Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a
character actorA character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, often playing unstable and villainous characters. Dern has appeared in more than 80 feature films and made for television films.
Personal life
Dern was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Jean (
néeA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
MacLeish) and John Dern. His paternal grandfather was
George Henry DernGeorge Henry Dern was an American politician, mining man, and businessman. He is probably best remembered for co-inventing the Holt–Dern ore roasting process, as well as for his tenure as United States Secretary of War from 1933 to his death in 1936. He also served as the sixth Governor of Utah...
, a former
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
governor and
Secretary of WarThe Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
, and his great uncle was poet
Archibald MacLeishArchibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
. His
godfatherA godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
was well-known politician Adlai Stevenson and his
godmotherA godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
was
Eleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
. Dern attended
The Choate SchoolChoate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut...
(now Choate Rosemary Hall) and the
University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Dern is the father of actress
Laura DernLaura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
(1967), whom he had with his ex-wife
Diane LaddDiane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...
; married 1960-1969. He married his current wife, Andrea Beckett, in 1969.
Career
Early in his career he acted in the Philadelphia premier of
Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
opposite
Lyle KesslerLyle Kessler is an American playwright, screenwriter and actor, best known internationally for Orphans, the play he wrote in 1983.-Actor:...
and first appeared on screen, for an uncredited role, in the 1960 film
Wild River. He then appeared, as a guest star, in several popular 1960s television shows, including
Route 66Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
,
Naked CityNaked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format....
,
Sea HuntSea Hunt was an American adventure television series that was aired in syndication by Ziv Television Programs from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in syndication for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced...
,
Surfside 6Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
,
77 Sunset Strip77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
,
The Outer LimitsThe Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
, and several others. In
1964The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
, he appeared in a major
Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
film, the
psychological thrillerPsychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
MarnieMarnie is a 1964 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on the novel of the same name by Winston Graham. The film stars Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. The original film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.-Plot:...
, in a short role as the sailor seen in flashbacks about Marnie's mother. Also in 1964, he had a small but crucial film role in
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte as the lover of the young Charlotte (a role played by
Bette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
). During the next five years, Dern continued appearing in several popular TV war, crime and western shows, but with multiple episodes per show, as different characters, including:
Wagon TrainWagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
(3),
The VirginianThe Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
(3),
RawhideRawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
(1),
12 O'Clock High (4),
The FugitiveThe Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
(5),
The F.B.I. (2),
The Big ValleyThe Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
(5),
GunsmokeGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
(4) and
BonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
(2), among others. During that period, he also appeared in several films, including
The Wild AngelsThe Wild Angels is a 1966 Roger Corman film, made on location in Southern California. The Wild Angels was made three years before Easy Rider and was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture...
(1966),
The War WagonThe War Wagon is a 1967 western Technicolor film starring John Wayne, released by Universal Pictures, directed by Burt Kennedy, and adapted by Clair Huffaker from his own novel. The film, which featured Wayne in one of his few roles as technically a "bad guy" , received generally positive reviews....
,
The TripThe Trip is a cult film released by American International Pictures, directed by Roger Corman, written by Jack Nicholson, and shot on location in and around Los Angeles, including on top of Kirkwood in Laurel Canyon, Hollywood Hills, and near Big Sur, California in 1966...
(1967),
Psych-OutPsych-Out is a feature film about hippies, psychedelic music, and recreational drugs, produced and released by American International Pictures. Originally scripted as The Love Children, the title when tested caused people to think it was about bastards, so Samuel Z...
,
Will PennyWill Penny is a 1968 western film directed by Tom Gries starring Charlton Heston and Donald Pleasence. It was based upon an episode of the 1960 Sam Peckinpah television series The Westerner called "Line Camp," which was also written and directed by Tom Gries...
(1968), and the early
Clint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
film,
Hang 'Em HighHang 'Em High is a 1968 American Western film directed by Ted Post and produced and co-written by Leonard Freeman. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching, Inger Stevens as a widow who helps him, Ed Begley as the leader of the gang that lynched him, and Pat...
(1968) as a rustler/murderer.
Among Dern's first 20 film roles was a part in the
Sydney PollackSydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
picture
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, in
1969The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
. In 1969, he also co-starred with
James GarnerJames Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
and
Walter BrennanWalter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
in the classic film
Support Your Local Sheriff!Support Your Local Sheriff! is a 1969 American comic western film which parodies the often-filmed scenario of an iconoclastic new arrival who tames a lawless frontier town...
as gunfighter Joe Danby. In
1972The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
, he played in four films: as the enemy and killer of
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
's character in
The CowboysThe Cowboys is a 1972 Western motion picture starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Slim Pickens, A Martinez and Bruce Dern. Robert Carradine makes his film debut with fellow child actor Stephen R. Hudis. It was filmed at various locations in New Mexico, Colorado and at Warner Brothers Studio in...
notable for his character cold-bloodedly shooting Wayne in the back. Wayne warned Dern, "America will hate you for this." Dern wryly replied, "Yeah, but they'll love me in Berkeley." His best-known role may be that of Freeman Lowell, the caretaker of Earth's last forests in the dark sci-fi film
Silent RunningSilent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...
(1972). He then starred with
Jack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
in
The King of Marvin GardensThe King of Marvin Gardens is a 1972 American drama film. It stars Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Scatman Crothers. It is one of several collaborations between Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson. The majority of the film is set in a wintry Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the plot...
; and also in
Thumb Tripping, after having been seen in over 90 TV episodes or films.
Other memorable roles include Tom Buchanan in
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
's
The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a 1974 romantic drama film distributed by Newdon Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick, from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola based on F...
; or a
psychoticPsychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
Goodyear BlimpThe Goodyear Blimp is the collective name for a fleet of blimps operated by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for advertising purposes and for use as a television camera platform for aerial views of sporting events...
pilot who launches a terrorist attack at the
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
in 1977's
Black SundayBlack Sunday is a 1977 American thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and based on the novel by Thomas Harris. The film starred Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, and Marthe Keller and was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture in 1978...
, and as Captain Bob Hyde in 1978's
Coming Home, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1976, he appeared in
Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's final film
Family PlotFamily Plot is a 1976 American dark comedy/thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, his fifty-third and final film. It stars Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, William Devane, and Karen Black....
, playing the boyfriend of a medium played by
Barbara HarrisBarbara Harris is an American actress who was a Broadway stage star and later became a film actress. She appeared in such films as A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Grosse Pointe Blank...
; Dern told an interviewer that, due to Hitchcock's failing health, the director often asked his assistance during the production.
In 1983, he won the
Silver Bear for Best ActorThe Silver Bear for Best Actor is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actor.- Awards :- External links :*...
at the
33rd Berlin International Film FestivalThe 33rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 18 to March 3, 1983.-Jury:* Jeanne Moreau * Alex Bänninger* Franco Brusati* Elem Klimov* Ursula Ludwig* Kurt Maetzig* Joseph L...
for his role in
That Championship SeasonThat Championship Season is Jason Miller's 1982 film version of his 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play of the same name. It stars Robert Mitchum, Martin Sheen, Bruce Dern, Stacy Keach and Paul Sorvino and was filmed on location in Scranton, Pennsylvania where it is set.In 1999, Sorvino...
.
His most recent efforts include the independent movies
The Astronaut FarmerThe Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 American drama film directed by Michael Polish, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Mark. The story focuses on a Texas rancher who constructs a rocket in his barn and, against all odds, launches himself into outer space.-Plot:Charles Farmer is a former...
and
Monster, a recurring role on the HBO series
Big LoveBig Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
, and the monster movie
Swamp DevilSwamp Devil is a 2008 Canadian horror film directed by David Winning and stars Bruce Dern, Cindy Sampson and Nicolas Wright.-Plot:Melanie Blaine returns to their homeland in a small town called Gibbington because here her father, a former sheriff, suspected because of multiple murders is cruel and...
for RHI Films New York and the
Sci Fi ChannelSyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
.
On November 1, 2010, he was presented the 2,419th star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
. His daughter Laura Dern and his ex-wife Diane Ladd received stars on the same date. He was honored with a Legend Award at the inaugural
Gold Coast International Film FestivalThe Gold Coast International Film Festival launched June 1 -5, 2011 on the north shore of North Hempstead, New York. The festival was produced by the Great Neck Arts Center, a not-for-profit 501 multi-arts center in Great Neck, NY, and hosted by founding sponsor the Town of North Hempstead, which...
on June 1, 2011.
Filmography
- Wild River (1960) ... Jack Roper (uncredited)
- The Crimebusters (1961) ... Joe Krajac
- The Zanti Misfits (1963) (TV-Outer Limits) ... Ben
- Marnie
Marnie is a 1964 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on the novel of the same name by Winston Graham. The film stars Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery. The original film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann.-Plot:...
(1964) ... Sailor
- Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 1964 American thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, and starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, and Agnes Moorehead....
(1964) ... John Mayhew
- The Wild Angels
The Wild Angels is a 1966 Roger Corman film, made on location in Southern California. The Wild Angels was made three years before Easy Rider and was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture...
(1966) ... Loser
- Waterhole #3
Waterhole #3 is a 1967 Western comedy film directed by William A. Graham. It is considered to be a comic remake of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly....
(1967) ... Deputy Sam Tippen
- The War Wagon
The War Wagon is a 1967 western Technicolor film starring John Wayne, released by Universal Pictures, directed by Burt Kennedy, and adapted by Clair Huffaker from his own novel. The film, which featured Wayne in one of his few roles as technically a "bad guy" , received generally positive reviews....
(1967) ... Hammond
- The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a 1967 gangster film based on the 1929 Chicago mass murder of seven members of the Northside gang, directed against George "Bugs" Moran by Al Capone...
(1967) ... John May
- The Trip
The Trip is a cult film released by American International Pictures, directed by Roger Corman, written by Jack Nicholson, and shot on location in and around Los Angeles, including on top of Kirkwood in Laurel Canyon, Hollywood Hills, and near Big Sur, California in 1966...
(1967) ... John
- Will Penny
Will Penny is a 1968 western film directed by Tom Gries starring Charlton Heston and Donald Pleasence. It was based upon an episode of the 1960 Sam Peckinpah television series The Westerner called "Line Camp," which was also written and directed by Tom Gries...
(1968) ... Rafe Quint
- Psych-Out
Psych-Out is a feature film about hippies, psychedelic music, and recreational drugs, produced and released by American International Pictures. Originally scripted as The Love Children, the title when tested caused people to think it was about bastards, so Samuel Z...
(1968) ... Steve Davis
- Hang 'Em High
Hang 'Em High is a 1968 American Western film directed by Ted Post and produced and co-written by Leonard Freeman. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching, Inger Stevens as a widow who helps him, Ed Begley as the leader of the gang that lynched him, and Pat...
(1968) ... Miller, Cooper Hanging Party
- Support Your Local Sheriff!
Support Your Local Sheriff! is a 1969 American comic western film which parodies the often-filmed scenario of an iconoclastic new arrival who tames a lawless frontier town...
(1969) ... Joe Danby
- Castle Keep
Castle Keep is a 'firmly pro- and anti-war' 1969 American war film directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Burt Lancaster, Patrick O'Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Bruce Dern, and Peter Falk...
(1969) ... Lt. Billy Byron Bix
- Number One
Number One is a 1969 American film released by United Artists and directed by Tom Gries.The film stars Charlton Heston as Ron "Cat" Catlan, aging quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and Jessica Walter as his wife. Musician Al Hirt plays himself, as do several real-life members of the 1968 Saints...
(1969) ... Richie Fowler
- The Cycle Savages (1969) .... Keeg
- They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) ... James
- Bloody Mama (1970) ... Dirkman
- The Rebel Rousers
Rebel Rousers is a 1970 independent outlaw biker film starring Cameron Mitchell, Jack Nicholson, Diane Ladd, Bruce Dern, and Harry Dean Stanton...
(1970) ... J.J. Weston
- The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant (1971) ... Roger
- Drive, He Said
Drive, He Said is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures, based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner...
(1971) ... Coach Bullion
- The Cowboys
The Cowboys is a 1972 Western motion picture starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Slim Pickens, A Martinez and Bruce Dern. Robert Carradine makes his film debut with fellow child actor Stephen R. Hudis. It was filmed at various locations in New Mexico, Colorado and at Warner Brothers Studio in...
(1972) ... Asa Watts ("Long Hair")
- Silent Running
Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...
(1972) ... Freeman Lowell
- The King of Marvin Gardens
The King of Marvin Gardens is a 1972 American drama film. It stars Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Scatman Crothers. It is one of several collaborations between Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson. The majority of the film is set in a wintry Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the plot...
(1972) ... Jason Staebler
- Thumb Tripping (1972) ... Smitty
- The Laughing Policeman
The Laughing Policeman is an American police procedural film loosely based on the novel The Laughing Policeman by Sjöwall and Wahlöö. The setting of the story is transplanted from Stockholm to San Francisco...
(1973) ... Leo Larsen
- The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a 1974 romantic drama film distributed by Newdon Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick, from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola based on F...
(1974) ... Tom Buchanan
- Posse
Posse is a 1975 Western film, produced by, directed by and starring Kirk Douglas. The screenplay was written by Christopher Knopf and William Roberts. The plot centers on a U.S. marshal with political ambitions leading an elite posse in pursuit of a notorious bank robber to further his political...
(1975) ... Jack Strawhorn
- Smile
Smile is a 1975 film directed by American director Michael Ritchie, with a screenplay by Jerry Belson, about a beauty pageant in Santa Rosa, California. It stars Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon and introduced a number of young actresses who later went on to greater success and recognition, such as...
(1975) ... Big Bob Freelander
- Family Plot
Family Plot is a 1976 American dark comedy/thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, his fifty-third and final film. It stars Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, William Devane, and Karen Black....
(1976) ... George Lumley
- Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) ... Grayson Potchuck
- Folies bourgeoises (1976) ... William Brandels
- Black Sunday
Black Sunday is a 1977 American thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and based on the novel by Thomas Harris. The film starred Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, and Marthe Keller and was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture in 1978...
(1977) ... Michael Lander
- Coming Home (1978) ... Capt. Bob Hyde
- The Driver
The Driver is a 1978 crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. Based upon similarities in plot elements, it is heavily influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville's film Le Samouraï...
(1978) ... The Detective
- Middle Age Crazy (1980) ... Bobby Lee
- Tattoo (1981) ... Johnny
- That Championship Season
That Championship Season is Jason Miller's 1982 film version of his 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play of the same name. It stars Robert Mitchum, Martin Sheen, Bruce Dern, Stacy Keach and Paul Sorvino and was filmed on location in Scranton, Pennsylvania where it is set.In 1999, Sorvino...
(1982) ... George Sitkowski
- Harry Tracy, Desperado
Harry Tracy, Desperado is a 1982 Canadian drama/western film. It was directed by William A. Graham, and filmed on-location in Historical Barkerville, British Columbia...
(1982) ... Harry Tracy
- Space
Space is a television mini-series created by CBS in 1985. It is based on a novel of the same name by James A. Michener published in 1982. The program is also called "James A. Michener's Space". Like the novel, the mini-series is a fictionalised history of the United States space program...
(1985) (TV) ... Stanley Mott
- Toughlove (1986) (TV) ... Rob Charters
- On the Edge (1986) ... Wes Holman
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987) (TV) ... Augustine St. Claire
- The Big Town (1987) ... Mr. Edwards
- World Gone Wild (1988) ... Ethan
- 1969
1969 is a 1988 drama film starring Robert Downey, Jr., Kiefer Sutherland, and Winona Ryder. It was written and directed by Ernest Thompson. The original music score is composed by Michael Small...
(1988) ... Cliff
- The 'Burbs
The 'Burbs is a 1989 American black comedy thriller film directed by Joe Dante starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman and Henry Gibson. The film was written by Dana Olsen, who also has a cameo in the movie...
(1989) ... Mark Rumsfield
- After Dark, My Sweet
After Dark, My Sweet is a neo-noir film directed by James Foley starring Jason Patric, Bruce Dern, and Rachel Ward. It is based on the 1955 Jim Thompson novel of the same name.-Plot:...
(1990) ... Uncle Bud
- Into the Badlands (1991) ... T.L. Barston
- Diggstown
Diggstown is a 1992 movie directed by Michael Ritchie, and starring James Woods, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Bruce Dern. It also features Heather Graham, Oliver Platt and Randall "Tex" Cobb.-Synopsis:...
(1992) ... John Gillon
- Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight (1994) (TV) ... George Putnam
- A Mother's Prayer
A Mother's Prayer is a 1995 film made for the USA Network starring Linda Hamilton, in a Golden Globe-nominated performance, as a woman who learns she has contracted the AIDS virus and must make future plans for the care of her only son. The film, which counts Kate Nelligan, S. Epatha Merkerson and...
(1995) ...Grandpa
- Mrs. Munck (1995) ... Patrick Leary
- Wild Bill (1995) ... Will Plummer
- Mulholland Falls
Mulholland Falls is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori and written by Pete Dexter. The drama features Andrew McCarthy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Melanie Griffith, Treat Williams, and John Malkovich.Nolte plays the...
(1996) (uncredited) ... The Chief
- Down Periscope
Down Periscope is a 1996 comedy film starring Kelsey Grammer as the captain of a rust-bucket Navy submarine, the USS Stingray, who is fighting for his career....
(1996) ... Admiral Yancy Graham
- Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing is a 1996 action film written and directed by Walter Hill, starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Dern. It is a credited remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo.- Plot :...
(1996) ... Sheriff Ed Galt
- Small Soldiers
Small Soldiers is a 1998 American action/science fiction film directed by Joe Dante starring Gregory Smith and Kirsten Dunst. The film revolves around two teenagers , who get caught in the middle of a war between two factions of sentient action figures, the Gorgonites and the Commando...
(1998) (voice) ... Link Static
- The Haunting
The Haunting is a 1999 remake of the 1963 horror film of the same name. Both films are based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, published in 1959. The Haunting was directed by Jan de Bont and stars Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor...
(1999) ... Mr. Dudley
- If... Dog... Rabbit... (1999) ... McGurdy
- All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses is a 2000 American romance western film, directed by Billy Bob Thornton and based on the novel of the same title by author Cormac McCarthy. It stars Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz...
(2000) ... The Judge
- Madison
Madison is a semi-fictional 2001 film about APBA hydroplane racing in the 1970s. It stars James Caviezel as a driver who comes out of retirement to lead the Madison, Indiana community-owned racing team.-Background:...
(2001) ... Harry Volpi
- The Glass House
The Glass House is a 2001 film directed by Daniel Sackheim and written by Wesley Strick.-Plot:Sixteen-year-old Ruby and eleven-year-old Rhett lose their parents in a car accident...
(2001) ... Begleiter
- Masked and Anonymous
Masked and Anonymous is a 2003 comedy-drama film directed by Larry Charles, who is better known for his writing on successful TV sitcoms, Seinfeld and Mad About You and for executive producing episodes of The Tick and Dilbert. The film was written by Larry Charles and Bob Dylan, the latter under...
(2003) ... The Editor
- Milwaukee, Minnesota (2003) ... Sean McNally
- Hard Ground (2003) (TV) ... Nate Hutchinson
- Monster (2003) ... Thomas
- The Hard Easy (2005) ... Gene
- Down in the Valley (2005) ... Charlie
- Believe in Me (2006) ... Ellis Brawley
- Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
(20062011) ... Frank
- Walker Payne
Walker Payne is a 2006 film directed and co-written by Matt Williams. It features Jason Patric, Drea de Matteo, KaDee Strickland, Sam Shepard and Bruce Dern. It was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2006.-References:...
(2006) ... Unknown
- The Astronaut Farmer
The Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 American drama film directed by Michael Polish, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Mark. The story focuses on a Texas rancher who constructs a rocket in his barn and, against all odds, launches himself into outer space.-Plot:Charles Farmer is a former...
(2007) ... Hal
- The Cake Eaters
The Cake Eaters is a 2007 American independent drama film about two small town families who must confront old issues with the return of one family's son. The film was directed by Mary Stuart Masterson and stars Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford, Bruce Dern, and Jayce Bartok...
(2007) ... Easy
- The Golden Boys
The Golden Boys may refer to:*Chatham , directed by Daniel Adams. The movie was renamed from Chatham to for distribution.*Watford F.C., Watford Football Club...
(2008) ... Captain Perez
- Swamp Devil (2008) ... Howard Blaime
- American Cowslip
American Cowslip is the title of an independent feature film by director Mark David. It revolves around heroin addict, Ethan Inglebrink, whose life is centered around his garden and his group of eccentric friends. American Cowslip will be David's third film, following his debut, Sweet Thing , and...
(2009) ... Cliff
- Choose (2009) ... Dr. Ronald Pendleton
- Trim (2009) ... Dale Banks
- The Lightkeepers (2009) ... Bennie
- The Hole 3D
The Hole 3D is a 2009 American fantasy-thriller film directed by Joe Dante and stars Teri Polo, Chris Massoglia and Haley Bennett.-Plot:...
(2009) ... Creepy Carl
- Twixt (2011) ... Bobby LaGrange
External links