Brad Dourif Wiki Bio
Bradford Claude ‘Brad’ Dourif was born in Huntington, West Virginia USA on 18 March 1950 – his zodiac sign is Pisces, and he holds American nationality. He’s an actor with close to 200 credits to his name, while he’s probably still known best for his portrayal of Wormtongue in the 2002 action adventure movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”. It was directed by Peter Jackson, starred Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen, and is the second movie in the trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”, which follows two hobbits on their way to Mordor, to destroy a powerful magical ring. The movie won 128 awards, including two Oscars for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects, while it was nominated for 138 other awards..
Early life and education
Brad was raised in Huntington alongside his five siblings, including Christiane Dourif Friedman, Diana Dourif Cole and Patricia Dourif Amenta, by their father Jean Henri Dourif who was an art collector and owner of his own dye factory, and their mother Joan Mavis Felton (nee Bradford) who was an actress; Brad’s father died when he was three years old, and Joan went on to marry American professional golfer William C. Campbell.
Brad studied at Aiken Preparatory School in South Carolina, and it was during this time that he became interested in acting; he was a member of the school’s drama club, and appeared in many plays performed there.
The family eventually moved to Colorado Springs, where Brad enrolled at Fountain Valley School; upon matriculating in 1968, he enrolled at Marshall University, however, he quit after around a year, and moved to New York City wanting to pursue an acting career.
Roles in movies
Brad made his debut film appearance in the 1975 comedy “W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings”, and the same year saw him play Billy Bibbit in the evergreen drama “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, directed by Milos Forman, and which starred Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Michael Berryman. It follows a criminal who’s been admitted to an asylum, where he’s rallied other patients and rebelled against a violent nurse; the movie ranks in the top 20 of all time, and won 43 awards, including five Oscars, while it was nominated for 16 other awards.
A couple of Brad’s most notable performances in the ‘80s were perhaps in the 1984 action science fiction adventure “Dune”, the 1985 thriller drama “Istanbul”, and the 1986 comedy “Impure Thoughts”.
What marked the ‘90s for him was his portrayal of Gediman in the 1997 action science fiction horror “Alien: Resurrection”, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and which starred Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder and Dominique Pinon. It follows Ellen Ripley who’s been revived as a human-alien hybrid 200 years after her death, and is now once again trying to stop aliens from destroying Earth; the movie won seven of the 28 awards for which it was nominated.
Brad played Professor Kapps in the popular 2004 horror comedy “Dead Scared” and Uncle Ted in the 2009 thriller drama “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done”.
Three of his most recent movie roles have been in the 2019 thriller “Obsession”, the 2021 comedy drama “The Shuroo Process” and the 2022 short horror “The Living”; Brad’s currently shooting for four upcoming movies, including “Javelins of Light” and “Butterfly in the Typewriter”.
Roles in TV series
Brad made his debut TV series appearance in the 1977 episode “The Gardener’s Son” of the drama “Visions”, and he played Danny O’Neill in three episodes of the 1979 drama mini-series “Studs Lonigan”.
The ‘80s saw him appear in an episode or two of only a couple of series, such as the action crime drama “The Equalizer”, the mystery crime drama “Spenser: For Hire” and the mystery comedy drama “Moonlighting”.
In 1996, he portrayed Crewman Lon Suder in three episodes of the critically acclaimed action science fiction adventure “Star Trek: Voyager”, created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and which starred Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran and Roxann Dawson. It follows the crew of a Starfleet ship as they’re trying to return to the Federation; the series aired from 1995 to 2001 and won 40 awards, including seven Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 84 other awards.
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In 2001 and 2002, Brad played Maurice ‘Frenchy’ Deveraux in the western family drama “Ponderosa”, and between 2004 and 2006, he was Doc Cochran in all 36 episodes of the hit historical crime drama “Westwood”. It was created by David Milch, starred Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane and Molly Parker, and follows several people living in Deadwood, South Dakota in the 1800s; the series won 36 awards, including eight Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 85 other awards.
Most recently, in 2021, Brad starred as Chucky (voice) in the critically acclaimed eponymous horror thriller; it was created by Don Mancini, also starred Zackary Arthur and Bjorgvin Arnarson, and follows the doll Chucky as it’s killing people in a small American town; the series won one of the four awards for which it was nominated.
Other credits
Brad’s received two special thanks: for the 1976 documentary TV special “TVTV Looks at the Academy Awards”, and the 2004 short video documentary “Remembering ‘Ragtime’”.
He’s could’ve been seen featured in numerous documentaries, including the 2019 movie “Flannery”, and in 2021 the film “Living with Chucky” and the series “Behind the Monsters”.
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Brad’s made a guest appearance in a number of talk-shows, such as “The Mike Douglas Show”, “Undead Noise” and “Beyond the Trailer”.
Awards and nominations
Brad’s won nine of the 22 awards for which he’s been nominated, including a 1976 Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for his performance in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.
Love life and wife
Brad prefers to keep the details of his love life to himself, but it’s still widely known that he’s been married twice – some websites mistakenly write that Brad’s been married only once.
He exchanged vows with his first wife, non-celebrity American Janet Stephanie Charmatz sometime in the first half of the ‘70s; Janet gave birth to their daughter Kristina Dourif in 1976, but she and Brad divorced on 20 June 1980.
He then married his second wife, another non-celebrity American, Jonina Bernice, and she gave birth to their daughter Fiona Dourif on 30 October 1981; Fiona’s today a successful actress, with more than 50 credits to her name, probably known best for her portrayal of Bart Curlish in the 2017 action adventure comedy series “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”.
The date of Brad and Jonina’s divorce remains undisclosed, but it’s known that she’s passed away.
As of July 2022, Brad seems to be single, has been married twice and has two daughters, one with his first wife Janet Stephanie Charmatz, and the other with his second wife Jonina Bernice.
Hobbies and other interests
Brad’s been a huge fan of music since a very early age, and was featured in Toto’s 1984 music video “Stranger in Town”, as well as in Calvin Harris’ 2012 music video “Drinking from the Bottle”. Also in 2012, he collaborated with the Norwegian duo Thinguma*jigSaw on their album “Misery Together”, providing spoken word vocals for the album’s three songs.
Brad’s deeply passionate about travelling and has been all around the world, mostly to shoot for his movies and TV series; he travelled five times to New Zealand while he was shooting for the trilogy “Lord of the Rings”.
He likes to teach acting, and could’ve been observed offering advice to students at New York City’s Columbia University.
Brad has his own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood and Milla Jovovich, while a couple of his favorite movies include “The Fifth Element”, “Pulp Fiction” and “Gran Torino”.
Age, height and net worth
Brad’s age is 72. He has medium long brown and grey hair and blue eyes, his height is 5ft 9ins (1.75m) and he weighs around 145lbs (65kgs).
As of July 2022, his net worth stands at more than $6 million.
