It’s been a glorious four decades, but Bruce Campbell is officially retiring from playing Ash Williams.
The 59-year-old actor made the announcement this week after the abrupt cancellation of Starz’s Ash vs. Evil Dead, which will conclude its third — and now final — season on April 29. Campbell made the announcement on Twitter, in response to an article from Bloody Disgusting calling on Netflix to pick up the series. “Big props to fans for the effort, but I’m retired as Ash. #timetofrysomeotherfish,” Campbell wrote.
Big props to fans for the effort, but I’m retired as Ash. #timetofrysomeotherfish https://t.co/Di1aeBV0dl
— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) April 23, 2018
The following day, the actor formerly known as Ash made a more formal (and lengthy) announcement, sharing the following statement to his Facebook page:
Good people, Evil Dead fans everywhere, I bid you a heartfelt farewell playing Ash – the character I took acting lessons with for 39 years.
I am hereby retiring from that portrayal. It’s time. I followed Ash from his formative years thru his mid-life crisis and decline. What a thrill! What a privilege!
We had a great resurgence with the help of Starz (kudos not jeers, folks). They made it possible for 15 more hours of Evil Dead-ness in your life – the equivalent of 10 more features!
Is Ash dead? Never. Ash is as much a concept as a person. Where there is evil in this world, there must be one to counter – man or woman, it matters not.
Thanks for watching.
Love,
Bruce
While the cancellation wasn’t too shocking, as the show had been on the bubble for some time, Campbell’s retirement from the franchise certainly is. It was less than two months ago when the actor stated his interest in appearing in another Evil Dead movie if the series were to be cancelled, but apparently that’s no longer the case.
While we’re certainly sad to see Campbell go, we can’t really complain too much. After all, we still have his performances as Ash in The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, and three full seasons of Ash vs. Evil Dead. Heck, he even shows up in the post-credits scene of the 2013 reboot/sequel Evil Dead. We don’t think anyone expected that kind of a run following the franchise’s low budget 1981 debut, and the fact that Campbell was able to keep us coming back for more after all these was pretty… groovy.
Farewell, Ash.
