Date of Birth : Mar 18th 1950
Brad Dourif was a quirky character actor whose gallery of killers, sociopaths and other lost souls brought to life any number of contemporary horror and science-fiction projects. Born March 18, 1950 in Huntington, West Virginia, he began his professional acting career after graduating college, honing his skills during a three-year apprenticeship with New York’s Circle Repertory under the celebrated drama coach Sanford Meisner. While appearing off-Broadway in a production of When You Comin’ Back, Red Rider?, Dourif was spotted by director Milos Forman, who immediately cast him in his 1975 film adaptation of the Ken Kesey novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Dourif’s turn as a suicidal teen asylum inmate was one of the most acclaimed film debuts in memory, earning a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe as well as an Oscar nomination; however, the performance also typecast him as a talent best suited to idiosyncratic, off-center character roles, a straitjacket he remained unable to break for the duration of his career. He then did not reappear on-screen for another two years before co-starring in the 1977 West German production Gruppenbild mit Dame.