Bradford Claude Dourif (born March 18, 1950) is a BAFTA-winning and Academy Award- and Emmy-nominated American film and television actor, best known for his role as Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Gríma Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and as the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play series.
Biography
Early life
Dourif was born in Huntington, West Virginia. His father, Jean Dourif, was an art collector and owned and operated a dye factory. After Dourif's father died in 1953, his actress mother, Joan (née Bradford), remarried champion golfer William C. Campbell, who helped raise Dourif 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 was eventually inspired to become an actor by his mother's participation as an actress in a community theater. After Aiken Prep, he attended Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, graduating in 1969.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 Miloš 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 and television
Despite his attempts to avoid typecasting, he frequently plays eccentric or disturbed characters, starting in Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), John Huston's Wise Blood (1979), Forman's Ragtime (1981) and Marc Didden's Istanbul . 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 killer doll Chucky in Child's Play (1988) and its sequels, as well as in "Exorcist III" as the Gemini Killer (1990). 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 Wormtongue in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
On television, Dourif appeared in The X-Files episode "Beyond the Sea", for which he received an Emmy nomination portraying Luther Lee Boggs. He also played Lon Suder, a murderous psychopath who eventually redeems himself, in a three-episode story arc on Star Trek: Voyager, and has guest-appeared in shows such as Babylon 5.
He is a fan of video games and appeared as Saavedro in Myst III: Exile (2001), the third game in the popular Myst franchise, and as the sadistic preacher Reed in GUN (2005).
Dourif was cast as The Scarecrow in Batman Forever, while Tim Burton was attached to the project. However, Joel Schumacher eventually took over the project, and instead cast Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as The Riddler.
Dourif played Doc Cochran in the HBO series Deadwood. He recently voiced Chucky in the fifth Child's Play film, Seed of Chucky, appeared in the film Sinner, and played Sheriff Brackett in Rob Zombie's version of Halloween.
Personal life
Dourif was formerly married to businesswoman and remote viewer Joni Dourif, with whom he has two daughters, Kristina and Fiona. He lives in Manhattan and plays the didgeridoo, an Australian Aboriginal musical instrument.Filmography
Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings | uncredited | |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Billy Bibbit | Academy Award nomination | |
| 1976 | The Mound Builders | Chad Jasker | (made for television) |
| 1978 | Eyes of Laura Mars | Tommy Ludlow | |
| Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force | Sgt. Leonard Matlovich | (made for television) | |
| 1979 | Studs Lonigan | Danny O'Neill | (made for Television) |
| Wise Blood | Hazel Motes | ||
| 1980 | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | David Langtree | (made for television) |
| Heaven's Gate | Mr. Eggleston | ||
| 1981 | Ragtime | Younger Brother | |
| 1982 | Desire, the Vampire | Paul | (made for television) |
| 1984 | Dune | The Mentat Piter De Vries | |
| 1985 | Istanbul | Klamski | (Belgian movie) |
| 1985 | Vengeance: The Story of Tony Cimo | Lamar Sands | (made for television) |
| 1986 | Blue Velvet | Raymond | |
| Rage of Angels | Seymour Bourne | (made for television) | |
| 1987 | Fatal Beauty | Leo Nova | |
| 1988 | Child's Play | Charles Lee Ray (Chucky) | (character and voice of Chucky) |
| Mississippi Burning | Deputy Clinton Pell | ||
| 1989 | Desperado: The Outlaw Wars | Camillus Fly | (made for television) |
| Terror on Highway 91 | Keith Evans | (made for television) | |
| 1990 | Child's Play 2 | Chucky | (voice only) |
| Spontaneous Combustion | Sam | ||
| Graveyard Shift | Tucker Cleveland | ||
| The Exorcist III | James Venamun | ||
| Hidden Agenda | Paul Sullivan | ||
| 1991 | Critters 4 | Al Bert | |
| Child's Play 3 | Chucky | (voice only) | |
| Jungle Fever | Leslie | ||
| 1992 | Final Judgement | Father Tyrone | |
| 1993 | Wild Palms | Chickie Levitt | television miniseries |
| Amos & Andrew | Officer Donnie Donaldson | ||
| 1994 | Color of Night | Clark | |
| A Worn Path | Hunter | (Made for Television) | |
| 1995 | Death Machine | Dante | |
| Murder in the First | Byron Stamphill | ||
| 1997 | Alien: Resurrection | Dr. Gediman | |
| 1998 | Senseless | Dr. Wheedon | |
| Urban Legend | Michael McDonnell, gas station attendant | (uncredited) | |
| Bride of Chucky | Chucky | (voice only) | |
| 2000 | Shadow Hours | Roland Montague | |
| The Prophecy 3: The Ascent | Zealot | ||
| 2001 | Myst III: Exile | Saavedro | |
| Soulkeeper | Mr. Pascal | ||
| 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) |
| 2005 | Drop Dead Sexy | Herman | |
| The Wild Blue Yonder | The Alien | ||
| GUN | Reverend Josiah Reed | (voice only) | |
| Man of Faith | B.B Gallen | ||
| 2006 | Pulse | Thin Bookish Guy | |
| 2007 | Sinner | Caddie | |
| The Wizard of Gore | Dr. Chong | ||
| Halloween | Sheriff Leigh Brackett | ||
| 2008 | Humboldt County | Jack | |
| Touching Home | Clyde Winston | ||
| Born of Earth | Mayor | ||
| Lock and Roll Forever | Zee | ||
| Chain Letter | Mr. Smirker | ||
| Junkyard Dog | Sheriff Holk | ||
| 2009 | Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans | TBA | |
| 2009 | Childs Play Remake | Chucky |
Television
- The Hitchhiker (one episode, 1987)
- Tales From The Crypt (one episode, 1993) - "People Who Live In Brass Hearses" as Virgil DeLuca
- The X-Files (one episode, 1994) - "Beyond the Sea" as Luther Lee Boggs
- Star Trek: Voyager (three episodes, 1996) - as Lon Suder
- Millennium (one episode, 1997) - "Force Majeure"
- Law & Order (one episode, 2008) - "Called Home" as Dr. David Lingard "Dr. Death"
- Deadwood - as Doc Cochran
- Babylon 5 - as Brother Edward
References
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday October 11, 2008 at 17:30:51 PDT (GMT -0700)
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