Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for Nebraska (2013), which also earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for That Championship Season (1982). He was also Oscar nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Coming Home (1978). He is also a BAFTA Award, two-time Genie Award, and three-time Golden Globe Award nominee.

A member of the Actors Studio, after portraying small roles in films like Marnie (1964) and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), he rose to prominence during the New Hollywood era. His notable film credits The Trip (1967), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Silent Running (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), Family Plot (1976), Black Sunday (1977), The Driver (1978), Tattoo (1981), The 'Burbs (1989), Monster (2003), The Hateful Eight (2015), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). He also starred in the HBO series Big Love (2006–2011).

He is the father of actress Laura Dern.

Early life

Dern was born in Chicago on June 4, 1936, the son of Jean (née MacLeish; 1908–1972) and John Dern (1903–1958), a utility chief and attorney. He grew up in Kenilworth, Illinois. His paternal grandfather, George Dern, was a Utah governor and Secretary of War (he was serving in the latter position at the time of Bruce's birth). Dern's maternal grandfather was a Vice President of the Carson, Pirie and Scott stores, Dern graduated from New Trier High School, where he was a track star and sought to qualify for the Olympic Trials in 1956. Dern attended the University of Pennsylvania, but dropped out after two years. Dern studied alongside Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, New York City. and a murdered lover in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

Over the next few decades, Dern played a Vietnam veteran and neighborhood survivalist in Joe Dante's suburban satire The 'Burbs,

In Alexander Payne's film Nebraska, Dern played a resident believing he has won a million dollars, and undertakes a road trip from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to get the prize. He won the Best Actor Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Directors and craft

In the course of his long and prolific career, Dern collaborated with film directors, including Walter Hill (The Driver, In an interview with Josh Olson and Joe Dante for the podcast series The Movies That Made Me, and while discussing his career, Dern cited the films of David Lean (specifically, Lawrence of Arabia, Great Expectations and The Bridge on the River Kwai), as among the films that inspired him. When asked if he has ever contemplated retirement, Dern said: "If you think I'm gonna retire so Jimmy fucking Caan can get another part from me, you're dead wrong. Because I'm gonna go till I'm 100. My goal is to do stuff with older characters that people never got the chance to do, because they never lived long enough... And because I don't have anything else I can do."

Personal life

Dern was married to Marie Dawn Pierce from 1957 to 1959. He married Diane Ladd in 1960. Their first daughter died from head injuries after falling into a swimming pool in 1962 at 18 months old. The couple's second daughter is actress Laura Dern, born in 1967. After his divorce from Ladd, Dern married Andrea Beckett in 1969.

Dern has been an avid runner his whole life. In high school, he recorded a half-mile best time of 1:55.8, and he later was on the track team at the University of Pennsylvania. He said that between the ages of 28 and 70 he ran between 2,500 and 4,000 miles per year. In the 1986 film On the Edge, he played a runner seeking redemption in a contest based on the Dipsea Race, and the 1978 film Coming Home both begins and ends with scenes of Dern running. In a 2014 interview at age 77, he said he still ran nearly every day, albeit more slowly.

Filmography

|-

| The Artist's Wife

| Richard Smythson

|

|-

| Badland

| Reginald Cooke

|

|-

| rowspan=2|2020

| Emperor

| Levi Coffin

|

|-

| Death in Texas

| Reynolds

|

|-

| rowspan="7" |2021

| Last Call

| Coach Finnegan

|

|-

| Buck Alamo

| Death

|

|-

| Overrun

| Arkadi Dubkova

|

|-

| The Gateway

| Marcus

|

|-

|Hands That Bind

|Hank

|

|-

| Christmas vs. the Walters

| Cliff Walters

|

|-

| Last Shoot Out

| Blair Callahan

|

|-

| rowspan="4" |2022

| The Hater

| Frank

|

|-

| Hellblazers

| Bill Unger

|

|-

| Mid-Century

| Emil Larson

|

|-

| The Most Dangerous Game

| Whitney Tyler

|

|-

| rowspan="6"|2023

| The Weapon

| Doris

|

|-

| Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch

| Mike Cassidy

|

|-

| Accidental Texan

| Scheermeyer

|

|-

| Butch vs. Sundance

| Mike Cassidy

|

|-

| Hunting Games

| Henry

|

|-

| Old Dads

| Richie Jacobs

|

|-

| rowspan="2"|2024

| Bloodline Killer

| Dr. Lucien

|

|-

| The Devil's Trap

| Mr. Cohen

|

|-

|rowspan="3"|2025

| The World's Happiest Man

| Tom

|

|-

| Bad Men Must Bleed

| George Wells

|

|-

| Fractured

| Papa Joe

|

|-

|2026

|Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern

|Himself

|Documentary

|-

| TBA

| style="background:#FFFFCC;"| Northbound

| Arthur

| Post-production

|-

|}

Television

{|class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

| 1960

| Route 66

| Albert

| Episode: "The Man on the Monkey Board"

|-

| rowspan="8" | 1961

| rowspan="2" | Naked City

| Nicky

| Episode: "Bullets Cost Too Much"

|-

| Hollis

| Episode: "The Fault in Our Stars" (uncredited)

|-

| Sea Hunt

| FBI Agent John Furillo

| Episode: "Crime at Sea"

|-

| Surfside 6

| Johnny Page

| Episode: "Daphne, Girl Detective"

|-

| Thriller

| Johnny Norton

| Episode: "The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk"

|-

| Ben Casey

| Billy Harris

| Episode: "A Dark Night for Billy Harris"

|-

| The Detectives

| Jud Treadwell

| Episode: "Act of God"

|-

| Cain's Hundred

| Joe Krajac

| Episode: "Crime and Commitment: Part 1"

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1962

| Cain's Hundred

| Eddie Light

| Episode: "The Left Side of Canada"

|-

| The Dick Powell Show

| Deering

| Episode: "Squadron"

|-

| 1962–1963

| Stoney Burke

| E.J. Stocker

| 17 episodes

|-

| rowspan="5" | 1963

| The Dick Powell Show

| Hank Fairbrother

| Episode: "The Old Man and the City"

|-

| Kraft Suspense Theatre

| Maynard

| Episode: "The Hunt"

|-

| The Outer Limits

| Ben Garth

| Episode: "The Zanti Misfits"

|-

| Wagon Train

| Seth Bancroft

| Episode: "The Eli Bancroft Story"

|-

| The Fugitive

| Deputy Martin

| Episode: "The Other Side of the Mountain"

|-

| rowspan="9" | 1964

| rowspan="2" | The Virginian

| Pell

| Episode: "First to Thine Own Self"

|-

| Lee Darrow

| Episode: "The Payment"

|-

| Wagon Train

| Jud Fisher

| Episode: "Those Who Stay Behind"

|-

| The Fugitive

| Charley

| Episode: "Come Watch Me Die"

|-

| 77 Sunset Strip

| Ralph Wheeler

| Episode: "Lovers' Lane"

|-

| The Greatest Show on Earth

| Vernon

| Episode: "The Last of the Strongmen"

|-

| rowspan="2" | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

| Roy Bullock

| Episode: "Night Caller"

|-

| Jesse

| Episode: "Lonely Place"

|-

| rowspan="4" | 12 O'Clock High

| Lieutenant Michaels

| Episode: "Golden Boy Had Nine Black Sheep"

|-

| rowspan="13" | 1965

| Lieutenant Danton

| Episode: "The Lorelei"

|-

| Lieutenant Michaels

| Episode: "The Mission"

|-

| Technical Sergeant Frank Jones

| Episode: "The Jones Boys"

|-

| The Virginian

| Bert Kramer

| Episode: "A Little Learning"

|-

| Wagon Train

| Wilkins

| Episode: "The Indian Girl Story"

|-

| rowspan="2" | The Fugitive

| Cody

| Episode: "Corner of Hell"

|-

| Hank

| Episode: "The Good Guys and the Bad Guys"

|-

| Rawhide

| Ed Rankin

| Episode: "Walk into Terror"

|-

| Laredo

| Joe Durkee

|Episode: "Rendezvous at Arillo"

|-

| A Man Called Shenandoah

| Bobby Ballantine

| Episode: "The Verdict"

|-

| The F.B.I.

| Private First Class Byron Landy

| Episode: "Pound of Flesh"

|-

| rowspan="3" | Gunsmoke

| Doyle Phleger

| Episode: "Ten Little Indians"

|-

| Judd Print

| Episode: "South Wind"

|-

| rowspan="9" | 1966

| Lou Stone

| Episode: "The Jailer"

|-

| The Fugitive

| Hutch

| Episode: "The Devil's Disciples"

|-

| Branded

| Les

| Episode: "The Wolfers"

|-

| The Loner

| Lud Grant

|Episode: "To Hang a Dead Man"

|-

| Disneyland

| Turk

|Episode: "Gallegher Goes West: Crusading Reporter"

|-

| Run for Your Life

| Alex Ryder

| Episode: "The Treasure Seekers"

|-

| rowspan="4" | The Big Valley

| Jack Follet

| Episode: "Under a Dark Star"

|-

| Harry Dixon

| Episode: "By Force and Violence"

|-

| Clovis

| Episode: "The Lost Treasure"

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1967

| Gabe Skeels

| Episode: "Four Days to Furnace Hill"

|-

| Run for Your Life

| Alex Ryder

| 2 episodes

|-

| rowspan="4" | 1968

| Lancer

| Lucas Thatcher

| Episode: "Julie"

|-

| The Big Valley

| John Weaver

|Episode: "The Prize"

|-

| The F.B.I.

| Virgil Roy Phipps

| Episode: "The Nightmare"

|-

| Bonanza

| Cully Maco

| Episode: "The Trackers"

|-

| rowspan="3" | 1969

| Lancer

| Tom Nevill

| Episode: "A Person Unknown"

|-

| Gunsmoke

| Guerin

| Episode: "The Long Night"

|-

| Then Came Bronson

| Bucky O'Neill

| Episode: "Amid Splinters of the Thunderbolt"

|-

| rowspan="4" | 1970

| Bonanza

| Bayliss

| Episode: "The Gold Mine"

|-

| Land of the Giants

| Thorg

| Episode: "Wild Journey"

|-

| The High Chaparral

| Wade

| Episode: "Only the Bad Come to Sonora"

|-

| The Immortal

| Luther Seacombe

| Episode: "To the Gods Alone"

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1985

| Space

| Stanley Mott

| 5 episodes

|-

| Toughlove

| Rob Charters

| rowspan="13" | Television film

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1987

| Roses Are for the Rich

| Douglas Osborne

|-

| Uncle Tom's Cabin

| Augustine St. Claire

|-

| 1989

| Trenchcoat in Paradise

| John Hollander

|-

| 1990

| The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson

| Scout Ed Higgins

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1991

| Into the Badlands

| T.L. Barston

|-

| Carolina Skeletons

| Junior Stoker

|-

| 1993

| It's Nothing Personal

| Billy Archer

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1994

| Dead Man's Revenge

| Payton McCay

|-

| Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight

| George Putnam

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1995

| A Mother's Prayer

| John Walker

|-

| Mrs. Munck

| Patrick Leary

|-

| 1999

| Hard Time: The Premonition

| Winston

|-

| rowspan="2" | 2003

| King of the Hill

| Randy Strickland (voice)

| Episode: "Boxing Luanne"

|-

| Hard Ground

| Nate Hutchinson

| Television film

|-

| 2006–2011

| Big Love

| Frank Harlow

| 29 episodes

|-

| 2007

| CSI: NY

| Vet

| Episode: "Boo"

|-

| 2013

| Pete's Christmas

| Grandpa

| Television film

|-

| 2016

| The Cowboy

| Himself

| Television documentary

|-

| rowspan="2" | 2019

| Black Monday

| Rod "The Jammer" Jaminski

| 2 episodes

|-

| Mr. Mercedes

| John Rothstein

| 8 episodes

|-

| 2021

| Goliath

| Frank Zax

| 8 episodes

|-

| 2024

| Palm Royale

| Skeet

| 3 episodes

|}

Video games

{|class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

|-

| 2020

| Shadow Stalkers

| The Director

|-

| 2020

| MegaRace: DeathMatch

| Rabies

|}

Awards and nominations

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Award

|-

| 1972

| Drive, He Said

| National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor

|-

| 1973

| The Cowboys

| Bronze Wrangler for Best Theatrical Motion Picture

|-

| 1975

| The Great Gatsby

| Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

|-

| 1979

| Coming Home

| Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor<br />Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

|-

| 1983

| That Championship Season

| Silver Bear for Best Actor

|-

| 2009

| Swamp Devil

| Philadelphia Film Festival Jury Prize

|-

| 2014

| Nebraska

| AARP Annual Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actor<br>Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast<br>Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award<br>Dublin Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor<br>Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor<br>National Board of Review Award for Best Actor<br>Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor

|}

References

  • Bruce Dern at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
  • Cinema Retro's Evening with Bruce Dern at The Players, New York City