Bruce Davison

Bruce Davison

actor, director, producer

Bruce Davison was born on Jun 28, 1946 in USA. Bruce Davison's big-screen debut came with Last Summer directed by Frank Perry in 1969, strarring Dan. Bruce Davison is known for Defrost: The Virtual Series directed by Randal Kleiser, Bruce Davison stars as Michael Garrison and Harry Hamlin as Doctor Tremaine. Bruce Davison has got 14 awards and 13 nominations so far. The most recent award Bruce Davison achieved is Northern Virginia International Film and Music Festival. The upcoming new movie Bruce Davison plays is The Good Neighbor which will be released on Jun 17, 2022.

Extremely winning and versatile, the award-worthy actor, now enjoying an over five decade career, has included everything from Shakespeare to Seinfeld -- from the villainous Senator on Ozark to the wise judge on Lincoln Lawyer.Born on June 28, 1946, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Clair, an architect and musician, and Marian (Holman) Davison, a secretary, Bruce's parents divorced when he was just three. He developed a burgeoning interest in acting while majoring in art at Penn State and after accompanying a friend to a college theater audition. Making his professional stage debut in 1966 as Jonathan in "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Bad" at the Pennsylvania Festival Theatre, he made it to Broadway within just a couple of years (1968) with the role of Troilus in "Tiger at the Gates" at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. The year after that he was seen off-Broadway in "A Home Away from Home" and appeared at the Lincoln Center in the cast of "King Lear."Success in the movies came immediately for the perennially youthful-looking actor after he and a trio of up-and-coming talents (Barbara Hershey [then known as Barbara Seagull], Richard Thomas and Catherine Burns) starred together in the poignant but disturbing coming-of-age film Dernier été (1969). From this he was awarded a starring role opposite Kim Darby in Des fraises et du sang (1970), an offbeat social commentary about 60s college radicalism, and in the cult horror flick Willard (1971) in which he bonded notoriously with a herd of rats.Moving further into the 70s decade, his film load did not increase significantly as expected and the ones he did appear in were no great shakes. With the exception of his co-starring role alongside Burt Lancaster in the well-made cavalry item Fureur apache (1972) and the powerful low-budget Short Eyes (1977) in which he played a child molester, Bruce's film roles were underwhelming, such as his elder Patrick Dennis in the Lucille Ball musical film version of Mame (1974), as well as The Jerusalem File (1972), Ambulances tous risques (1976), Grand Jury (1976) and La cible étoilée (1978).As such, Bruce wisely looked elsewhere for rewarding work and found it on the stage and on the smaller screen. Earning strong theatrical roles in "The Skin of Our Teeth," "The Little Foxes" and "A Life in the Theatre," he won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for his work in "Streamers" in 1977. On TV, he scored in mini-movie productions of Mourning Becomes Electra (1978), Deadman's Curve (1978) (portraying Dean Torrence of the surf-era pop duo Jan and Dean) and, most of all, Summer of My German Soldier (1978) co-starring Kristy McNichol as a German prisoner of war in the American South who falls for a lonely Jewish-American girl. In 1972 Bruce married actress Jess Walton who appeared briefly as a college student in Des fraises et du sang (1970) and later became a daytime soap opera fixture. The marriage was quickly annulled the following year.The 1980s was also dominated by strong theater performances. Bruce took over the role of the severely deformed John Merrick as "The Elephant Man" on Broadway; portrayed Clarence in "Richard III" at the New York Shakespeare Festival; was directed by Henry Fonda in "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial"; played a moving Tom Wingfield opposite Jessica Tandy's Amanda in "The Glass Menagerie"; received a second Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for his work in the AIDS play "The Normal Heart"; and finished off the decade gathering up fine reviews in the amusing A.R. Gurney period piece "The Cocktail Hour". While hardly lacking for work on film (Kiss My Grits (1982), Les jours et les nuits de China Blue (1984), Drôles d'espions (1985), and Violences (1986)), few of them made use of his talents and range.It was not until he was cast in the ground-breaking gay drama Un compagnon de longue date (1989) that his film career revitalized. Giving a quiet, finely nuanced, painfully tender performance as the middle-aged lover and caretaker of a life partner ravaged by AIDS, Bruce managed to stand out amid the strong ensemble cast and earn himself an Oscar nomination for "Best Supporting Actor". Although he lost out to the flashier antics of Joe Pesci in the mob drama Les affranchis (1990) that year, Bruce was not overlooked -- copping Golden Globe, Independent Spirit, New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics awards. Other gay-themed films also welcomed his presence, including The Cure (1995) and It's My Party (1996). The actor eventually served as a spokesperson for a host of AIDS-related organizations, including Hollywood Supports, and has been active with foundations that assist abused children.Bruce has been all over the screen since his success in Un compagnon de longue date (1989). Predominantly seen as mature, morally responsible dads and politicians, his genial good looks and likability have on occasion belied a weak or corrupt heart. Bruce married actress Lisa Pelikan in 1986 and they have one son, Ethan, born in 1996. (Color of Justice (1997)). Popular films have included Six degrés de séparation (1993) starring Will Smith, the family adventure film Loin de la maison (1995) and the box-office hit X-Men (2000) and its sequel in the role of Senator Kelly. More controversial art-house showcases include Dahmer le cannibale (2002), as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's father, and Hate Crime (2005), as a bigoted, murderous pastor.Into the millennium, Bruce has played mature gents and several high-level officials in such films as The Dead Girl (2006), Le Père Noël d'à côté (2009), Camp Hell (2010), Black Beauty (2015), Retour vers le passé (2016), 11 septembre (2017), Tell Me Your Name (2018), Itsy Bitsy (2019)Divorced from second wife Lisa Pelikan, Bruce is happily married to Michele Correy and has a daughter with her, Sophia Lucy, born in 2006. They live in the Los Angeles area.

  • Birthday

    Jun 28, 1946
  • Place of Birth

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Also known

    Bruce Davidson, 브루스 데이비슨

Known For

Awards

14 wins & 13 nominations

Northern Virginia International Film and Music Festival
2021
Best Actor Short Film
Winner - Jury Prize
The Roommates (2019)
2021
Best Acting Ensemble
Winner - Jury Prize
The Roommates (2019)
The Southern California International Film Festival
2021
The Roommates (2019)
Winner - Best Actor
The Roommates (2019)
2021
The Roommates (2019)
Winner - Best Actor
The Roommates (2019)
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Movies & TV Shows

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Movies
TV Shows