Browse: Home / Celebrating the Living: Bruce Dern

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login

The-SoluteLogo

A Film Site By Lovers of Film

Menu

Skip to content
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • Long Reviews
  • News
  • Articles and Opinions
  • Other Media
  • Film on the Internet: BASKET CASE
  • New on DVD and Blu-Ray
  • Taco Break: Overplayed But Still Funny
  • Celebrating the Living: Mercedes Ruehl
  • Attention Must Be Paid: Arthur Anderson

Celebrating the Living: Bruce Dern

Posted By Gillianren on January 21, 2018 in Features | 16 Responses

It’s amazing the things I can learn while doing this project. Did you know that Bruce Dern’s grandfather was George Dern, a former governor of Utah and FDR’s first Secretary of War? Because I surely didn’t know that, nor that he used to be babysat by Eleanor Roosevelt. Or that Marilyn Monroe told him that it was being said he wouldn’t be a success until he was sixty? Or that he and Diane Ladd had a daughter who drowned in a swimming pool before Laura Dern was born? He also claims not to drink coffee or alcohol due to his passion for marathons and to have never done drugs outside the movies. Which definitely puts him apart from some of his costars of the sixties.

The earliest role of his that I’ve seen is in Marnie, where he’s only seen in flashback. He menaces the young girl who will grow up to become Tippi Hedren. But where I really spent time with him was as Joe Danby of Support Your Local Sheriff. I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen it. A lot. I tell people occasionally that they just make me feel tired all over, which is an insult to Joe in the movie. Oh, I’ve seen other movies of his, and one of these days, I will see Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood just for the fascination of the cast, but even when I was in the theatre watching Nebraska, there was a hint of Joe Danby in my head.

Not through any fault of Dern’s. He was excellent as Woody Grant—and he’s right that it’s Woody’s story, but I’m not actually convinced it was a lead role for all that. Kind of the sort of role that usually has James McAvoy following them around, where it’s a movie about someone watching a more interesting person doing things. Still, at his age, you take pride in what you’re doing, and better to get a lead nomination than a supporting one. Though it’ll definitely be interesting to see him as Joe Kennedy, when Chappaquiddick comes out.

One thing you can say about Bruce Dern is that he’s done an interesting variety of roles. He’s one of the only people to have killed John Wayne in a movie. (John Wayne told him America would hate him for it, and his response was that they’d love him in Berkeley.) He’s one of two people to have worked with both Hitchcock and Tarantino. There can’t be many who have worked with both Bette Davis and Samuel L. Jackson, either. Route 66 and CSI: NY. The man’s had quite a career to him, is what I’m saying.

He’s always unmistakably Bruce Dern, even if you’re quietly seeing Joe Danby in your head. He rode the “counter culture” movie craze of the ’60s to a steady career as a character actor. He’s worked with a ton of different directors over the years, including some of the best and some not very good ones. And, I note, a fair number of actors who directed once or twice or repeatedly. He dismisses Peter Fonda as never having learned to act. I won’t comment on that one way or another, but it’s definitely true that Bruce Dern did learn.

Help me replace my missing copy of Support Your Local Sheriff; consider supporting my Patreon!

Posted in Features | Tagged Bruce Dern, celebrate the living, tribute

About the Author

gillianmadeira@hotmail.com'

Gillianren

Gillianren is a forty-something bipolar woman living in the Pacific Northwest after growing up in Los Angeles County. She and her boyfriend have one son and one daughter, and she gave a daughter up for adoption. She fills her days by watching her local library system’s DVD collection in alphabetical order, watching everything that looks interesting. She particularly enjoys pre-Code films, blaxploitation, and live-action Disney movies of the ’60s and ’70s. She has a Patreon account at https://www.patreon.com/gillianren

Related Posts

Don't mess with a Mercedes Ruehl character!Celebrating the Living: Mercedes Ruehl→

You, too, can hear this image once you know the voiceAttention Must Be Paid: Arthur Anderson→

Look at that face!Celebrating the Living: Stephen Rea→

She's the one on the rightAttention Must Be Paid: Edith Evanson→

  • Comments
  • Popular
  • Most Recent
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleWonderful piece, Sam. It's made…
  • j*****@yahoo.com'
    mr_apollo on Year of the Month: Mon OncleFellow heretic here. I've never…
  • n***********@gmail.com'
    Ruck Cohlchez on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEI wouldn't have called it…
  • j***********@gmail.com'
    Son of Griff on LIFE ITSELFGlad to hear back from…
  • n*********@gmail.com'
    Jake Gittes on Film on the Internet: AN AMERICAN CRIMEThis is the single most…
  • “The End” of SAVAGES

    33820 views / Posted November 10, 2014
  • What the fuck did I just watch? SPHERE

    27447 views / Posted March 19, 2015
  • The Untalented Mr. Ripley: The Craft of Standup Comedy and the Non-Comedy of TOM MYERS

    25062 views / Posted June 26, 2018
  • Scenic Routes: SHOWGIRLS (1995)

    20093 views / Posted November 20, 2014
  • Yvonne, or: CASABLANCA In One Character and Three Scenes

    11136 views / Posted August 21, 2014
  • Film on the Internet: BASKET CASE

    March 22, 2023 / ZoeZ
  • New on DVD and Blu-Ray

    March 21, 2023 / Greta Taylor
  • Taco Break: Overplayed But Still Funny

    March 20, 2023 / Tristan "Drunk Napoleon" Nankervis
  • Don't mess with a Mercedes Ruehl character!

    Celebrating the Living: Mercedes Ruehl

    March 19, 2023 / Gillianren
  • You, too, can hear this image once you know the voice

    Attention Must Be Paid: Arthur Anderson

    March 18, 2023 / Gillianren

Last Tweets

  • Film on the Internet: BASKET CASE - https://t.co/ncsoMwqyRT, 13 hours ago
  • New on DVD and Blu-Ray - https://t.co/M5EgBdApIf, Mar 21
  • Taco Break: Overplayed But Still Funny - https://t.co/U2QP75rwcu, Mar 20

©2014 - 2016 The-Solute | Hosted, Developed and Maintained by Bellingham WP LogoBellinghamWP.com.

Menu

  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us
  • Login
Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!