Charles Bronson
Acting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town in the Allegheny Mountains. Bronson's father, a miner, died when Bronson was young. Bronson himself worked in the mines as well until joining the United States Army Air Forces in 1943 to fight in World War II. Bronson had sizeable co-starring roles in The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), This Property Is Condemned (1966), and The Dirty Dozen (1967). Bronson also performed in many major television shows, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his supporting role in an episode of General Electric Theater. Actor Alain Delon (who was a fan of Bronson) hired him to co-star with him in the French film Adieu l'ami (1968). That year, he also played one of the leads in the Italian spaghetti Western, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Bronson continued playing leads in various action, Western, and war films made in Europe, including Rider on the Rain (1970), which won a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. During this time Bronson was the most popular American actor in Europe.
Early life and war service
Bronson was born November 3, 1921, in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, a coal mining region in the Allegheny Mountains, north of Johnstown. He was the 11th of 15 children born into a Roman Catholic family of Lithuanian descent. The very large family slept in shifts in their cold-water shack. The coal car tracks that ran out of the mine's mouth passed just a few yards away. His father, Walter Buchinsky (né Vladislavas Valteris Paulius Bučinskas/Bučinskis), was a Lipka Tatar from Druskininkai in southern Lithuania. Bronson's mother, Mary (née Valinsky), whose parents were from Lithuania, was born in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, in the Anthracite Coal Region.
Bronson said English was not spoken at home during his childhood, like many other first-generation American children he grew up with. He once recounted that even as a soldier, his accent was strong enough to make his comrades think he was a foreigner. Besides English, he could speak Lithuanian and Russian.
Marriages
His first marriage was to Harriet Tendler, whom he met when both were fledgling actors in Philadelphia. They had two children, Suzanne and Tony, before divorcing in 1965. Bronson died at age 81 on August 30, 2003, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Bronson was married to English actress Jill Ireland from October 5, 1968, until her death in 1990. Death
Bronson died at age 81 on August 30, 2003, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Although pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease have been cited as his cause of death, neither appears on his death certificate, which cites "respiratory failure", "metastatic lung cancer", with, secondarily, "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" and "congestive cardiomyopathy" as the causes of death. He was interred at Brownsville Cemetery in West Windsor, Vermont. CLR
Media of
Charles Bronson
Photos (21)
Filmography of
Charles Bronson
Self (archive footage)
... 2026
Self - Actor in Death Wish (archive footage)
... 2025
Self (archive footage)
... 2022
Self (archive footage)
... 2020
Self (archive footage)
... 2015
Self - Actor (archive footage)
... 2014
... 2006
Paul Fein
... 1999
Commissioner Paul Fein
... 1997
Self - Audience Member (uncredited)
... 1995
Paul Fein
... 1995
Paul Kersey
... 1994
The Indian (archive footage)
... 1993
Sgt. Mike Donato
... 1993
Capt. Wolf Larsen
... 1993
Francis Church
... 1991
Mr. Roberts
... 1991
Lieutenant Crowe
... 1989
Garret Smith
... 1988
Paul Kersey
... 1987
... 1987
Jay Killion
... 1987
... 1986
Joseph 'Jock' Yablonski
... 1986
Jack Murphy
... 1986
Paul Kersey
... 1985
... 1985
Holland
... 1984
... 1983
Leo Kessler
... 1983
Paul Kersey
... 1982
Albert Johnson
... 1981
Jeb Maynard
... 1980
Self - Host
... 1980
Gifford Hoyt
... 1980
Charlie Congers
... 1979
Harge Talbot Jr.
... 1978
Major Grigori Borzov
... 1977
Wild Bill Hickok/James Otis
... 1977
Brig. Gen. Dan Shomron
... 1976
Graham Dorsey
... 1976
Raymond St. Ives
... 1976
John Deakin
... 1975
Chaney
... 1975
Nick Colton
... 1975
Paul Kersey
... 1974
Vince Majestyk
... 1974
Chino Valdez
... 1973
Lou Torrey
... 1973
Arthur Bishop
... 1972
Pardon Chato
... 1972
Ben Justin
... 1972
Joe Valachi
... 1972
... 1972
Link
... 1971
The Stranger
... 1971
Moreno
... 1971
Joe Martin
... 1970
Jeff Heston
... 1970
Josh Corey
... 1970
Col. Harry Dobbs
... 1970
Scott Wardman
... 1970
'Harmonica'
... 1968
Franz Propp
... 1968
Rodolfo Fierro
... 1968
Joseph Wladislaw
... 1967
Teclo
... 1967
J.J. Nichols
... 1966
Maj. Wolenski
... 1965
Cos Erickson
... 1965
Self (uncredited)
... 1965
Linc Murdock
... 1964
Matson
... 1963
Danny 'Tunnel King'
... 1963
Lew Nyack
... 1962
Lt. Col. Lee Brandon
... 1961
Trooper Hanna
... 1961
John Strock
... 1961
Bernardo O'Reilly
... 1960
Sgt. John Danforth
... 1959
Steve Boland
... 1958
Alan Avery
... 1958
George R. 'Machine Gun' Kelly
... 1958
Luke Welsh
... 1958
Wolf Hagan
... 1958
Blue Buffolo
... 1957
Reb
... 1956
Sgt. Vince Gaspari
... 1955
Benny Kelly
... 1955
Pittsburgh
... 1954
Kintpuash
... 1954
Hondo
... 1954
Pinto
... 1954
Sixty Jubel
... 1954
Submariner
... 1953
Pvt. Edwards
... 1953
Ben Hastings
... 1953
Igor
... 1953
Gambler (uncredited)
... 1953
Russell (Uncredited)
... 1952
Phil Green, aka 'Pittsburgh Philo' (uncredited)
... 1952
Marine Private (uncredited)
... 1952
Russian Agent (uncredited)
... 1952
Henry 'Hank' Tasling
... 1952
Jocko
... 1952
Eddie
... 1952
Neff (uncredited)
... 1952
Jack (uncredited)
... 1951
Angelo Korvac (uncredited)
... 1951
Wascylewski
... 1951