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Doug Bradley | |
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![]() Bradley in 2012 | |
Born | Douglas William Bradley 6 September 1954 |
Other names | Douglas Bradley, Bill Bradley, Charles Stead |
Education | Quarry Bank High School |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1973–present |
Spouse | Steph Sciullo |
Website | www |
Douglas William Bradley [1] (born 7 September 1954) [2] is an English actor and author, best known for his role as the lead Cenobite "Pinhead" in the Hellraiser film series and for narration on various Cradle of Filth albums.
Bradley was born in Liverpool [3] and attended Quarry Bank High School. [4]
Bradley is best known for playing the role of Pinhead, the lead Cenobite, in the first eight Hellraiser films, as well as Captain Elliot Spencer in two of the films, Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992). [5] He is one of only six actors to play the same horror character at least six consecutive times, the others being Christopher Lee (who portrayed Count Dracula), Robert Englund (who portrayed Freddy Krueger), Warwick Davis (who portrayed the Leprechaun), Brad Dourif (who portrayed Chucky) and Tobin Bell (who portrayed John Kramer/"Jigsaw"). [6] Due to his eventual skill at application and removal of the Pinhead appliances and costume, he has been credited in some of the Hellraiser films as an assistant make-up artist named Bill Bradley, using his middle name. [7]
Bradley appeared as a gym teacher in an advertisement for Direct Line insurance in the UK. He has performed narrations on several songs by Cradle of Filth, an English extreme metal band. The first was 2000's "Her Ghost in the Fog", as well as "Death Magick for Adepts" and "Tortured Soul Asylum", from the album Midian. However, he could not appear in the music video and was replaced by actor David McEwen.[ citation needed ]
Bradley also appeared on "Swansong for a Raven" and "Satyriasis" from the band's 2004 album, Nymphetamine . In 2006, he lent his narrations to "Rise of the Pentagram" and "Tonight in Flames" from the album Thornography . Continuing in this vein, Bradley has contributed guest vocals to Cradle of Filth's 2008 album Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder , on all songs except "Tragic Kingdom".[ citation needed ] He returned for their 2021 album, ExistenceisFutile, on the songs "Sisters of the Mist" and "Suffer Our Dominian".
Bradley has appeared in many short horror films, such as Red Lines and On Edge. He is a member of the UK animation company Renga Media, makers of the independent Dominator films and shorts, dividing job roles between producer and voice actor. He voiced the Loc-Nar in the short animated crossover Heavy Metal vs. Dominator, in which characters from the Dominator universe meet and fight with characters from the film Heavy Metal 2000.[ citation needed ]
After his roles in the Hellraiser films and the 1990 horror film Nightbreed , 2006 saw Bradley star in Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes and 2008 saw Bradley once again returning to Clive Barker's cinematic universe by way of a featured appearance in Book of Blood . He had a small guest star appearance in the 2008 black comic horror The Cottage . In 2010, he starred in the Anglo-Spanish horror film Exorcismus , [8] and he joined the Nazi zombie horror The 4th Reich in March 2010. [9]
In 2011, he played a man called the Doctor in the British film noir Jack Falls . In June 2011, it was announced that Bradley would be providing a voice-over for an independent film called Lucifer's Unholy Desire, [10] as well as performing in the film The Reverend .[ citation needed ] In 2012, he played "Maynard" in the fifth film of the Wrong Turn series, Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines . [11] In 2013, he performed in the indie film Scream Park .[ citation needed ]
Bradley voiced the Sith Emperor for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic , based in the Star Wars universe. [1]
In 2018, Bradley joined Blackcraft Wrestling as “The Preacher”, a cult leader who acts as a General Manager type figure to the promotion.
In 2020, he created a YouTube channel on which he reads books and poems out loud. He returned on Cradle of Filth's 2021 album Existence Is Futile , providing narration for the track "Suffer Our Dominion" and the bonus track "Sisters of the Mist". [12]
In 2022, Bradley voiced the character Goayre Heddagh alongside actor Tim Curry in the animated horror film Dagon Troll World Chronicles.
In 2023 Bradley played Batman villain Joe Chill in the CW television show Gotham Knights . The portrayal was different than other live action versions. The episode he was introduced in was titled "A Chill over Gotham". [13]
Bradley is the author of Sacred Monsters: Behind the Mask of the Horror Actor, which explores the history of masks in society and their applications in horror films. [14]
Bradley is a longtime close friend of novelist Clive Barker, the two having met when they attended secondary school. He has worked with Barker in various projects since the early 1970s, [15] most notably Hellraiser, which is adapted from Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart . He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, [16] and is married to Steph Sciullo. [17]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Hellraiser | Pinhead | |
1988 | Hellbound: Hellraiser II | ||
1990 | Nightbreed | Dirk Lylesberg | |
1992 | Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth | Pinhead, Captain Elliot Spencer | |
1993 | Shepherd on the Rock | James Culzean | |
1995 | Proteus | Leonard Brinkstone | |
1996 | Hellraiser: Bloodline | Pinhead | |
1996 | Killer Tongue | Wig | |
1998 | Driven | Eric Myers | |
1999 | An Ideal Husband | Brackpool | As Douglas Bradley |
2000 | Hellraiser: Inferno | Pinhead | Direct-to-video |
2002 | Hellraiser: Hellseeker | Pinhead, Merchant | Direct-to-video |
2003 | Dominator | Dr. Payne, Lord Desecrator | Voice role |
2005 | Hellraiser: Deader | Pinhead | Direct-to-video |
2005 | The Prophecy: Uprising | Laurel | Direct-to-video |
2005 | Hellraiser: Hellworld | Pinhead | Direct-to-video |
2008 | The Cottage | Villager with Dog | |
2008 | Ten Dead Men | The Narrator | |
2009 | Book of Blood | Tollington | |
2009 | Umbrage | Jacob | |
2010 | Exorcismus | Padre Ennis | as Douglas Bradley |
2011 | Jack Falls | The Doctor | |
2011 | The Reverend | Reverend Andrews | |
2012 | The Infliction | Agent Wilson | |
2012 | Deer Crossing | Sheriff Lock | |
2012 | Lucifer's Unholy Desire | Rev. McDowell | Voice role |
2012 | Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines | Maynard | Direct-to-video |
2012 | Scream Park | Mr. Hyde | |
2013 | Shame the Devil | Victor | |
2014 | Nerd Love | Doug Bradley | |
2016 | Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom | Nyarlathotep | Voice role |
2017 | Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom | Voice role | |
2018 | Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness | Voice role, Direct-to-video | |
2019 | Back Fork | Sheriff | |
2021 | Alien Danger 2! With Raven Van Slender | General Legs | Voice Role |
2022 | Corrective Measures | Senator Zechariah | |
2022 | The Barn Part II | Walter Daniels | |
2022 | The United States of Horror: Chapter 2 | Narrator | Voice role |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | Salome | King Herod | |
1978 | The Forbidden | ||
1999 | On Edge | Dr. Matthews | |
2002 | Red Lines | Teacher | |
2008 | To The Devil His Due | John Armstrong | |
2010 | The Hairy Hands | Voice role | |
2013 | A Hand to Play | Mr. Trent |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | The Bill | Pete Henderson | Episode: "Friends and Neighbours" |
1992 | USA Up All Night | Pinhead | Episode: "Glitch!/Eating Raoul" |
1993 | Inspector Morse | Clergyman Williams | Episode: "Twilight of the Gods" |
1995 | The Big Game | Harry Woolf | Television film |
1996 | Jim's Gift | Mr. Winthrop | Television Film |
1998 | Archangel Thunderbird | Dr. Churchill | Television Film |
1999 | Honky Sausages | Honky Doctor | 1 episode |
2000, 2010 | Doctors | Graham Sharpe, Greg Steel / Doc Jones | Episodes: "God's Will" and "The Living Gaylights" |
2001 | Judge John Deed | Inspector Lannon | Episode: "Exacting Justice" |
2001 | The Armando Iannucci Shows | Episode: "Time Passing" | |
2002 | Paradise Heights | Customs Officer | 1 episode |
2005 | The Commander | Tim Gad | Episodes: "Blackdog (Part One)" & "Blackdog (Part Two)" |
2005 | No Angels | Mr. Asquith | 2 episodes |
2006 | Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes | Doc Fraser | Television film |
2018 | Lore | Dr. Robert Knox | |
2020 | JJ Villard's Fairy Tales | Kenneth | Voice role, episode: Boypunzel |
2021-2022 | Dota: Dragon's Blood | Kashurra, Byssrak | Voice role, 8 episodes |
2023 | Gotham Knights | Joe Chill | Episode: "A Chill in Gotham" |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009-2014 | Doug Bradley's Spinechillers | Narrator | Audio books, 13 volumes |
2022 | Hollow | Kurtz | Podcast series |
Year | Title | Artist | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Hellraiser | Motörhead | Pinhead | |
2015 | The Misfits: Tour Video Collection | Misfits | Abraham van Helsing | video shown only live on stage |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Vitiate the Sith Emperor, Additional voices | Voice role |
2014 | Star Wars:The Old Republic - Shadow of Revan | Vitiate the Sith Emperor | Voice role |
2021 | Dead by Daylight | The Cenobite | Voice role |
2022 | Star Wars:The Old Republic - Legacy of the Sith | Vitiate the Sith Emperor | Voice role |
Clive Barker is an English writer, filmmaker and visual artist. He came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works. His fiction has been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series, the first installment of which he also wrote and directed, and the Candyman series.
Hellraiser is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker in his directorial debut, Based on Barker's 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, the film’s plot concerns a mystical puzzle box that summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings who cannot differentiate between pain and pleasure. It stars Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, and Doug Bradley as the leader of the Cenobites, identified in the sequels as "Pinhead".
The Hellbound Heart is a horror novella by Clive Barker, first published in November 1986 by Dark Harvest in the third volume of its Night Visions anthology series. The story features a hedonist criminal acquiring a mystical puzzle box, the LeMarchand Configuration, which can be used to summon the Cenobites, demonic beings who do not distinguish between pain and pleasure. He escapes the Cenobites and, with help, resorts to murder to restore himself to full life. Later on, the puzzle box is found by another.
Midian is the fourth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 30 October 2000, through Music for Nations. The album marks the return of guitarist Paul Allender to the band, as well as the introduction of drummer Adrian Erlandsson and keyboard player Martin Powell. It also features Doug Bradley as the narrator for various songs.
The Cenobites are fictional, extra-dimensional, and seemingly demonic beings who appear in the works of Clive Barker. Introduced in Barker's 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, they also appear in its sequel novel The Scarlet Gospels, the Hellraiser films, and in Hellraiser comic books published (intermittently) between 1987 and 2017. In the novel Weaveworld, they are mentioned in passing as "The Surgeons". The Cenobites appear in prose stories authorized but not written by Clive Barker, such as the anthology Hellbound Hearts edited by Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan, the novella Hellraiser: The Toll, and the novel Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell written by Paul Kane.
Pinhead is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Hellraiser franchise. The character first appeared as an unnamed figure in the 1986 Clive Barker novella The Hellbound Heart. When Clive Barker adapted the novella into the 1987 film Hellraiser, he referred to the character in early drafts as "the Priest" but the final film gave no name. The production and make-up crew nicknamed the character "Pinhead"—derived from his bald head studded with nails—and fans accepted the sobriquet. The name was then used in press materials, tie-in media, and on-screen in some of the film's sequels, although Barker himself despises the moniker.
Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 supernatural horror film directed by Tony Randel and starring Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham and Doug Bradley. The second film in the Hellraiser franchise, Hellraiser II draws heavily upon its precursor, Hellraiser, which was released a year before. Laurence reprises her role as Kirsty Cotton, who is admitted into a psychiatric hospital after the events of the first film. There, the head doctor (Cranham) unleashes the Cenobites, a group of sadomasochistic beings from another dimension.
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is a 1992 American supernatural horror film and third installment in the Hellraiser film series. It was directed by Anthony Hickox and stars Doug Bradley, Terry Farrell, Paula Marshall, and Kevin Bernhardt. Ashley Laurence, who starred in the previous two films, has a cameo. Following the events of Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), in which the demon Pinhead (Bradley) is imprisoned in a statue, he resurrects himself by absorbing the life force of unlucky humans. After converting several power-hungry youths into new Cenobites, Pinhead goes on a rampage, opposed by a reporter (Farrell) and the spiritual manifestation of his good half.
Hellraiser: Bloodline is a 1996 American science fiction horror film and the fourth installment in the Hellraiser series, which serves as both a prequel and a sequel. Directed by Kevin Yagher and Joe Chappelle, the film stars Doug Bradley as Pinhead, reprising his role and now the only remaining original character and cast member. It also features Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Kim Myers and Adam Scott in his first major film role. It was the last Hellraiser film to be released theatrically and the last to have any major official involvement with series creator Clive Barker until the 2022 reboot.
Hellraiser: Deader is a 2005 American supernatural horror film and the seventh installment in the Hellraiser series. Directed by Rick Bota, the original script was written by Neal Marshall Stevens. As with Hellraiser: Hellseeker it began as an unrelated spec script, which was subsequently rewritten as a Hellraiser film. Like Inferno, series creator Clive Barker did not have an involvement in the production.
Hellraiser is a British-American horror media franchise that consists of eleven films, as well as various comic books, and additional merchandise and media. Based on the novella The Hellbound Heart by English author Clive Barker, the franchise centers around the Cenobites which includes the primary antagonist named Pinhead.
Ashley Laurence is an American actress and visual artist. She made her film debut in 1987 as the lead character, Kirsty Cotton, in Clive Barker's horror film Hellraiser (1987), a role she later reprised in Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002). The film franchise established her as a prominent actress in horror, and she subsequently starred in Mikey (1992) and Lurking Fear (1994).
The Scarlet Gospels is a 2015 horror novel by author Clive Barker which acts as a continuation to both his previous novella The Hellbound Heart and his canon of Harry D'Amour stories. The book concerns the Hell Priest, the demonic Cenobite nicknamed "Pinhead", and his efforts to gain power. Occult detective Harry D'Amour must journey into Hell to rescue his friend and stop the Hell Priest's plans. The book was the first in which the Hell Priest was officially given a name by Clive Barker, who disliked the nickname 'Pinhead' given his character by others.
Kirsty is a fictional character from the Hellraiser media franchise. Created by writer Clive Barker, Kirsty first appears in the 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart. Her full name is identified in the sequels as Kirsty Singer, before being adapted in the 1987 film adaptation Hellraiser as Kirsty Cotton. The character served as a major focus in the original film and its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II, later playing a supporting role in Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker. In all of her appearances in the film series, she was portrayed by actress Ashley Laurence. The film describes her as being Larry Cotton's daughter, while in the novel she is simply a friend of his.
Hellraiser: Revelations is a 2011 British-American horror film written by Gary J. Tunnicliffe and directed by Víctor Garcia. It is the ninth film in the Hellraiser film series. It follows the fates of two friends who discover a puzzle box that opens a gateway to a realm inhabited by sadomasochistic monsters known as the Cenobites.
Hellraiser: Origins was a cancelled independent film project based on Clive Barker's Hellraiser films, and was presented as a two-minute long pitch trailer directed by Mike Le Han. Written and produced by Paul Gerrard, the trailer was intended to be a reboot of Hellraiser, but due to multiple factors, it did not progress to filming as a feature film.
Hellraiser: Judgment is a 2018 American horror film written and directed by Gary J. Tunnicliffe, based on the characters created by Clive Barker. The tenth installment in the Hellraiser film series, the film stars Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris, Heather Langenkamp, and Paul T. Taylor, and centers on three police detectives who, investigating a series of murders, are confronted by the denizens of hell. The film expands the fictional universe by introducing a new faction of hell: the Stygian Inquisition. While the Cenobites offer sadomasochistic pleasures to humans that enter their dominion, the Inquisition processes the souls of sinners. Tunnicliffe plays the Inquisition's auditor, a prominent role in the film.
Chatterer is a fictional character appearing in the Hellraiser film series. He is a Cenobite, an order of extradimensional sadomasochists who experiment in extreme forms of hedonism. His name comes from the constant clicking of his teeth, his only means of communication. He serves the Cenobites' leader Pinhead. Chatterer has become a fan favourite character in the Hellraiser franchise.
Hellraiser is a 2022 supernatural horror film directed by David Bruckner, with a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, from a screen story co-written with David S. Goyer. A reboot of the Hellraiser franchise, the eleventh installment overall, and the second adaptation of the 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker following the 1987 film, the film stars Odessa A'zion as a young woman recovering from addiction who ends up with a mechanical puzzle box that can summon the Cenobites, humanoid beings who thrive on pain being pleasure. Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Jason Liles, Yinka Olorunnife, Selina Lo, Zachary Hing, Kit Clarke, Goran Višnjić, and Hiam Abbass appear in supporting roles.