Top 10 Bruce Campbell Roles

What was your first introduction to Bruce Campbell? I remember my mom being out of town, my brother renting Evil Dead II from the library, and no one stopping us. Yes, that movie scared me, and I may never be the same, but it also introduced me to Campbell's chin, his char __isma, and it made me a lifelong fan.

There are legendary actors, and then there's Bruce Campbell, a living icon who lights up every scene he's in and who has given us some of the best character and starring roles of all time.

It was hard to narrow it down to a top ten for me, but I did my best.

Let's dive in.

The Ring Announcer in 'Spider-Man' (2002) / The Snooty Usher in 'Spider-Man 2' (2004) / The Maître d' in 'Spider-Man 3' (2007)

• Director: Sam Raimi
• Writers: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Alvin Sargent
• Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Bruce Campbell

Yeah, I know this is three roles, but I couldn't pick one, and I also couldn't let this take up three spots. These cameos across Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies are so much fun. He plays narky, he does accents, and he steals these scenes. They're so poppy and so fun, seek them out.

9. The Surgeon General of Beverly Hills in 'Escape from L.A.' (1996)

• Director: John Carpenter
• Writers: John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Kurt Russell
• Cast: Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, Bruce Campbell

This is what Campbell does: he shows up for a scene, and he stands out in your mind forever. Under layers of prosthetic makeup and a deranged plastic-surgery obsession, Bruce delivers one of the most unsettling cameos in action history. He’s the Surgeon General of a dystopian Beverly Hills, and he’s looking for fresh parts. It's gross and weird and just pops off the screen.

8. Bruce Campbell in 'My Name Is Bruce' (2007)

• Director: Bruce Campbell
• Writer: Mark Verheiden
• Cast: Bruce Campbell, Grace Thorsen, Taylor Sharpe, Ted Raimi

Who better to play a washed-up, cynical, B-movie actor named Bruce Campbell than the man himself? I find this movie to be supremely underrated. Bruce leans into every stereotype about his career, playing a version of himself that is kidnapped to fight a real-life monster. You see him and the way he thinks the world sees him, and it's so meta and fun.

7. Jack Stiles in 'Jack of All Trades' (2000)

• Directors: Various (incl. Eric Gruendemann)
• Writers: Eric Morris, Melissa Blake
• Cast: Bruce Campbell, Angela Marie Dotchin

This short-lived sitcom gave us Bruce as an American spy in the 19th century. He wears a mask, fights Napoleon’s forces, and gets to indulge in the kind of swashbuckling physical comedy that defined his early career. It's over the top fun, but as a kid, I could not turn it off. I was very sad when it was canceled.

6. Brisco County Jr. in 'The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.' (1993)

• Director: Bryan Spicer (Pilot)
• Writers: Carlton Cuse, Jeffrey Boam
• Cast: Bruce Campbell, Julius Carry, Christian Clemenson

It's crazy this show was on TV back in the day. It's a"Steampunk Western" that was ahead of its time and also just weird. Bruce plays a Harvard-educated bounty hunter looking for the outlaws who killed his father. He brings a leading-man charisma to a show that would have crushed today, but was ahead of its time.

5. Sam Axe in 'Burn Notice' (2007–2013)

• Director: Various (incl. Jeffrey Donovan)
• Writer: Matt Nix (Creator)
• Cast: Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar, Sharon Gless

Campbell is amazing at snark and at putting people in their place. So, as Sam Axe, the mojito-drinking, Tommy Bahama-wearing former Navy SEAL, he kicked major butt.. He provides the "muscle" and the comic relief in equal measure and got his own prequel movie (The Fall of Sam Axe) because people loved the character so much.

4. Elvis Presley in 'Bubba Ho-Tep' (2002)

• Director: Don Coscarelli
• Writer: Don Coscarelli (based on the novella by Joe R. Lansdale)
• Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce

I could make a legitimate case that Bruce Campbell should have won the Oscar for this performance. He plays an elderly, soul-searching Elvis Presley who switched places with an impersonator years ago and is now rotting away in an East Texas nursing home, and is about to fight an ancient mummy.

3. Ash Williams in 'The Evil Dead' (1981)

• Director: Sam Raimi
• Writer: Sam Raimi
• Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor

The one that started it all and probably messed up my brain for life. In the original 1981 film, Ash isn't the quip-heavy hero we know today; he’s a "final boy" trying to survive the night. And this low-fi movie changed the game for indie horror forever, thanks to amazing cinematography, direction, and his leading performance.

2. Ash Williams in 'Ash vs Evil Dead' (2015–2018)

• Directors: Various (incl. Sam Raimi, Rick Jacobson)
• Writers: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Tom Spezialy
• Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, Lucy Lawless

Bringing Ash back thirty years later was a gamble that paid off, and it excelled on TV. This version of Ash is older, ruder, and arguably even more incompetent, but Bruce’s comedic timing has never been sharper. You can't help but have fun watching it all get grosser and weirder.

1. Ash Williams in 'Evil Dead II' / 'Army of Darkness' (1987–1992)

• Director: Sam Raimi
• Writers: Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel (EDII), Ivan Raimi (AoD)
• Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry (EDII), Embeth Davidtz (AoD)

Yeah, Ash deserved the top three spots because he's one of the greatest characters of all time. I'm grouping these two movies together because they represent the "Full Evolution" of Ash.

This is where the character becomes an icon, and Campbell goes down in history as one of the greatest to ever do it.

From the "Groovy" mirror scene in Evil Dead II to the S-Mart "Hail to the King" speech in Army of Darkness , this is Bruce Campbell at the height of his powers.

All hail Ash!

Summing It All Up

I would say that Campbell's leading man persona had a huge impact on me as a kid and on me as a writer today. He's one of those actors I'm dying to work with someday, and I hope to get the chance to get my own movie on this list.

Let me know what you think in the comments.