His daughter, Fiona Dourif, also starred with him in both films. In 2013, Dourif reprised his role as Chucky in the sixth installment of the Child's Play franchise, Curse of Chucky, and then again in the 2017 sequel, Cult of Chucky. He later appeared as Sheriff Lee Brackett in Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009). He portrayed the Gemini Killer in The Exorcist III (1990) and appeared in Death Machine (1994) and Alien Resurrection (1997). ĭourif has often played eccentric or disturbed characters, starting with Cuckoo's Nest and continuing with Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), John Huston's Wise Blood (1979), Forman's Ragtime (1981), Marc Didden's Istanbul (1985) and David Lynch's Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986).ĭourif has appeared in a number of horror films, most notably as the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise. In 1981, Vincent Canby listed Dourif as one of twelve actors to watch, calling Dourif 'one of the most intense, most interesting young film actors of his generation.' Dourif returned to New York, where he continued in theater and taught acting and directing classes at Columbia University until 1988 ( Don Mancini and Yves Lavandier were among his student), when he moved to Hollywood. His portrayal of the vulnerable Billy Bibbit in Cuckoo's Nest ended up being his big break, earning him a Golden Globe Award (Best Actor Debut) and a British Academy Award (Supporting Actor) as well as a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), but his bit part was omitted from the final cut of the film. He followed this with a role in the film W.W. Film Īlthough One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is frequently cited as Dourif's film debut, his first acting for screen was in a low-budget film called Split, which was never released. Plummer refused to perform without Dourif, notwithstanding the presence of an understudy.

The play was subject to a number of performance cancellations, one relating to Dourif's absence due to a death in the family. It opened on June 10, 2013, and closed on September 29, 2013. And then somebody said, 'Will you do a play? It's with Amanda Plummer', and I said, 'Oh shit! No. He explained, in a filmed interview released by the producers, why he broke his 29-year hiatus from acting in live theater: 'I hated the stage, did not want to do it. In 2013, after a three-decade absence from the stage, Dourif chose to star alongside Amanda Plummer in the Off-Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' The Two-Character Play that played to critical acclaim at the New World Stages. During the early 1970s, Dourif appeared in a number of plays, off-Broadway and at Woodstock, New York, including The Ghost Sonata, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, in which he was spotted by director Miloš Forman who cast him in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). In New York City, he studied with Sanford Meisner, and worked with Marshall Mason and Lanford Wilson at the Circle Repertory Company. Starting in school productions, Dourif progressed to community theater, joining up with the Huntington Community Players while attending Marshall University. Dourif appeared as an amateur at the Fountain Valley Film Festival in 1969, taking second place in the 8 mm film category with his 10-minute entry 'Blind Date.' Dourif attended Marshall University for a time, before quitting college and moving to New York City to study acting on the advice of actress Conchata Ferrell. Although he briefly considered becoming a flower arranger, he was eventually inspired to become an actor by his mother's participation as an actress in a community theater called Give Me Shelter.Īfter Aiken, he attended Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, graduating in 1968. There, he pursued his interests in art and acting. From 1963 to 1965, Dourif attended the private Aiken Preparatory School in Aiken, South Carolina. Campbell, who helped raise Dourif and his five siblings (four sisters and one brother). After Dourif's father died in 1953, his mother remarried champion golfer William C. His paternal grandparents emigrated from France, and his paternal grandfather co-founded the Standard Ultramarine and Color Company in Huntington. Dourif was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on March 18, 1950, to Joan Mavis Felton ( née Bradford), an actress, and Jean Henri Dourif, an art collector who owned and operated a dye factory.

Voice of chucky