Hero worship has never really been my thing. Everyone lets you down or they reveal themselves to be just like you.  Being just like me means you suck.  However, I do admire the type of person who carves out a niche for themselves no matter how underappreciated and just keeps right on keeping on.  The tenacity of this type of person is just as inspiring as out and out heroism.  In fact, it is this work ethic that Iaspire to in my life as well. 

If you were to ask me who I thought best personified this quality, the answer would be Bruce Campbell.  Some of you will return after you have done a quick search, and some of you will return after you have finished rolling your eyes.

Bruce Campbell is the unlikeliest of role models for me because  I absolutely hated the first film that exposed me to him.  I was in eighth grade and my buddy Jamie rented The Evil Dead.  It was a movie I had heard about before and had absolutely no desire to see.  I was unimpressed and disgusted by the gore effects and ,especially ,by the rape-by-forest sequence.  I thought the cast was terrible, and I found the actor playing the nominal hero to be too whiny.  That actor was Bruce Campbell. 

Campbell, a Michigan natice, grew up far away from my hometown of Fouke, Arkansas.  He also grew up in a different environment.  As described in his book, If Chins Could Kill, his life wasn't perfect, but it was warm and supportive.  Mine boyhood was spent learning the proper eggshell walking technique.

Campbell's little horror movie garnered some  success,and it spawned two sequels.  Both of them are a vast improvement over the prototype.  Campbell has worked steadily in B movies his entiree carrer.  Everything from Moontrap to Maniac Cop bears that unmistakable charm that should have made him as star.

Bruce has flirted with mainstream success on several occasions, but the problem is thayt he never had the breakthrough, and, though,  I can neither confirm not deny this, his director pal Sam Raimi of Spiderman fame and Spiderman 3 infamy, hasn't been able to give him that lead he greatly deserved in a big budget movie.

Campbell has had to buld his career out of fun perfromances that catch the eye of the audience. For many, he is "That Guy, but, for a growing legion, he his "The Chin" or "The Bruce".   He is a victor in the battle of quantity over quality.  He has managed to deliver quality no matter the budget or the subject matter.  Campbell's ability to perform no matter the circumastances marks him as true professional, and ,thus, my admiration for him isn't for someone who works little but makes big splashes.  It is for a man who does a job and does it well.  No matter the circumstances he is durable and reliable.  Bruce Campbell, ladies and gentlemen, an actor's actor and a nerd's hero.

Bruce Campbell Selected Filmography

Evil Dead II (1987)

Crimewave (1987)

Maniac Cop (1988)

Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)

Army of Darkness (1993)

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (Television Series)

Escape from LA (1996)

Bubba Ho-Tep (2003)

The Man With the Screaming Brain (2005)

The Woods (2005)