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The villainous Grima Wormtongue, in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, is the latest role for Aiken Prep alum Brad Dourif.

AIKEN - Aiken Preparatory School alumnus Brad Dourif has an unforgettable face and voice. His name, as is often the case with character actors, is another story. But chances are you would recognize him, or at least his pointy nose and piercing eyes, if you ran into him on the street. He was Billy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
He was Charles Lee Ray, the convict who became the killer Chucky doll in the Child's Play movies.

And, most recently, he was the traitor Grima Wormtongue in the most popular film in the country, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

The prolific actor, known mainly for his roles in horror and science fiction films, was a student at Aiken Prep from 1963 to 1965.

Former classmate and Columbia County Commissioner-elect Stephen W. Brown Jr. recalls Mr. Dourif, now 52, as being nearly as extreme in real life as his roles.

"I saw Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson, and I said, 'That looks like Brad,"' Mr. Brown said of the 1975 performance that launched Mr. Dourif's career.

"The role was sort of like Brad's personality. I don't say it's a perfect match. Brad was an intense guy, but he was a good guy."

According to his biography at dourif.com, the actor was a well-rounded teenager at Aiken Prep who played junior varsity soccer and baseball in addition to being part of the art club and the yearbook staff.

Mr. Brown said he suspects Mr. Dourif's intensity is the reason behind his fame, which includes more than a hundred film or television appearances.

"We would have our sports and athletics day," Mr. Brown said. "He was out there every day, practicing."

By Eric Williamson South Carolina Bureu Thursday, December 26, 2002 1:55 a.m. EST