Anecdotes

Eleanor Roosevelt was his babysitter.

Is one of the few actors to have killed John Wayne on screen (Les Cowboys (1972)). He even received some death threats out of that.

Had two daughters with Diane Ladd. His eldest daughter, Diane Dern, was born November 27, 1960, and accidentally drowned in California on May 18, 1962 at just shy of 18 months of age, years before his second child, Laura Dern, was born in 1967.

Acted with three generations of actresses. He was in Alfred Hitchcock's classic Pas de printemps pour Marnie (1964) in which Tippi Hedren played the title role. He acted with Hedren's real-life daughter Melanie Griffith in Smile (1975) and Les chutes de Mulholland (1996). Then, he acted with Griffith's real-life daughter Dakota Johnson in the sleeper hit film Le faucon au beurre d'arachide (2019).

An avid runner and ultra-marathoner, having run many 50 mile races.

His grandfather, George Dern, was a Governor of Utah, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first Secretary of War, including at the time of Bruce's birth. His father was a law partner with Adlai Stevenson and his brother in Chicago.

Jack Nicholson coined the term "a dernsie" for unscripted improvisations; either dialogue or behavioral quirks; that Bruce would come up with while filming.

Claims that he has never smoked outside of the movies, or drank alcohol or coffee, due to his commitment to marathon running.

Is one of two actors to appear in movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino (Rod Taylor is the other).

Was a competitive middle distance runner at the University of Pennsylvania.

Has said that of all the characters' he played the one he enjoyed most was the detective in ' An Investigation of Murder'.

Became a father for the second time at age 30 when his second [now ex] wife Diane Ladd gave birth to their daughter Laura Elizabeth Dern, aka Laura Dern on February 10, 1967.

As of 2020, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Le retour (1978), Django déchaîné (2012), Nebraska (2013), and Il était une fois à... Hollywood (2019).

Has appeared in five films with Jack Nicholson: L'affaire Al Capone (1967), Un monde psychédélique (1968), The Rebel Rousers (1970) Vas-y, fonce (1971) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972).

Alumnus of New Trier Township High School East, Winnetka, Illinois. Other New Trier graduates include Ralph Bellamy, Charlton Heston, Rock Hudson, Hugh B. O'Brien, Ann-Margret, Penelope Milford, Virginia Madsen and Liz Phair.

Became a grandfather for the second time at age 68 when his daughter Laura Dern gave birth to her daughter Jaya Harper, with [now ex] husband Ben Harper, on November 28, 2004.

Seventeen years after daughter Laura Dern starred in Alexander Payne's first major film Un sujet capital (1996), Bruce starred in Payne's Nebraska (2013) -- probably one of the few, if only, times in movie history that a father-daughter duo similarly starred in the same director's films, especially with the actress/daughter's performance preceding her actor/father's.

Great-nephew of poet Archibald Macleish.

He and his daughter Laura Dern have both appeared in films opposite Samuel L. Jackson. Bruce worked with him in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987), Django déchaîné (2012), and Les huit enragés (2015), while Laura appeared with him in Le parc jurassique (1993).

Has English, German, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and distant Dutch and Welsh, ancestry.

Became a grandfather for the first time at age 65 when his daughter Laura Dern gave birth to her son Ellery Walker Harper, with [now ex] husband Ben Harper, on August 10, 2001.

Former father-in-law of (musician) Ben Harper.

Became a father for the first time at age 25 when his second [now ex] wife Diane Ladd gave birth to their daughter Diane Elizabeth Dern in 1961.

Is a supporter of the Chelsea Football Club.

In his first western appearance, an episode of Wagon Train (1957) in 1963, he played a character who was shot and killed. His character was shot and killed in the western Les huit enragés (2015) 52 years later.

Born at 3:11am-CDT