Jean Henri Dourif (25 August 1920 – 23 October 1953) was an American dye manufacturer and art collector, best known as the father of noted character actor Brad Dourif. Born in Huntington, Cabell, West Virginia, Dourif was the son of Henri Jean Dourif and Eveleen Renee (Huillard) Dourif. He married Joan Mavis Felton Dourif (Bradford) and had one son, Brad Dourif. Unfortunately, after suffering heart failure while swimming in Taormina, Sicily, Dourif died at the age of 33. He was survived by his son, and two grandchildren, Fiona Dourif (an American actress and producer) and Kristina Dourif.
His Son, Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif is an American actor best known for his roles in films such as The Lord of the Rings, The Exorcist, and Child’s Play. Born on March 18, 1950, in Huntington, West Virginia, to art collector Jean Henri Dourif and actress Joan Mavis Felton, he was raised by his mother and stepfather, Bill Campbell. Dourif attended Aiken Preparatory School from 1963 to 1965, where he developed a passion for both art and acting. He ultimately decided to pursue a career in acting and has since starred in numerous films and television shows.
Brad Dourif began his acting career with school productions and moved to Community Theater with the Huntington Community Players while attending Marshall University in Huntington. At 19, he left college and moved to New York, performing with the Circle Repertory Company. Dourif’s big-screen debut was in 1975’s W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings. His breakthrough role came in Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Acting Debut, a British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actor, and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
After achieving stardom with the 1978 film Eyes of Laura Mars, Dourif returned to New York to continue his career in theater and teaching. His intense style often led to him being cast in eccentric or deranged characters in films such as Wise Blood (1979) and Ragtime (1981). He also worked with director David Lynch on Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986) and voiced the evil doll Chucky in the Child’s Play franchise.
Brad Dourif has become well-known for his roles in horror films, such as Child’s Play (1988), The Exorcist III (1990) and The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003). He has also starred in other films, such as Fatal Beauty (1987), Mississippi Burning (1988), Hidden Agenda (1990) and London Kills Me (1991). Additionally, Dourif has appeared in television series, including The X-Files (1993), Babylon 5 (1993), Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Millennium (1996) and Ponderosa (2001), as well as in the music video “Stranger in Town” (1984) by the rock band TOTO.
His Granddaughter, Fiona Dourif
Fiona Dourif is an American actress and producer born on October 30, 1981, in Woodstock, New York. She began her career producing documentaries for The History Channel and TLC and later achieved fame with her role in HBO’s Deadwood. She has since gone on to appear in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Gus Van Sant’s When We Rise, and the last two installments of the Child’s Play franchise.
