| Bruce Dern | |
| Birth Name: | Bruce MacLeish Dern |
| Birth Date: | 4 June 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1960–present |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 2, including Laura Dern |
| Relatives: |
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Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor[1] and the Silver Bear for Best Actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Coming Home (1978) and the Academy Award for Best Actor for Nebraska (2013).[2] He is also a BAFTA Award, two-time Genie Award, and three-time Golden Globe Award nominee.
A member of the Actors Studio, he rose to prominence during the New Hollywood era through roles in films such as The Trip (1967), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971), and The Cowboys (1972). Other notable films include The Laughing Policeman (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), Posse (1975), Family Plot (1976), Black Sunday (1977), The Driver (1978), Tattoo (1981), That Championship Season (1982), The 'Burbs (1989), Last Man Standing (1996), Monster (2003), Down in the Valley (2005), Chappaquiddick (2017), and Emperor (2020). He played Frank Harlow in the HBO series Big Love (2006–2011).
He is the father of actress Laura Dern.
Dern was born in Chicago on June 4, 1936, the son of Jean (née MacLeish; 1908–1972) and John Dern (1903–1958), a utility chief and attorney.[3] [4] [5] [6] He grew up in Kenilworth, Illinois.[7] His paternal grandfather, George Dern, was a Utah governor and Secretary of War (he was serving in the latter position during the time of Bruce's birth). Dern's maternal grandfather was a Vice President of the Carson, Pirie and Scott stores,[8] which were established by his own father, Scottish-born businessman Andrew MacLeish. Dern's maternal granduncle was poet Archibald MacLeish. His godfather was governor and two-time presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson II.[9] Dern graduated from New Trier High School, where he was a track star and sought to qualify for the Olympic Trials in 1956. Dern then attended the University of Pennsylvania, but dropped out after two years.[10]
Dern studied at the Actors Studio, alongside Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg. He starred with Lyle Kessler in the Philadelphia premiere of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, and starred with Paul Newman and Geraldine Page in the original Broadway run of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth.
In the 1960s, Dern played the sailor in a few flashbacks in Marnie and a murdered lover in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. He played a murderous rustler in Hang 'Em High, a gunfighter in Support Your Local Sheriff!, and an impoverished farmer in the film adaptation of Horace McCoy's novel They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.
In Mark Rydell's western film The Cowboys, he played a cattle thief who kills a rancher (John Wayne). Dern had a leading role in the ecological science-fiction film Silent Running and co-starred with Jack Nicholson in The King of Marvin Gardens. Dern played Tom Buchanan in the film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1974). In Kirk Douglas' Revisionist Western film Posse, Dern played a train-robber who uses his wiles to turn the tables on his captor, an ambitious, politically minded marshal. Dern starred in the beauty pageant satire film Smile, and in Alfred Hitchcock's final film Family Plot. He played a detective on the trail of a getaway driver (Ryan O'Neal) in the neo-noir film The Driver. In John Frankenheimer's thriller film Black Sunday, Dern played a vengeful Vietnam War veteran and Goodyear Blimp pilot who launches a massive terrorist attack at the Super Bowl. Dern played another Vietnam veteran and the disturbed husband of a perplexed woman (Jane Fonda) in Hal Ashby's war film Coming Home, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In Bob Brooks' erotic thriller film Tattoo, Dern played an increasingly-deranged tattoo artist who imprisons a fashion model (Maud Adams). The film was dogged by controversy throughout its post-production and pre-release phase - the film's release was delayed by nearly a year - and for his lead performance, Dern was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor. However, he bounced back by winning the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival for his performance in Jason Miller's That Championship Season (1982).[11]
Over the next few decades, Dern played a Vietnam veteran and neighborhood survivalist in Joe Dante's suburban satire The 'Burbs, a local crime boss in Michael Ritchie's Diggstown, a rival of Wild Bill Hickok in Walter Hill's Wild Bill, and George Spahn in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Dern's autobiography, Things I've Said, But Probably Shouldn't Have: An Unrepentant Memoir, was published in 2007.
In Alexander Payne's film Nebraska, Dern played a resident believing he has won a million dollars, and undertakes a road trip from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to get the prize. He won the Best Actor Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.[12] [13]
In the course of his long and prolific career, Dern collaborated with film directors, including Walter Hill (The Driver, Wild Bill and Last Man Standing), Joe Dante (The 'Burbs, Small Soldiers and The Hole), and Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). In an interview for The A.V. Club, Dern said: "I always say that I feel like I've worked for six geniuses in my career... And the six directors, not in any order, would be Mr. Kazan, Mr. Hitchcock, Douglas Trumbull, Alexander Payne, Quentin Tarantino, and Francis Coppola."[14] In an interview with Josh Olson and Joe Dante for the podcast series The Movies That Made Me, and while discussing his career, Dern cited the films of David Lean (specifically, Lawrence of Arabia, Great Expectations and The Bridge on the River Kwai), as among the films that inspired him.[15] When asked if he has ever contemplated retirement, Dern said: "If you think I'm gonna retire so Jimmy fucking Caan can get another part from me, you're dead wrong. Because I'm gonna go till I'm 100. My goal is to do stuff with older characters that people never got the chance to do, because they never lived long enough... And because I don't have anything else I can do."[16]
Dern was married to Marie Dawn Pierce from 1957 to 1959.[17] He married Diane Ladd in 1960. Their first daughter died from head injuries after falling into a swimming pool in 1962.[18] The couple's second daughter is actress Laura Dern. After his divorce from Ladd, Dern married Andrea Beckett in 1969.[19]
| Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Wild River | Jack Roper | Uncredited |
| 1962 | The Crimebusters | Joe Krajac | |
| 1964 | Marnie | Sailor | |
| Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte | John Mayhew | ||
| 1966 | The Wild Angels | Joe "Loser" Kearns | |
| 1967 | The War Wagon | Hammond | |
| The St. Valentine's Day Massacre | John May | ||
| The Trip | John | ||
| Waterhole No. 3 | Deputy Sam Tippen | ||
| Will Penny | Rafe Quint | ||
| 1968 | Psych-Out | Steve Davis | |
| Hang 'Em High | Miller | ||
| 1969 | Support Your Local Sheriff! | Joe Danby | |
| Castle Keep | Lt. Billy Byron Bix | ||
| Number One | Richie Fowler | ||
| The Cycle Savages | Keeg | ||
| They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | James Bates | ||
| 1970 | Bloody Mama | Kevin Dirkman | |
| The Rebel Rousers | J.J. Weston | ||
| 1971 | The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant | Dr. Roger Girard | |
| Drive, He Said | Coach Bullion | ||
| 1972 | The Cowboys | Asa Watts (Long Hair) | |
| Silent Running | Freeman Lowell | ||
| Thumb Tripping | Smitty | ||
| The King of Marvin Gardens | Jason Staebler | ||
| 1973 | Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid | Deputy | Uncredited |
| The Laughing Policeman | Leo Larsen | ||
| 1974 | The Great Gatsby | Tom Buchanan | |
| 1975 | Posse | Jack Strawhorn | |
| Smile | Big Bob Freelander | ||
| 1976 | Family Plot | George Lumley | |
| Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood | Grayson Potchuck | ||
| The Twist | William Brandels | ||
| 1977 | Black Sunday | Michael Lander | |
| 1978 | Coming Home | Captain Bob Hyde | |
| The Driver | The Detective | ||
| 1980 | Middle Age Crazy | Bobby Lee Burnett | |
| 1981 | Tattoo | Karl Kinsky | |
| 1982 | That Championship Season | George Sitkowski | |
| Harry Tracy, Desperado | Harry Tracy | ||
| 1986 | On the Edge | Wes Holman | |
| 1987 | The Big Town | Mr. Edwards | |
| World Gone Wild | Ethan | ||
| 1988 | 1969 | Cliff Denny | |
| 1989 | The 'Burbs | Mark Rumsfield | |
| 1990 | After Dark, My Sweet | Garrett "Uncle Bud" Stoker | |
| 1992 | Diggstown | John Gillon | |
| 1995 | Wild Bill | Will Plummer | |
| 1996 | Down Periscope | Admiral Yancy Graham | |
| Mulholland Falls | The Chief | Uncredited | |
| Last Man Standing | Sheriff Ed Galt | ||
| 1998 | Small Soldiers | Link Static (Voice) | |
| 1999 | The Haunting | Mr. Dudley | |
| If... Dog... Rabbit... | McGurdy | ||
| 2000 | All the Pretty Horses | The Judge | |
| 2001 | The Glass House | Alvin Begleiter | |
| 2003 | Masked and Anonymous | Editor | |
| Milwaukee, Minnesota | Sean McNally | ||
| Monster | Thomas | ||
| 2005 | Madison | Harry Volpi | |
| Down in the Valley | Charlie | ||
| 2006 | Believe in Me | Ellis Brawley | |
| Walker Payne | Chester | ||
| The Astronaut Farmer | Hal | ||
| The Hard Easy | Gene | ||
| 2007 | The Cake Eaters | Easy Kimbrough | |
| The Death and Life of Bobby Z | Hippy Narrator | Uncredited | |
| 2008 | Swamp Devil | Howard Blame | |
| The Golden Boys | Captain Perez Ryder | ||
| 2009 | American Cowslip | Cliff | |
| The Hole 3D | Creepy Carl | ||
| The Lightkeepers | Bennie | ||
| 2010 | Trim | Dale Banks | |
| 2011 | Choose | Dr. Ronald Pendleton | |
| Inside Out | Vic Small | ||
| Twixt | Bobby LaGrange | ||
| 2012 | From Up on Poppy Hill | Yoshio Onodera (voice) | English dub |
| Hitting the Cycle | James | ||
| Django Unchained | Curtis Carrucan | ||
| 2013 | Coffin Baby | Vance Henrickson | |
| Northern Borders | Austin Kittredge Sr. | ||
| Nebraska | Woody Grant | ||
| Fighting for Freedom | Christian Dobbe | ||
| 2014 | Cut Bank | Georgie Wits | |
| 2015 | The Hateful Eight | General Sanford Smithers | |
| 2017 | American Violence | Richard Morton | |
| Class Rank | Oswald Flannigan | ||
| The Lears | Davenport Lear | ||
| Hickok | Doc Rivers O'Roark | ||
| Our Souls at Night | Dorlan Becker | ||
| Chappaquiddick | Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. | ||
| 2018 | Nostalgia | Ronnie Ashemore | |
| White Boy Rick | Ray Wershe | ||
| Freaks | Alan/Mr. Snowcone | ||
| Warning Shot | Calvin | ||
| American Dresser | King | ||
| Lez Bomb | Grandpa | ||
| 2019 | The Mustang | Myles | |
| The Peanut Butter Falcon | Carl | ||
| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | George Spahn | ||
| Remember Me | Claude | ||
| Swing Low | Mallinckroft | ||
| Inherit the Viper | Clay Carter | ||
| Himself | Documentary[20] | ||
| The Artist's Wife[21] | Richard Smythson | ||
| Badland[22] | Reginald Cooke | ||
| 2020 | Emperor | Levi Coffin | |
| Death in Texas | Reynolds | ||
| 2021 | Last Call | Coach Finnegan | |
| Buck Alamo | Death | ||
| Overrun | Arkadi Dubkova | ||
| The Gateway | Marcus | ||
| Hands That Bind | Hank | ||
| Christmas vs. the Walters | Cliff Walters | ||
| Last Shoot Out | Blair Callahan | ||
| 2022 | The Hater | Frank | |
| Hellblazers | Bill Unger | ||
| Mid-Century | Emil Larson | ||
| The Most Dangerous Game | Whitney Tyler | ||
| 2023 | The Weapon | Doris | |
| Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch | Mike Cassidy | ||
| Accidental Texan | Scheermeyer | ||
| Butch vs. Sundance | Mike Cassidy | ||
| Hunting Games | Henry | ||
| Old Dads | Richie Jacobs | ||
| 2024 | Bloodline Killer | Dr. Lucien | |
| 2025 | Reminisce | Papa Joe | Post-production |
| The Devil's Trap | |||
| Feathered | Rock | ||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Route 66 | Albert | Season 1 Episode 4: "The Man on the Monkey Board" | |
| 1961 | Naked City | Nicky | Season 2 Episode 10: "Bullets Cost Too Much" | |
| Hollis | Season 2 Episode 20: "The Fault in Our Stars" (uncredited) | |||
| Sea Hunt | FBI Agent John Furillo | Season 4 Episode 37: "Crime at Sea" | ||
| Surfside 6 | Johnny Page | Season 2 Episode 4: "Daphne, Girl Detective" | ||
| Thriller | Johnny Norton | Season 2 Episode 13: "The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk" | ||
| Ben Casey | Billy Harris | Season 1 Episode 12: "A Dark Night for Billy Harris" | ||
| The Detectives | Jud Treadwell | Season 3 Episode 12: "Act of God" | ||
| Cain's Hundred | Joe Krajac | Season 1 Episode 1: "Crime and Commitment: Part 1" | ||
| 1962 | Cain's Hundred | Eddie Light | Season 1 Episode 29: "The Left Side of Canada" | |
| The Dick Powell Show | Deering | Season 1 Episode 19: "Squadron" | ||
| 1962–1963 | Stoney Burke | E.J. Stocker | 17 episodes | |
| 1963 | The Dick Powell Show | Hank Fairbrother | Season 2 Episode 29: "The Old Man and the City" | |
| Kraft Suspense Theatre | Maynard | Season 1 Episode 9: "The Hunt" | ||
| The Outer Limits | Ben Garth | Season 1 Episode 14: "The Zanti Misfits" | ||
| Wagon Train | Seth Bancroft | Season 7 Episode 9: "The Eli Bancroft Story" | ||
| The Fugitive | Deputy Martin | Season 1 Episode 3: "The Other Side of the Mountain" | ||
| 1964 | The Virginian | Pell | Season 2 Episode 20: "First to Thine Own Self" | |
| Lee Darrow | Season 3 Episode 14: "The Payment" | |||
| Wagon Train | Jud Fisher | Season 8 Episode 8: "Those Who Stay Behind" | ||
| The Fugitive | Charley | Season 1 Episode 17: "Come Watch Me Die" | ||
| 77 Sunset Strip | Ralph Wheeler | Season 6 Episode 15: "Lovers' Lane" | ||
| The Greatest Show on Earth | Vernon | Season 1 Episode 22: "The Last of the Strongmen" | ||
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Roy Bullock | Season 2 Episode 15: "Night Caller" | ||
| Jesse | Season 3 Episode 6: "Lonely Place" | |||
| 12 O'Clock High | Lieutenant Michaels | Season 1 Episode 1: "Golden Boy Had Nine Black Sheep" | ||
| 1965 | Lieutenant Danton | Season 1 Episode 18: "The Lorelei" | ||
| Lieutenant Michaels | Season 1 Episode 27: "The Mission" | |||
| Technical Sergeant Frank Jones | Season 2 Episode 13: "The Jones Boys" | |||
| The Virginian | Bert Kramer | Season 4 Episode 3: "A Little Learning" | ||
| Wagon Train | Wilkins | Season 8 Episode 24: "The Indian Girl Story" | ||
| The Fugitive | Cody | Season 2 Episode 21: "Corner of Hell" | ||
| Hank | Season 3 Episode 13: "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys" | |||
| Rawhide | Ed Rankin | Season 8 Episode 4: "Walk into Terror" | ||
| Laredo | Joe Durkee | Season 1 Episode 4: "Rendezvous at Arillo" | ||
| A Man Called Shenandoah | Bobby Ballantine | Season 1 Episode 7: "The Verdict" | ||
| The F.B.I. | Private First Class Byron Landy | Season 1 Episode 14: "Pound of Flesh" | ||
| Gunsmoke | Doyle Phleger | Season 11 Episode 4: "Ten Little Indians" | ||
| Judd Print | Season 11 Episode 11: "South Wind" | |||
| 1966 | Lou Stone | Season 12 Episode 3: "The Jailer" | ||
| The Fugitive | Hutch | Season 4 Episode 12: "The Devil's Disciples" | ||
| Branded | Les | Season 2 Episode 17: "The Wolfers" | ||
| The Loner | Lud Grant | Season 1 Episode 26: "To Hang a Dead Man" | ||
| Disneyland | Turk | Season 13 Episode 8: "Gallegher Goes West: Crusading Reporter" | ||
| Run for Your Life | Alex Ryder | Season 2 Episode 9: "The Treasure Seekers" | ||
| The Big Valley | Jack Follet | Season 1 Episode 20: "Under a Dark Star" | ||
| Harry Dixon | Season 1 Episode 26: "By Force and Violence" | |||
| Clovis | Season 2 Episode 1: "The Lost Treasure" | |||
| 1967 | Gabe Skeels | Season 3 Episode 12: "Four Days to Furnace Hill" | ||
| Run for Your Life | Alex Ryder | Season 3 Episode 5: "Trip to the Far Side" Season 3 Episode 7: "At the End of the Rainbow There's Another Rainbow" | ||
| 1968 | Lancer | Lucas Thatcher | Season 1 Episode 6: "Julie" | |
| The Big Valley | John Weaver | Season 4 Episode 11: "The Prize" | ||
| The F.B.I. | Virgil Roy Phipps | Season 4 Episode 7: "The Nightmare" | ||
| Bonanza | Cully Maco | Season 9 Episode 15: "The Trackers" | ||
| 1969 | Lancer | Tom Nevill | Season 2 Episode 9: "A Person Unknown" | |
| Gunsmoke | Guerin | Season 14 Episode 21: "The Long Night" | ||
| Then Came Bronson | Bucky O'Neill | Season 1 Episode 6: "Amid Splinters of the Thunderbolt" | ||
| 1970 | Bonanza | Bayliss | Season 11 Episode 23: "The Gold Mine" | |
| Land of the Giants | Thorg | Season 2 Episode 24: "Wild Journey" | ||
| The High Chaparral | Wade | Season 4 Episode 3: "Only the Bad Come to Sonora" | ||
| The Immortal | Luther Seacombe | Season 1 Episode 13: "To the Gods Alone" | ||
| 1985 | Space | Stanley Mott | 5 episodes: "Part I", "Part II", "Part III", "Part IV", "Part V" | |
| Toughlove | Rob Charters | Television film | ||
| 1987 | Roses Are for the Rich | Douglas Osborne | ||
| Uncle Tom's Cabin | Augustine St. Claire | |||
| 1989 | Trenchcoat in Paradise | John Hollander | ||
| 1990 | The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson | Scout Ed Higgins | ||
| 1991 | Into the Badlands | T.L. Barston | ||
| Carolina Skeletons | Junior Stoker | |||
| 1993 | It's Nothing Personal | Billy Archer | ||
| 1994 | Dead Man's Revenge | Payton McCay | ||
| George Putnam | ||||
| 1995 | A Mother's Prayer | John Walker | ||
| Mrs. Munck | Patrick Leary | |||
| 1999 | Winston | |||
| 2003 | King of the Hill | Randy Strickland (voice) | Season 7 Episode 11: "Boxing Luanne" | |
| Hard Ground | Nate Hutchinson | Television film | ||
| 2006–2011 | Big Love | Frank Harlow | 29 episodes | |
| 2007 | Vet | Season 4 Episode 6: "Boo" | ||
| 2013 | Pete's Christmas | Grandpa | Television film | |
| 2016 | The Cowboy | Himself | Television series documentary, 2 episodes | |
| 2019 | Black Monday | Rod "The Jammer" Jaminski | Season 1 Episode 5: "243" Season 1 Episode 10: "0" | |
| Mr. Mercedes | John Rothstein | 8 episodes | ||
| 2021 | Goliath | Frank Zax | 8 episodes | |
| 2024 | Palm Royale | Skeet | Miniseries Season 1 Episode 4: "Maxine Rolls the Dice" Season 1 Episode 5: "Maxine Shakes the Tree" Season 1 Episode 6: "Maxine Takes a Step" |
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Shadow Stalkers | The Director | |
| 2020 | MegaRace: DeathMatch | Rabies |