| Dennis Woodruff | |
| Birth Place: | Huntington Beach, California, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Actor, producer, director |
Dennis Woodruff (1952–2024) was an American actor, producer, and director who was based in Los Angeles. He was known for his ostentatious self-promotion of his services as an actor, and for his fleet of hand decorated "art cars".[1] Much of his fame was derived from his lack of success in the movie industry.[2]
In the 1980s, Woodruff began to decorate cars in order to advertise his acting career. He was producing his own movies by the 2000s.[3] He would leave his cars parked in prominent places to serve as personal promotion. He would also hand out flyers to movie producers and distributors at Hollywood events.[4] He started a production company, Dennis Woodruff Entertainment, with his brother Scott. They ran it out of a mobile home in Los Angeles.
Woodruff was given background roles in works such as Quantum Leap, RoboCop 2, Serious Money, and Toys.[5] He featured in Harrod Blank's documentary Automorphosis, which focused on art cars and their artists.[6]
In 2020, Woodruff stated that he had created 28 movies and 3 television programs alongside collaborator Keith Kurlander.[7] He declared that he had "made more movies than Tarantino or anyone in Hollywood".[3] He sold physical copies of his films from the trunk of his car, and claimed to make $100,000 doing so annually.[8] He was also known for giving tours on Hollywood Boulevard and selling his movies to tourists.[9] [10]
Woodruff was born in Huntington Beach, California. He was the grandson of S. H. Woodruff, a prominent developer of Hollywoodland.[3] In 2000, the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was "hard to live in L.A. and not know who Dennis Woodruff is".[11] He stated that his public persona was a character that he played.[11]
On October 2, 2024, Keith Kurlander announced the death of Woodruff.[12] He died alone at his West Hollywood apartment. He had no close next of kin.[6]