Bruce Dern

Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated American screen actor.

Biography

Personal life

Dern was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Jean (née MacLeish) and John Dern. His paternal grandfather was George Dern, a former Utah governor and Secretary of War, and his uncle was poet Archibald MacLeish. His godfather was well-known politician Adlai Stevenson and his godmother was Eleanor Roosevelt. Dern is the father of actress Laura Dern and was formerly married to actress Diane Ladd.

Career

One of Dern's first film roles was in the Sydney Pollack picture They Shoot Horses, Don't They? in 1969. He played the enemy and killer of John Wayne's character in The Cowboys, and starred along with Jack Nicholson in The King of Marvin Gardens. Dern is generally regarded as a character actor. He has a reputation of playing unstable and villainous characters, although his best-known role may be that of Freeman Lowell, the caretaker of Earth's last forests in Silent Running (1972). Other memorable roles include Tom Buchanan in Robert Redford's The Great Gatsby; a brainwashed blimp pilot who launches a terrorist attack at the Super Bowl in 1977's Black Sunday and Capt. Bob Hyde in 1978's Coming Home, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

His most recent effort is the independent movie The Astronaut Farmer, a recurring role on HBO's series Big Love and the monster movie SWAMP DEVIL for RHI Films New York and the Sci Fi Channel.

Quotes

• "I'm only too proud to say that I've NEVER had ANY discipline problems with Laura (Dern, his daughter and fellow actress). In fact, I never needed to lay a hand on her, because Diane (Ladd, his wife and actress) was so much better with that stuff than I was."
• "I'm the only bad guy to ever kill John Wayne."

The latter statement, however, is not true. Wayne's character was killed by the bartender in The Shootist and by Japanese snipers in Sands of Iwo Jima and The Fighting Seabees. The bartender, one of the snipers, and Dern are the only ones to be seen killing Wayne on film. Wayne's characters also died twice by drowning in Wake of the Red Witch and Reap the Wild Wind and once by suicide after being stabbed in The Alamo.) In one of his first films, 1967's The War Wagon, Dern was killed by Wayne.

Trivia

When filming "That Championship Season" in the Scranton, Pa., area, Dern, an avid runner, was often seen running in the countryside outside the city. His image remained visible around Scranton long after the filming was completed, as billboards for the mayoral campaign of his character, George Sitkowski, remained up for months, most notably down the street from the city's former train station, which at that time was dilapidated but is now considered the city's top hotel.

Dern placed fourth in the 880-yard run at the 1953 Illinois state track & field championship meet for his high school, New Trier.

Filmography

• American Cowslip (2008) ... Cliff
• Chatham (2008) .... Captain Perez
• Swamp Devil (2008) ... Howard Blaime
• The Astronaut Farmer (2007) ... Hal
• Walker Payne (2006) ... Unknown
• Big Love (2006) ... Frank
• Down in the Valley (2005) ... Charlie
• Believe in Me (2005) ... Ellis Brawley
• The Hard Easy (2005) ... Gene
• Monster (2003) ... Thomas
• Hard Ground (2003) (TV) ... Nate Hutchinson
• Masked and Anonymous (2003) ... The Editor
• The Glass House (2001) ... Begleiter
• Madison (2001) ... Harry Volpi
• All The Pretty Horses (2000) ... The Judge
• The Haunting (1999) ... Mr. Dudley
• Small Soldiers (1998) (voice) ... Link Static
• Last Man Standing (1996) ... Sheriff Ed Galt
• Down Periscope (1996) ... Admiral Yancy Graham
• Mulholland Falls (1996) (uncredited) ... The Chief
• Wild Bill (1995) ... Will Plummer
• Diggstown (1992) ... John Gillon
• After Dark, My Sweet (1990) ... Uncle Bud
• The 'Burbs (1989) ... Mark Rumsfield
• 1969 (1988) ... Cliff
• World Gone Wild (1988) ... Ethan
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987) (TV) ... Augustine St. Claire
• On the Edge (1986)... Wes Holman
• Toughlove (1986) (TV) ... Rob Charters

• That Championship Season (1982) ... George Sitkowski
• Tattoo (1981) ... Johnny
• Middle Age Crazy (1980) ... Bobby Lee
• Coming Home (1977) ... Capt. Bob Hyde
• The Driver (1978) ... The Detective
• Black Sunday (1977) ... Michael Lander
• Family Plot (1976) ... George Lumley
• Smile (1975) ... Big Bob Freelander
• Posse (1975) ... Jack Strawhorn
• The Great Gatsby (1974) ... Tom Buchanan
• The Laughing Policeman (1973) ... Leo Larsen
• The Cowboys (1972) ... Asa Watts ("Long Hair")
• Silent Running (1972) ... Freeman Lowell
• The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) ... Jason Staebler
• Drive, He Said (1971) ... Coach Bullion
• The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (1971)
• They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) ... James
• Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) ... Joe Danby
• Hang 'Em High (1968) ... Miller, Cooper Hanging Party
• Psych-Out (1968) ... Steve Davis
• Will Penny (1968) ... Rafe Quint
• The Trip (1967) ... John
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) John May
• The War Wagon (1967) ... Hammond
• Waterhole #3 (1967) ... Deputy Samuel P. Tippen
• The Wild Angels (1966) ... Loser
• Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) ... John Mayhew
• Marnie (1964) ... Sailor
• The Zanti Misfits (1963) (TV-Outer Limits) ... Ben

References

External links

• Bruce Dern at the Internet Movie Database
• Cinema Retro's Evening with Bruce Dern at The Players, New York City