Charles Bronson
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
Photos
Movies (110)
Breakdown: 1975
2025 · (archive footage)
Rat Pack
2022 · Self (archive footage)
Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity
2020 · Self (archive footage)
Spanish Western
2015 · Self (archive footage)
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2014 · Self - Actor (archive footage)
Operation Dirty Dozen
2006 · Self
Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion
1999 · Paul Fein
Breach of Faith: A Family of Cops II
1997 · Commissioner Paul Fein
Sinatra: 80 Years My Way
1995 · Self - Audience Member (uncredited)
Family of Cops
1995 · Paul Fein
Death Wish V: The Face of Death
1994 · Paul Kersey
La Classe américaine
1993 · The Indian (archive footage)
Donato and Daughter
1993 · Sgt. Mike Donato
The Sea Wolf
1993 · Capt. Wolf Larsen
Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus
1991 · Francis Church
The Indian Runner
1991 · Mr. Roberts
Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects
1989 · Lieutenant Crowe
Messenger of Death
1988 · Garret Smith
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown
1987 · Paul Kersey
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987 · Self
Assassination
1987 · Jay Killion
All Star Party for Clint Eastwood
1986 · Self (uncredited)
Act of Vengeance
1986 · Joseph 'Jock' Yablonski
Murphy's Law
1986 · Jack Murphy
Death Wish 3
1985 · Paul Kersey
Night of 100 Stars II
1985 · Self
The Evil That Men Do
1984 · Holland
All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra
1983 · Self
10 to Midnight
1983 · Leo Kessler
Death Wish II
1982 · Paul Kersey
Death Hunt
1981 · Albert Johnson
Borderline
1980 · Jeb Maynard
Catastrophe: No Safe Place
1980 · Self - Host
Caboblanco
1980 · Gifford Hoyt
Love and Bullets
1979 · Charlie Congers
The Meanest Men in the West
1978 · Harge Talbot Jr.
Telefon
1977 · Major Grigori Borzov
The White Buffalo
1977 · Wild Bill Hickok/James Otis
Raid on Entebbe
1976 · Brig. Gen. Dan Shomron
From Noon Till Three
1976 · Graham Dorsey
St. Ives
1976 · Raymond St. Ives
Breakheart Pass
1975 · John Deakin
Hard Times
1975 · Chaney
Breakout
1975 · Nick Colton
Death Wish
1974 · Paul Kersey
Mr. Majestyk
1974 · Vince Majestyk
The Valdez Horses
1973 · Chino Valdez
The Stone Killer
1973 · Lou Torrey
The Mechanic
1972 · Arthur Bishop
Chato's Land
1972 · Pardon Chato
The Bull of the West
1972 · Ben Justin
The Valachi Papers
1972 · Joe Valachi
Valachi: The Violent Era
1972 · Self
Red Sun
1971 · Link
Someone Behind the Door
1971 · The Stranger
Mean Justice
1971 · Moreno
Cold Sweat
1970 · Joe Martin
Violent City
1970 · Jeff Heston
You Can't Win 'Em All
1970 · Josh Corey
Rider on the Rain
1970 · Col. Harry Dobbs
Twinky
1970 · Scott Wardman
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968 · 'Harmonica'
Farewell, Friend
1968 · Franz Propp
Villa Rides
1968 · Rodolfo Fierro
The Dirty Dozen
1967 · Joseph Wladislaw
Guns for San Sebastian
1967 · Teclo
This Property Is Condemned
1966 · J.J. Nichols
Battle of the Bulge
1965 · Maj. Wolenski
The Sandpiper
1965 · Cos Erickson
The Big Sur
1965 · Self (uncredited)
Guns of Diablo
1964 · Linc Murdock
4 for Texas
1963 · Matson
The Great Escape
1963 · Danny 'Tunnel King'
Kid Galahad
1962 · Lew Nyack
X-15
1961 · Lt. Col. Lee Brandon
A Thunder of Drums
1961 · Trooper Hanna
Master of the World
1961 · John Strock
The Magnificent Seven
1960 · Bernardo O'Reilly
Never So Few
1959 · Sgt. John Danforth
When Hell Broke Loose
1958 · Steve Boland
Gang War
1958 · Alan Avery
Machine-Gun Kelly
1958 · George R. 'Machine Gun' Kelly
Showdown at Boot Hill
1958 · Luke Welsh
No Time at All
1958 · Wolf Hagan
Run of the Arrow
1957 · Blue Buffolo
Jubal
1956 · Reb
Target Zero
1955 · Sgt. Vince Gaspari
Big House, U.S.A
1955 · Benny Kelly
Vera Cruz
1954 · Pittsburgh
Drum Beat
1954 · Kintpuash
Apache
1954 · Hondo
Riding Shotgun
1954 · Pinto
Tennessee Champ
1954 · Sixty Jubel
Torpedo Alley
1953 · Submariner (uncredited)
Miss Sadie Thompson
1953 · Pvt. Edwards
Crime Wave
1953 · Ben Hastings
House of Wax
1953 · Igor
The Clown
1953 · Gambler (uncredited)
Off Limits
1952 · Russell (Uncredited)
Bloodhounds of Broadway
1952 · Phil Green, aka 'Pittsburgh Philo' (uncredited)
Battle Zone
1952 · Marine Private (uncredited)
Diplomatic Courier
1952 · Russian Agent (uncredited)
Pat and Mike
1952 · Henry 'Hank' Tasling
My Six Convicts
1952 · Jocko
The Marrying Kind
1952 · Eddie
Red Skies of Montana
1952 · Neff (uncredited)
The Mob
1951 · Jack (uncredited)
The People Against O'Hara
1951 · Angelo Korvac (uncredited)
You're in the Navy Now
1951 · Wascylewski
After Death
· Paul Kersey
TV shows (61)
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973 · Self
Film '72
1971 · Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971 · Self
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Self - Guest
The F.B.I.
1965 · Earl Clayton
The Big Valley
1965 · Tate
The Legend of Jesse James
1965 · Cheyney
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
1963 · Linc Murdock
The Fugitive
1963 · Ralph Schuyler
Vacation Playhouse
1963 · John Wesley Hardin
Combat!
1962 · Velasquez
Empire
1962 · Paul Moreno, Moreno, Paul
The Virginian
1962 · Ben Justin, Harge Talbot
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Self - Guest Co-Host
The New Breed
1961 · Jerry Bergason
Dr. Kildare
1961 · Harry Gregg
Cain's Hundred
1961 · Hank Conrad
The Islanders
1960 · Dutch Malkin
The Aquanauts
1960 · Hector Morrison
Adventures in Paradise
1959 · Dan Morton
The Twilight Zone
1959 · Man
Riverboat
1959 · Crowley
Bonanza
1959 · Harry Starr
One Step Beyond
1959 · Yank Dawson
Rawhide
1959 · Del Lingman
U.S. Marshall
1958 · Zenogalache a.k.a. Apache Kid
Man with a Camera
1958 · Mike Kovac
Yancy Derringer
1958 · Rogue Donovan
Colt .45
1957 · Danny Gordon
The Walter Winchell File
1957 · Eggers
Suspicion
1957 · Cal
M Squad
1957 · Eddie Loder
Sugarfoot
1957 · Sandy Randall, Cliff Raven
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957 · Manfred Holt
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957 · Dan Rocco
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957 · Butch Cassidy
Wire Service
1956 · Sam Adams
Playhouse 90
1956 · Wolf Hagan, Andy Kovaric, Sgt Meras
Hey, Jeannie!
1956 · Rocky Harman
Telephone Time
1956 · Guest
Crusader
1955 · Mike Brod
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Det. Krovitch, Frank Bramwell, Ray Bardon
Gunsmoke
1955 · Crego, Ben Tiple
Those Whiting Girls
1955 · Martin Carroll
The Millionaire
1955 · Jerry Bell
Studio 57
1954 · Dawson
Medic
1954 · Dr. John Bircher
The Joe Palooka Story
1954 · Eddie Crane
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
1953 · Joe Krossen
Letter to Loretta
1953 · Eugene Walters
General Electric Theater
1953 · Pike, Henry, Soldier Conlon
Biff Baker U.S.A.
1952 · Czech spy, Wilhelm
Cavalcade of America
1952 · John Stanizewski
Four Star Playhouse
1952 · Frank Dana
Chevron Theatre
1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Sgt. Roy Smith
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · Sergeant Borth
Treasury Men in Action
1950 · Frankie Ames
Studio One
1948 · Cal
Golden Globe Awards
1944 · Self - Presenter
Stage 7
· Jerry Donn, Murray Forman