in Aiken, South Carolina. There he pursued his interests in art and acting. Although he briefly considered becoming an artist, he eventually settled on the path to becoming an actor. This was inspired by his mother's participation as an actress in a community theater.
Early career
Starting in school productions, he progressed to community theater, joining up with the Huntington Community Players, while attending Marshall University of Huntington. At age 19, he quit his hometown college and headed to New York City, where he worked with the Circle Repertory Company. During the early 1970s, Dourif appeared in a number of plays, off-Broadway and at Woodstock, New York, including The Ghost Sonata, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, in which he was spotted by director Milo Forman who cast him in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Although this film is frequently cited as his film debut, in fact, Dourif made his first big-screen appearance with a bit part in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975). Nevertheless, his portrayal of the vulnerable Billy Bibbit in Forman's film was undoubtedly his big break, earning him a Golden Globe (Best Actor Debut) and a British Academy Award (Supporting Actor): he was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Skeptical of his instant stardom, Dourif returned to New York, where he continued in theater and taught acting and directing classes at Columbia University until 1988 when he moved to Hollywood.
Film & Television
Despite his attempts to avoid typecasting, he frequently plays demented, deranged, or disturbed characters, starting in Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), John Huston's Wise Blood (1979), and Forman's Ragtime (1981). Dourif then teamed up with director David Lynch for Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986).
He has appeared in a number of horror films, notably as the voice of the evil doll Chucky in Child's Play (1988) and its sequels. Dourif broke from the horror genre with roles in Fatal Beauty (1987), Mississippi Burning (1988), Hidden Agenda (1990), and London Kills Me (1991). He also played Gríma in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
On television, Dourif appeared in the Babylon 5 episode "Passing Through Gethsemane", in the early X-Files episode "Beyond the Sea" as condemned serial killer Luther Lee Boggs, in the first season of Millennium as Dennis Hoffman, and in Oliver Stone's Wild Palms. He played Lon Suder, a murdering psychopath who eventually redeems himself, in a three-episode story arc on Star Trek: Voyager. He appeared as Saavedro in Myst III: Exile (2001), the third game in the popular Myst franchise. He plays Doc Cochran in the HBO series Deadwood.
Dourif was cast for the role of The Scarecrow who was set to appear in Batman Forever, while Tim Burton was attached to the project. However, Burton reportedly decided to use The Riddler as the main villain.
According to Rob Zombie's official site, Brad Dourif will next be seen playing Sheriff Brackett in his adaptation/prequel, Halloween.
Trivia
* Plays the didgeridoo, an Australian musical instrument.
* Appeared in the music video for Toto's "Stranger in Town".
* Played music with the Deviants
* Made five trips to New Zealand while the Lord of the Rings trilogy was being filmed. He had to shave his eyebrows off each time.
* Dourif appeared in a 1987 episode of Miami Vice in which, coincidentally, Helena Bonham Carter made her television debut.
Selected Filmography
Movies
Year Title Role Other notes
1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Billy Bibbit Academy Award Nomination
1979 Wise Blood
1980 Heaven's Gate
1981 Ragtime Younger Brother
1984 Dune The Mentat Piter De Vries
1986 Blue Velvet Raymond
1987 Fatal Beauty Leo Nova
1988 Child's Play Charles Lee Ray (Chucky)
Mississippi Burning
1990 Child's Play 2 Chucky (voice only)
Spontaneous Combustion Sam
Graveyard Shift Tucker Cleveland, The Exterminator
The Exorcist III The Gemini Killer
1991 Child's Play 3 Chucky (voice only)
1994 'Color of Night
1995 Death Machine Dante
1995 Escape to Witch Mountain
1997 Alien: Resurrection Dr. Gediman
1998 Senseless
Urban Legend (film) Michael McDonnell, gas station attendant (uncredited)
Bride of Chucky Chucky (voice only)
2001 Myst III: Exile Saavedro
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Gríma Wormtongue
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Gríma Wormtongue (extended version only)
2004 Seed of Chucky Chucky (voice only)
2007 Sinner Caddie
2007 Halloween (2007 film) Sheriff Brackett
TV
* The X-Files - Beyond the Sea as Luther Lee Boggs
* Deadwood - as Doc Cochran
* Star Trek: Voyager - as Lon Suder
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