Cj Graham

C.J. Graham was born in Seattle, Washington. He served in the U.S. Army from 1974 to 1978, towards the end of the Vietnam War. Standing at 6’3″, Graham was a former nightclub general manager in Los Angeles. During a nightclub act where he was portraying Jason Voorhees, he was identified by casting personnel from Reel Effects. This encounter led to his selection for the role of Jason Voorhees in the 1986 film ‘Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives’. He performed all of Jason’s scenes and stunts in the film, except for an already filmed paintball scene and the opening graveyard scene.

Following his role in ‘Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives’, C.J. Graham reprised the character of Jason in the music video for Alice Cooper’s song “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)”, which was featured in the film. His acting credits also include the 1991 horror film ‘Highway to Hell’, where he played the main antagonist, Sergeant Bedlam, known as the Hellcop. Graham maintained his connection to the ‘Friday the 13th’ franchise through fan films like ‘F13 Vengeance’ as Elias Voorhees and ’13 Fanboy’ as C.J. Graham.

Parallel to his acting career, C.J. Graham pursued a career in casino operations. He held positions such as VP of casino operations at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California, and COO of the Agua Caliente Casinos in the Palm Springs area, California. Graham frequently attends horror conventions, where he meets fans and participates in signing autographs. He has publicly stated his appreciation for his time as Jason Voorhees and his willingness to reprise the role in future projects if the opportunity arose, despite having been approached for ‘Freddy vs. Jason’ in 2003 but declining out of respect for Kane Hodder.