Bruce Campbell has never not been busy. Even in the periods between his many appearances as Ash Williams in the Evil Dead franchise, for the past 45 years the prolific B-movie king has continuously kept himself booked with indie horror films, TV roles, and video-game work, not to mention the convention circuit. (In 2025, Campbell made appearances at six fan conventions around the U.S.) But in 2026, the Army of Darkness and Ash Vs. Evil Dead star will be taking a step back — at least for a little while.
In a post shared to social media, Campbell announced on Monday night that he’s been diagnosed with “a type of cancer that’s ‘treatable’ but not ‘curable,’” adding that “professionally, a few things will have to change — appearances and cons and work in general need to take a back seat to treatment.” The statement is written in Campbell’s famously witty, no-nonsense style: “Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-bitch and I have great support, so I expect to be around a while,” he said. He declined to share any further details about his diagnosis, simply saying that he wanted to get ahead of any “false information” that might come out about him and his health.
You can read Campbell’s full statement below.
He did express “big regrets” about canceling upcoming convention appearances, and said that “my plan is to get as well as I possibly can over the summer so that I can tour with my new movie Ernie & Emma this fall.” Campbell has directed a handful of features over the years, but compared to, say, The Man with the Screaming Brain, Ernie & Emma is downright earnest. Ironically, it deals with the subject of death: Campbell, who also wrote and produced the film with his wife Ida Gearon, stars as a recently widowed salesman who goes on a journey to spread his wife’s ashes across their home state of Oregon.
Although it’s full of comedic moments, the trailer for the film is bittersweet — even more so with the news of Campbell’s diagnosis — preaching the value of living as much as you can, for as long as you can. Also, because this is Bruce Campbell we’re talking about, it also includes a scene of him fiddling with something deadly-looking in a garage: Not a chainsaw hand this time, but a mechanical mobile ash-dispensing system.
Famous for his work with director Sam Raimi, Campbell is a horror icon for a reason. On screen, he has a charisma to rival the Hollywood greats, and his enthusiasm for the horror genre and affable sense of humor make him extremely likable as a human being as well. He’s always been very generous with his fans, and hopefully he’s feeling all the love that they’ve been sending to him in the wake of yesterday’s announcement. He’s the best, and we look forward to seeing him when he’s well enough to start making public appearances again.
Hail to the king, baby. Long live the king.
