Bruce Dern

Bruce Dern

#2845388
ActorProducerStunts
Born
June 4, 1936
Awards
20 wins, 62 nominations

Two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Dern's tremendous career is made up of playing both modern day heroes and legendary villains. Through decades of lauded performances, Dern has acquired the reputation of being one of the most talented and prolific actors of his generation. Dern currently appears…

Biography

Two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Dern's tremendous career is made up of playing both modern day heroes and legendary villains. Through decades of lauded performances, Dern has acquired the reputation of being one of the most talented and prolific actors of his generation.

Dern currently appears opposite Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney and his daughter Laura in Apple+ TV's acclaimed comedy series "Palm Royale." He also received critical praise for the last season of the Amazon series "Goliath" opposite Oscar winners Billy Bob Thornton and JK Simmons.

Dern appeared as real-life rancher George Spahn in Quentin Tarantino's 10-time Academy Award nominated "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." The film also won the Golden Globes & Critics Choice Awards for Best Picture, among others. He also co-starred in the #1 independent film of 2019, "The Peanut Butter Falcon" and he earned rave reviews for Focus Features' "The Mustang." He has recently appeared in several recent independent film projects including "Reminisce," "The Accidental Texan," "Remember Me," "The Artist's Wife," "Emperor," "Badland," "Death in Texas," "Last Call," and "The Gateway."

In 2018, he starred in two high profile independent films - as Joe Kennedy in "Chappaquiddick" and opposite Matthew McConaughey in Sony's "White Boy Rick." In 2017, he appeared with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in the Netflix film "Our Souls at Night."

On the television side in 2019 - he memorably guested on Showtime's comedy "Black Monday" and was seen in the Stephen King series "Mr. Mercedes" for the AT&T AUDIENCE Network.

In 2015, Dern reteamed with his "Django Unchained" director Quentin Tarantino in the ambitious & critically-acclaimed "The Hateful Eight." In 2013, Dern earned his second Academy Award nomination for his heralded role in Alexander Payne's "Nebraska." That role also garnered him a Best Actor Award from the Cannes Film Festival and the National Board of Review. He was also nominated for a BAFTA, Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and Screen Actors Guild Award.

Dern was also nominated for an Emmy in 2011 for his portrayal of polygamist patriarch Frank Harlow in HBO's hit drama "Big Love." A celebrated stage actor, Dern was trained by famed director Elia Kazan at the legendary The Actor's Studio and made his film debut in Kazan's "Wild River" in 1960. In the 60's, Dern also found success as a distinguished television actor. He appeared regularly in contemporary Western TV series, as well as on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Mr. Hitchcock was such a fan of Dern's that he cast him in "Marnie" and "Family Plot" (Hitchcock's final film).

Also during the '60s, Dern went on to work with director Roger Corman and appeared in several of his classic and decade defining films including "Wild Angels." He also received critical success during that time for films such as "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and "Drive, He Said." Dern goes down in history for his role as Long Hair in "The Cowboys," in which he became the only man ever to kill John Wayne on screen.

Dern went on to star in such classic films like "The King of Marvin Gardens" with Jack Nicholson and Ellen Burstyn as well as playing Tom Buchanan in "The Great Gatsby" (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination). It was his brilliant and powerful performance in Hal Ashby's "Coming Home" that earned him both an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination.

Dern has starred in over 100 films in his career, including: "Monster," "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte," "Silent Running," "Smile," "Middle Age Crazy," "That Championship Season," "Tattoo," "The 'Burbs," "The Haunting," "All the Pretty Horses," "Masked and Anonymous," "Down in the Valley," "Astronaut Farmer," "The Cake Eaters," "Black Sunday," "After Dark, My Sweet," "Madison," "Diggstown," "Twixt" and "Last Man Standing."

Dern has received several Lifetime Achievement Awards from various film festivals. In 2010, Dern received the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame star along with his ex-wife Diane Ladd & daughter Laura Dern, the only family in history to receive their Stars in one ceremony.

Actor

FracturedFractured(2025)as Papa Joe
Bad Men Must BleedBad Men Must Bleed(2025)as George Wells
The World's Happiest ManThe World's Happiest Man(2025)as Tom
The Devil's TrapThe Devil's Trap(2024)as Mr. Cohen
Bloodline KillerBloodline Killer(2024)as Dr. Lucien

Producer

CoastCoast(2021)

Stunts

Silent RunningSilent Running(1972)

Additional Crew

From Up on Poppy HillFrom Up on Poppy Hill(2011)

Soundtrack

Death in TexasDeath in Texas(2020)
Black SundayBlack Sunday(1977)

Archive Footage

Entertainment TonightEntertainment Tonight(1981)as Self
Mr. ScorseseMr. Scorsese(2025)as Self - Actor
Movie Night ExtravaganzaMovie Night Extravaganza(2021)as Self
CompressionCompression(1995)as Self
We Are Next of KinWe Are Next of Kin(2022)as Freeman Lowell

Known for

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Photos 349

Bruce Dern in Coming Home (1978)Bruce Dern in Coming Home (1978)Bruce Dern in Down Periscope (1996)Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris in Family Plot (1976)Bruce Dern and Shea Whigham in The Gateway (2021)

Credit Score: Bruce Dern

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Old Man Carrucan
Tue Dec 25 2012
#NameScoreYearWinNomKnownWinsNomsVotes
1Django Unchained125.0020128.5251881678
2Nebraska48.7520147.706128600
3Coming Home48.7519787.33815984
4Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood45.0020197.6210961532
5Big Love20.0020067.70924590
6The Hateful Eight20.0020157.813722095
7The Great Gatsby6.5019746.42228931
8They Shoot Horses, Don't They?6.0019707.81922946
9The Cowboys4.8819727.40017375
10Goliath4.0020168.10163614