Film '' Campbell and Raimi collaborated on a 30-minute Super 8 version of the first
Evil Dead movie, titled
Within the Woods (1979), which was initially used to attract investors. He and Raimi got together with family and friends to begin working on
The Evil Dead (1981). While featuring as the protagonist, Campbell also had participation with the production of the movie, receiving a co-executive producer credit. Raimi wrote, directed, and edited the movie, while
Rob Tapert produced. After an endorsement by horror author
Stephen King, the movie slowly began to receive attention and offers for distribution. Four years after its original release, it became the most popular movie in the UK. It was then distributed in the United States, resulting in the sequels
Evil Dead II (1987) and
Army of Darkness (1992). Campbell was also drawn in the Marvel Zombie comics as his character,
Ash Williams. He is featured in five comics, all in the series
Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness. In them, he fights alongside the Marvel heroes against the heroes and people who have become zombies (deadites) while in search of the
Necronomicon (Book of the Names of the Dead). He has appeared in several of Raimi's movies other than the
Evil Dead series, notably having
cameo appearances in the director's
Spider-Man film series. Campbell also joined the cast of Raimi's movie
Darkman and
The Quick and the Dead, though having no actual screen time in the latter movie's theatrical version. In March 2022, Campbell was announced to have a cameo in Raimi's
Marvel Cinematic Universe film
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Campbell often performs quirky roles, such as
Elvis Presley for the movie
Bubba Ho-Tep. Along with
Bubba Ho-Tep, he played a supporting role in
Maniac Cop and
Maniac Cop 2, and spoofed his career in the self-directed
My Name is Bruce. Other mainstream movies for Campbell include supporting or featured roles in the
Coen Brothers movie
The Hudsucker Proxy, the
Michael Crichton adaptation
Congo, the movie version of ''
McHale's Navy, Escape from L.A.'' (the sequel to
John Carpenter's
Escape from New York), the
Jim Carrey drama
The Majestic and the 2005 Disney movie
Sky High. Campbell had a major voice role for the
2009 animated adaptation of the children's book
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and a supporting voice role for
Pixar's
Cars 2. Campbell produced the
2013 remake of
The Evil Dead, along with Raimi and Rob Tapert, appearing in the movie's
post-credits scene in a cameo role with the expectation he would reprise that role in
Army of Darkness 2. The next year, the comedy metal band
Psychostick released a song titled "Bruce Campbell" on their album
IV: Revenge of the Vengeance that pays a comedic tribute to his past roles. Campbell worked as an executive producer for the
Evil Dead spin-off films
Evil Dead Rise (2023),
Evil Dead Burn (2026), and
Evil Dead Wrath (2028). In August 2025, Campbell had an interview with
The Horror Zine, where he talked about a new project that he directed, and produced with his wife Ida,
Ernie & Emma, a comedy film about a salesman who goes on a roadtrip across the country with his late wife's ashes; he stars as the titular Ernie in the film. On February 4, 2026, he released a trailer for it via
YouTube. It premiered at the
Holly Theatre in
Medford, Oregon on February 14.
Television in 2013 Campbell has appeared in a number of television series in both lead and recurring roles. He featured in
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. a boisterous science fiction comedy western created by
Jeffrey Boam and
Carlton Cuse that played for one season. He played a lawyer turned bounty hunter who was trying to hunt down John Bly, the man who killed his father. He featured in the television series
Jack of All Trades, set on a fictional island occupied by the French in 1801. Campbell was also credited as co-executive producer, among others. The show was directed by Eric Gruendemann, and was produced by various people, including
Sam Raimi. The show was broadcast for two seasons, from 2000 to 2001. He had a recurring role as "Bill Church Jr." based upon the character of Morgan Edge from the Superman comics on
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. From 1996 to 1997, Campbell was a recurring guest actor of the television series
Ellen as Ed Billik, who becomes Ellen's boss when she sells her bookstore in season four. He is also known for his supporting role as the
recurring character Autolycus ("King of Thieves") on both
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and
Xena: Warrior Princess, which reunited him with producer Rob Tapert. Campbell played
Hercules/
Xena series producer Tapert in two episodes of
Hercules set in the present. He directed a number of episodes of
Hercules and
Xena, including the
Hercules series finale. Campbell also obtained the main role of race car driver Hank Cooper for the Disney made-for-television
remake of
The Love Bug. Campbell had a critically acclaimed dramatic guest role as a grief-stricken detective seeking revenge for his father's murder in a two-part episode of the fourth season of
Homicide: Life on the Street. Campbell later played the part of a bigamous demon in
The X-Files episode "
Terms of Endearment". He also featured as Agent Jackman in the episode "
Witch Way Now?" of the WB series
Charmed, as well as playing a state police officer in an episode of the short-lived series
American Gothic titled "Meet The Beetles". Campbell co-featured in the television series
Burn Notice, which was broadcast from 2007 to 2013 by
USA Network. He portrayed
Sam Axe, a beer-chugging, former
Navy SEAL now working as an unlicensed
private investigator and occasional
mercenary with his old friend
Michael Westen, the show's main character. When working undercover, his character frequently used the alias Chuck Finley, which Bruce later revealed was the name of one of his father's old co-workers. Campbell was the star of a 2011
Burn Notice made-for-television
prequel focusing on Sam's Navy SEAL career, titled
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe. In 2014, Campbell played
Santa Claus for an episode of
The Librarians. Campbell played
Ronald Reagan in season 2 of the
FX original series
Fargo. More recently Campbell reprised his role as
Ashley "Ash" Williams in
Ash vs Evil Dead, a series based upon the
Evil Dead series that began his career.
Ash vs Evil Dead began airing on Starz on October 31, 2015, and was renewed by the cable channel for second and third seasons, before being cancelled. In January 2019,
Travel Channel announced a new version of the ''
Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' reality series, with Campbell serving as host and executive producer. The 10-episode season debuted on June 9, 2019.
Voice acting Campbell is featured as a voice actor for several video games. He provides the voice of Ash in the four games based on the
Evil Dead movies series:
Evil Dead: Hail to the King,
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick,
Evil Dead: Regeneration and
Evil Dead: The Game. He has expressed his intent to return to the role in an upcoming
Evil Dead animated series. He also provided the voice of Ash in
Dead by Daylight. Campbell also provided voice talent in other titles such as
Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle,
Spider-Man,
Spider-Man 2,
Spider-Man 3, and
The Amazing Spider-Man. He provided the voice of main character Jake Logan for the 2000 PC game,
Tachyon: The Fringe, the voice of main character Jake Burton for the 1997 PlayStation game
Broken Helix, and the voice of Magnanimous in the animated TV series
Megas XLR. the voice of Rod "Torque" Redline in
Cars 2, the voice of Himcules in the 2003
Nickelodeon TV series
My Life as a Teenage Robot, and the voice of Fugax in the 2006 movie
The Ant Bully. Campbell also provided voice-over and motion capture for Sgt. Lennox in the Exo Zombies mode of
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Writing In addition to acting and occasionally directing, Campbell has become a writer, starting with an autobiography,
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, published in June 2001. The autobiography was a successful
New York Times Best Seller. It describes Campbell's career to date as an actor in low-budget movies and television, providing his insight into "
Blue-Collar Hollywood". He later recorded an
audio play adaptation of
Make Love with fellow Michigan actors, including longtime collaborator
Ted Raimi. This radio drama was released by the independent label Rykodisc and spans six discs with a six-hour running time. In addition to his books, Campbell also wrote a column for
X-Ray Magazine in 2001, an issue of the popular comic series
The Hire, and comic book adaptations of his
Man with the Screaming Brain. Most recently he wrote the introduction to
Josh Becker's
The Complete Guide to Low-Budget Feature Filmmaking. In late 2016, Campbell announced that he would be releasing a third book,
Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor, which will detail his life from where
If Chins Could Kill ended.
Hail to the Chin was released in August 2017, and accompanied by a book tour across the United States and Europe. Campbell maintained a weblog on his official website, where he posted mainly about politics and the movie industry. However, the website has since been deleted.
Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival Since 2014, the Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival, narrated and organized by Campbell, was held in the Muvico Theater in
Rosemont, Illinois. The first festival was originally from August 21 to 25, 2014, presented by Wizard World, as part of the
Chicago Comicon. The second festival was from August 20 to 23, 2015, with guests
Tom Holland and
Eli Roth. The third festival took place over four days in August 2016. Guests of the event were
Sam Raimi,
Robert Tapert and
Doug Benson. ==Personal life==