Brad Dourif

BRAD DOURIF

Date of Birth: March 18, 1950

Born in Huntington, West Virginia, Brad Dourif was just three years old when his father died. His mother married Bill Campbell, a professional golfer, who became a stepfather to Brad and his siblings. Brad became interested in acting from watching his mother perform in community theater productions. He briefly attended Marshall University in Huntington, where he joined the Huntington Community Players before dropping out of school at the age of 19 to try his luck in New York City. He landed roles in a number of off-Broadway plays and in regional theater, when he was spotted by director Milos Forman. Forman cast the 24-year-old Dourif in the role of Billy Bibbet in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Dourif won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award for his performance, and received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Dourif returned to New York, where he appeared mostly in stage productions, averaging one film or TV movie per year, before moving to Hollywood in 1988. However, he found that his wild eyes and high-strung mannerisms tended to land him similar roles to the one he played in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Regardless, he began to work steadily as a character actor, appearing in nine films in 1990 and six films in 1991. In 2001 Dourif flew to Australia where he played the regular role of Frenchy Devereaux in the PAX TV series Ponderosa. He left before the series ended however, when he landed the plum role of Gríma Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), filming in nearby New Zealand.

Dourif has appeared in over 60 feature films and over 20 television shows. Divorced, he has two daughters.