Bruce Campbell: Hobo of SchlockOf course, going on a weekend getaway to a ramshackle cabin in the heart of a gnarly forest you found in whatever the 1980s had instead of airbnb doesn’t make you homeless. Of course not. That would be ridiculous. Not that Bruce Campbell, the guy, the person, the actor, is a drifter with no fixed abode. He definitely has a home. He had to use the back lot of that home to provide the town of Gold Lick in 2007’s “My Name Is Bruce”.
However, in “My Name Is Bruce” Bruce plays… Bruce Campbell. Not actually himself, it’s a fictionalised version of himself, kind of like Nicolas Cage playing a fictionalised version of Charlie Kaufman in “Adaptation”, if Charlie Kaufman had played himself, and not got Nicolas Cage to do it... Here is a core problem with Bruce Campbell, he is an actor who appears to take gleeful delight in muddying the line between Bruce Campbell the actual guy and Bruce Campbell the celebrity persona. He takes the question “how much is a person’s public persona related to the ‘real’ them?” and puts the query in a blender. So, in “My Name Is Bruce” Bruce Campbell plays a version of himself who lives in a dilapidated trailer. He’s a down-at-heel, ridiculous, sloppy excuse for a human being. It’s a committed portrayal of what Bruce Campbell believes a guy who has had his career is like in their private life according to the uncharitable mental image of their “fans”. Maybe. The whole thing’s supposed to be a gag of some sort, about this communal fictional character, Bruce Campbell, the schlocky B-picture actor with the memorable chin. The real gag is like an in-joke for Campbell fans, Bruce makes himself available to fans whenever and wherever life permits. He’s made a well-known (in cult movie circles) documentary about the relationship between fans and the objects of their fan-love, Fanalysis. He has one of the most easily-accessible actor websites in the world. The space between the blue-collar actor and the fans who make his life possible is his playground. It’s not a surprise that trying to separate Bruce Campbell the guy from Bruce Campbell the celebrity is such a daunting task. Ironically, it is a lot easier to understand that someone like Tom Cruise or Lady Gaga have a very well-crafted public persona that tells you almost nothing about what the actual person who uses that persona to make a living is actually like. It’s part of the celebrity mystique. This leaves us where we started, the clearest line between real-Bruce and movie-star-Bruce is that the public Bruce is kind of a dysfunctional loser and his impermanent existence is backed up by his movie and television career. His most famous role, Ash Williams of Evil Dead fame, plays out his first three encounters with the zombie menace in various temporary accomodations, twice the cabin and once a medieval castle. Then, in the Starz series Ash vs. The Evil Dead we see that Ash, like fictional Bruce Campbell, lives in a dilapidated trailer. 
Still homeless, still suave
His other major appearance in culture was as retired Navy SEAL Sam Axe in the hit show Burn Notice. Unlike the other main characters in the show Sam doesn’t ever actually have his own house at any point in the series. He bunks up with a couple of rich girlfriends but if there were ever a definition of “no fixed abode” that would be Sam Axe AKA Chuck Finley all over. Campbell’s third most well-known performance, Autolycus the King of Thieves, in Xena: Warrior Princess is absolutely no help in dispelling this image whatsoever. Even the character’s full name gives away that he’s unlikely to have a permanent mailing address anywhere in the ancient lands of adventure, in the days of legend they never had so much as a PO box. To add to this barrage of hints that Celebrity Bruce has never applied for a mortgage are some of the high points of his movie career. We have already discussed Ash Williams but the second most lauded film appearance on Mr. Campbell’s CV would be none other than Elvis Presley in Bubba Ho-tep. Before the word “Graceland” can fall from your lips it is imperative you understand that Bubba Ho-Tep’s Elvis is an alternative universe Elvis who lives in a retirement home, which is sort of like a house, but filled with lots of other strangers and where you’re assigned a room and have to share communal living spaces, so... Add into this turns in The Man With The Screaming Brain, in which he’s a CEO on a business trip and Escape From LA where he plays a grotesque plastic surgeon in a post-Apocalyptic Los Angeles and this recurring theme of Campbell - Hobo wastrel just becomes firmer embedded in the fan mind. 
A nursing home is probably one of the most temporary homes out there
It’s inevitable, of course, that a man with a CV as large as Mr. Campbell’s will have occasion to play characters who presumably have homes to go to: Maniac Cop’s Jack Forrest, The Hudsucker Proxy’s Smitty, Lois & Clark’s Bill Church Jr. But these roles are much smaller so have less of a chance of leaving a deep impression. Then, maybe, as a UK commentator, I’ve missed two big chunks out of Mr Campbell’s CV, those being The Adventures of Brisco County Jr and Jack of all Trades, two series where Campbell took the lead but which have never been widely available in Britain. Maybe in those two shows Campbell’s character kisses his wife goodbye and tousles their kid’s hair before going out to the garage attached to his sizable suburban semi and driving off in the SUV ready for a day at the office. Maybe, I cannot say. Regardless, even if Celebrity Bruce can only muster a beat up old trailer caravan as a domicile off his own efforts he does have a warm and comfortable home in the hearts of his fanbase. And I think that might be the main point. This article accompanies the podcast Revenge of the 80s Kids Episode 131 which is a Bruce Campbell retrospective. The cast can be streamed or downloaded at http://theeightieskids.blogspot.com where you can also find an extensive archive of content about movies and popular culture. You can also get news about the podcast and other projects at https://www.facebook.com/RevengeOfThe80sKids 
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