Back on 2 March, Bruce Campbell announced he had cancer in an X post. He said it was “‘treatable’ not ‘curable’,” so I figured a bad kind. And then, exactly six months later, he announced on The Adam Carolla Show that his doctors give him five years.
Based on this, I’d have to say that I have no idea. I won’t be surprised if he’s dead in a year. And I won’t be surprised if he’s alive in ten. So I’d prefer if I knew nothing about his diagnosis. But I understand why he had to make it. He’s a big draw at the conventions and he had to cancel appearances. If he hadn’t said anything there would have been ridiculous rumors — maybe a “Bruce Campbell Is Dead” conspiracy.
I think Campbell is a solid actor. But I’m not that interested in him as an actor. I think that Evil Dead II kind of limited his career. He has breadth as an actor. But mostly, people want to see him play a maniac. I thought The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr was great. But most fans I know never took much to it. And I understand. I too enjoy Maniac Bruce. Ash vs Evil Dead was fantastic. And Man With the Screaming Brain is one of my favorite films. But he was capable of so much more.
Ernie & Emma
I’m much more interested in Bruce Campbell as a writer and director. And that’s the hidden good news of all this cancer stuff. He has said he has backed away from work on the Evil Dead franchise. That started before the cancer diagnosis but it seems to have now accelerated.
His new film, Ernie & Emma, is the first one he’s directed since My Name Is Bruce back in 2007. And it is the first he’s written since Screaming Brain. I haven’t seen Ernie & Emma, of course. It isn’t playing in my backwater. But based on the trailer, it looks very “Bruce Campbell.”
I’ll be sad to see Bruce Campbell die. But if we get a couple of independent films from him as a result, that will be an major silver lining.
Afterword: Alternative Take
There is another possibility. Some may consider it in poor taste to even mention it. But I love it!
Maybe Campbell knew about his cancer diagnosis long ago — maybe as far back as 2018 when he announced he wouldn’t play Ash again. In that case, he might have only gone public with the diagnosis to goose interest in Ernie & Emma.
I hope it’s true. He would be perpetrating one of the greatest things ever done in exploitation filmmaking!
Bruce Campbell by Gage Skidmore under CC BY 2.0.