Bruce Campbell has always been one of my big favourites in the sci-fi, fantasy & horror genre. I don’t know how but he always manages to turn up in all my favourite shows and films. When I went to see Evil Dead II at the midnight showing, with my future wife (it was our first date, I left the car lights on, the battery was flat when we came out, her dad had to come out at 3am to jump start the car, not the best of starts) he was there.

Even on the goggle box, he has appeared in Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The legendary journeys, Lois and Clark, even the X-Files. In fact, the only programme I regular watch that has seen no Campbell action, is Star Trek, but perhaps that is just a matter of time.

The baby of three brothers, Bruce was born in Royal Oaks, Michigan, US, on June 22nd in 1957. His early years were very normal and uneventful, until he saw how much fun his dad was having performing in local community theatre and decided he wanted in.

His first big chance came, when the actor who was to play the young prince in The King and I became ill. Bruce was only cast as one of the chorus, but he stepped into the role. He went on to appear in several productions including acting with his dad in South Pacific and being directed by him in the starring role of "Chance Wayne" in Tennessee William's Sweet Bird of Youth.

While directing his son in this straight drama, his father saw that Bruce had a lot of natural talent, that he was very much at home on the stage and that the audience could sense it, too. Thus a star was born...

Bruce received a super-8 camera as a gift and began experimenting with filmmaking on his own. But it wasn’t until he met Sam Raimi in a high school drama class (apparently they were both doing hideous mimes and consoled each other), that things began to take off.

After a summer stint as an apprentice in the Cherry County Playhouse, where he worked for nothing, but gained valuable insights into the whole acting process. Bruce went to Western Michigan University to take film courses. He dropped out after six months though, as he felt that he had learnt more with his own super 8 film making.

He got a job with a production company that made commercials. He was there a year as a general dogsbody, sweeping up, running around with camera equipment etc, and it gave him a great chance to learn the techniques side of the business.

In the meanwhile Bruce, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert went making their super 8’s, with such classics as Cleveland Smith Bounty Bunter and Toro, Toro, Toro, the latter which was about a homicidal lawnmower.

The three had one common goal, to become professional filmmakers. They decided, horror was probably the best genre to break into, because it was the easiest to sell. After making a short horror film, Within the Wood, with help from Bruce’s dad, they raised $350,000 and made the classic low budget horror film, the Evil Dead. Bruce was executive producer and star.

The film took four years to complete and became the biggest selling video in England during 1983, beating the Shining. After Stephen King dubbed it "The most original horror film of the year" at Cannes (You can’t buy PR like that) it was snapped up by New Line and released in the USA.

In 1987, with a budget ten times the original, Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn was released, with Bruce again starring in and co-producing this "less gory, more funny" sequel.

In 1992 after a string of strong performances in good (and bad movies), Bruce rejoined his old colleagues and co-produced the last (and in my opinion the best) of the Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness, in which he one again reprised his role of Ash. A hero as loveable as he was dumb.

Bruce moved to television starring in the highly touted Fox series The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, which despite being extremely good, only lasted one season. He then had a recurring guest-starring role on the hit show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, a recurring role in Sit Com Ellen, plus regular appearances on Hercules and its sister show Xena.

With these under his belt, Bruce easily made the transition to director, helming several episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, including the very last episode.

Bruce hasn't lost sight of his film roots, though. Appearing in the last few years, in Escape from LA, Congo and most recently Texas Blood Money, a From Dusk till dawn prequel. Bruce has also made the leap into the multi-media industry by supplying the voice of the hero in two CD-ROM adventure games, Cold-blooded for 7th Lead and Broken Halt for Konami.

A man who truly knows no bounds.

Hail to the king, Baby!