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Publicity photo, 1966
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Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky) was a movie actor who was one of the biggest action stars of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Bronson's movies often had him cast as a cop or a gunfighter, with storylines primarily focused on Revenge.
Bronson worked in a coal mine when he was only ten years old, where he worked until he entered military service in World War II in 1943, enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces and served as an aerial gunner in the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, and in 1945 as a B-29 Superfortress crewman with the 39th Bombardment Group based on Guam. He was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received during his service.
Bronson's acting career began in 1950, though he wouldn't be known by that name until 1954 when he changed it on the suggestion of his agent, who feared that an Eastern-European last name would damage his career with the McCarthy hearings that were going down at about that time. He also appeared on television during the 50s and 60s, including the lead role of the "Apache Kid" in the TV series Sheriff of Cochise, though his career wouldn't really take off until his role as one of The Magnificent Seven.
Bronson would later go on to play in many more movies, including The Battle Of The Bulge, The Great Escape, and The Dirty Dozen, but his first big lead role was that of Harmonica in Sergio Leone's masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West in 1968. He was originally considered for the role of the Man with No Name in A Fistful of Dollars. Bronson turned down the role, which instead launched Clint Eastwood into stardom himself. He would go on to star in many action movies, including Red Sun, The Valachi Papers and The Mechanic, but perhaps the most memorable of his roles was that of Vigilante Man Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series.
In addition to the Death Wish series, Bronson's later work was done with Cannon Films with director J. Lee Thompson, who made ultra-violent films such as 10 To Midnight and The Evil That Men Do. His last big-screen role was the final installment of the Death Wish series, Death Wish V the Face of Death, in 1994.
Bronson died of pneumonia in 2003, leaving quite a legacy behind him.
Notable Roles[]
- Igor in House of Wax
- Bernardo O'Reilly in The Magnificent Seven
- The "Tunnel King" in The Great Escape
- Harmonica in Once Upon a Time in the West
- Link Stuart in Red Sun
- Joseph Valachi in The Valachi Papers
- Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic
- Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series
- Leo Kessler in 10 To Midnight
- Holland in The Evil That Men Do
- Lt. Crowe in Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects