“The Evil Dead” star Bruce Campbell on Monday revealed he has been diagnosed with cancer, announcing the news with both lighthearted humor and solemnity — as only a beloved face of several horror-comedies arguably could.
“Hi folks, these days, when someone is having a health issue, it’s referred to as an ‘opportunity,’ so let’s go with that — I’m having one of those,” Campbell wrote in a social media statement. “It’s also called a type of cancer that’s ‘treatable,’ not ‘curable.’”
The 67-year-old continued, “I apologize if that’s a shock — it was to me too.”
Campbell earned his spot as a horror icon in the pantheon of blood-soaked protagonists after director Sam Raimi cast him as Ash Williams in “The Evil Dead” (1981), a cult classic of the genre and arguable blueprint for its timeless “cabin-in-the-woods” setting.
The low-budget indie horror centered on Ash and his girlfriend Linda spending a romantic weekend in a remote cabin, only for them to discover “The Necronomicon” (or “The Book of the Dead”) and a recording of verses that unleash the titular evil.
