Bruce Campbell, the cult horror icon best known for his role in “The Evil Dead” franchise, announced Monday that he has been diagnosed with a form of cancer that is “treatable” but not “curable.”
The 67-year-old actor shared the news in a post on social media, saying the diagnosis came as a surprise. Mr. Campbell framed the announcement characteristically, opening with a wry observation that health issues these days are referred to as “opportunities” — and said he was having one of those. He said he went public primarily for professional reasons, as the illness will require him to scale back appearances, convention dates and other work commitments to focus on treatment.
“Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-bitch and I have great support, so I expect to be around for a while,” Mr. Campbell wrote, signing off with “Much love.”
Mr. Campbell also made clear he wasn’t looking for sympathy or unsolicited advice. “I just want to get ahead of this information in case false information gets out (which it will),” he wrote.
Among the most notable scheduling casualties is Mr. Campbell’s planned summer tour for his new film, “Ernie & Emma,” which he wrote, directed and stars in. According to Variety, the film is a road-trip comedy about a widowed pear salesman’s journey to scatter his wife’s ashes, and an early screening in Portland already sold out. Mr. Campbell said he hopes to recover sufficiently over the summer to resume touring the film in the fall.
The diagnosis also comes as Mr. Campbell is attached to another project in his beloved “Evil Dead” universe. Deadline reports he serves as executive producer on “Evil Dead Burn,” which wrapped filming last October and is due in theaters in June.
Mr. Campbell has long been a fixture on the convention circuit, known as something of a Comic-Con king with a devoted fanbase that has followed him across decades of work. Beyond the “Evil Dead” trilogy and its spinoffs — including the Starz series “Ash vs. Evil Dead” — Mr. Campbell has appeared in numerous Sam Raimi projects over the years, including the “Spider-Man” trilogy, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and, most recently, “Send Help.” He has also had prominent television roles in “Burn Notice,” “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess.”
A Royal Oak, Michigan, native, Mr. Campbell got his start making films around Metro Detroit alongside childhood friend Raimi and is also the author of the 2001 autobiography “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor.” He dedicated “Ernie & Emma” to his childhood moviemaking pals, including Scott Spiegel, who died in September 2025.
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