Jeffrey Combs

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Birthday:

9 September 1954, Oxnard, California, USA

Birth Name:

Jeffrey Alan Combs

Height:

170 cm

Jeffrey Combs was born on September 9th, 1954 in Oxnard, California. He grew up in Lompoc, California with a plethora of siblings both older and younger. He attended the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, and the Professional Actor's Training Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. He spent about four years in regional theater performing at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the Arizona Theatre Company in Tucson, the California Shakespearean Festival, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa among others. In 1980 he moved to Los Angeles, where he lives with his family. As a horror film leading actor, Combs is probably best known for portraying Herbert West in the cult horror film Re-Animator (1985). Re-Animator was based on H.P. Lovecraft's famous novel brought together by Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, the producer and financier of the film. Combs stayed in the realm of cult films with both Gordon and Yuzna to return when making From Beyond (1986), and Bride of Re-Animator (1989) also from Lovecraft novels. He has also been in some supporting roles in _Pit and the Pendulum, The (1990) (V)_, the strange FBI Agent with Michael J. Fox in The Frighteners (1996), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and the remake of the William Castle thriller, House on Haunted Hill (1999). Show less «

[on being cast as Herbert West in Re-Animator (1985)] God, I had no idea what was to come. All I knew was, I was doing a play in Hollywood, ...Show more »

[on being cast as Herbert West in Re-Animator (1985)] God, I had no idea what was to come. All I knew was, I was doing a play in Hollywood, and a casting director came to see it. I did not invite him. As I recall, he said, "I'm casting something you might be right for." I went in and met Stuart Gordon, did my read, got a callback where I was paired up with the great David Gale. We did a scene. I guess we both got cast. Very low budget, shot in 18 days. Who knew? I am not rich from the movie. Somebody got rich. Show less «

From Beyond (1986) was a very difficult movie. I'm kind of schizo about it. It involved a lot of makeup. I counted it up once, it was 30 day...Show more »

From Beyond (1986) was a very difficult movie. I'm kind of schizo about it. It involved a lot of makeup. I counted it up once, it was 30 days in that hideous, bald-headed, dog-dick-out-of-my-forehead thing. I hated it. It was so uncomfortable. And yet on the flip side of that, it was shot out of Rome, Italy, and I got to spend a glorious eight weeks in one of the world's greatest capitals. It was good. I feel like Charles Dickens: It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. But I also felt like the role in From Beyond was so polar-opposite to what I had done in Re-Animator, where I played a strong, driving personality that pushed the action forward. Here, I was really-for all intents and purposes-being a victim. Someone standing there going, "No!" So I felt like some of the tools in my kit were being taken away from me. That was a bit frustrating, too. Show less «

[on being typecast] You get known for something, and then they pigeonhole you. They don't want to view you as being particularly versatile. ...Show more »

[on being typecast] You get known for something, and then they pigeonhole you. They don't want to view you as being particularly versatile. They just want you to do that thing you did before. It perpetuates itself. You can certainly say no, but then you're not working. So a long time ago, I just told myself I'd just turn everything, even if it's all stuck in a particular genre, I'd try to expand people's perception of me by what I did within the framework I've got going. Show less «

Bride of Re-Animator (1989) was cobbled together. I don't really have all the details, but I think there were some issues with the script th...Show more »

Bride of Re-Animator (1989) was cobbled together. I don't really have all the details, but I think there were some issues with the script they were going to shoot. Someone claimed they had propriety over some of the ideas. So at the last minute, the script that was going to be shot was jettisoned, and the one we shot was thrown together. I feel there were some great moments in that movie. Especially, the sort of idea of building a human being out of parts: I really love that whole classic horror idea. But I think the tone got lost a little. Sometimes movies are on a track to get made and you don't have time to pull over and do a polish, because the deal is the deal and we've got a start date, and the money goes away if we don't. It suffered from all of that. Show less «

Brian Yuzna, who produced Re-Animator, was directing this trilogy of horror stories, and the glue that bound them together was this interwea...Show more »

Brian Yuzna, who produced Re-Animator, was directing this trilogy of horror stories, and the glue that bound them together was this interweaving story of Lovecraft coming to an exotic, mystical library. He wanted me to play Lovecraft. I kind of resisted. I said, "I don't look like Lovecraft." But John Vulich is a great special-effects makeup artist. He really got me looking like him as much as he possibly could with a chin and a nose. I always felt weird portraying Lovecraft in that movie, because Brian, for the project, really wanted Lovecraft to be an Indiana Jones character, and that's not a particularly accurate portrayal of Lovecraft, if you've read any of his biographies. You do what you can with what you've got. Show less «

[on making The Frighteners (1996)] One of the greatest experiences of my career. Peter Jackson is a genius. He makes it look easy and effort...Show more »

[on making The Frighteners (1996)] One of the greatest experiences of my career. Peter Jackson is a genius. He makes it look easy and effortless. A visionary. Very collaborative and sharing. No real ego. I remember my [character's] chest is a bunch of scars, and they came to me with their drawings and [Jackson] said, "What do you think?" Which is unheard of in film. It was one of the highlights of my life to work with him. Show less «