Charles Coburn
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Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American film and theatre actor. Best known for his work in comedies, Coburn received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1943's The More the Merrier. Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scotch-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman (May 11, 1838 Springfield, Ohio – November 12, 1896 Savannah, Georgia) and Moses Douville Coburn (April 27, 1834 Savannah, Georgia – December 27, 1902 Savannah, Georgia). Growing up in Savannah, he started out at age 14 doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs, ushering, or being the doorman. By age 17 or 18, he was the theater manager. He later became an actor, making his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with actress Ivah Wills in 1905. They married in 1906. In addition to managing the company, the couple performed frequently on Broadway. After his wife's death in 1937, Coburn relocated to Los Angeles, California and began film work. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a retired millionaire playing Cupid in The More the Merrier in 1943. He was also nominated for The Devil and Miss Jones in 1941 and The Green Years in 1946. Other notable film credits include Of Human Hearts (1938), The Lady Eve (1941), Kings Row (1942), The Constant Nymph (1943), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Wilson (1944), Impact (1949), The Paradine Case (1947), Everybody Does It (1950), Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), Monkey Business (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and John Paul Jones (1959). He usually played comedic parts, but Kings Row and Wilson were dramatic parts, showing his versatility. For his contributions to motion pictures, in 1960, Coburn was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6268 Hollywood Boulevard.
Known for
Credits
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
as Steamship Company Clerk
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
as Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
as Gardner Hubbard
The Lady Eve (1941)
as 'Colonel' Harrington
Monkey Business (1952)
as Oliver Oxley
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
as Hugo Van Cleve
The More the Merrier (1943)
as Benjamin Dingle
The Story of Mankind (1957)
as Hippocrates
The Paradine Case (1947)
as Sir Simon Flaquer
Impact (1949)
as Lieutenant Quincy
Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
as Lord Tyce
Vivacious Lady (1938)
as Mr. Morgan
Lured (1947)
as Harley Temple
Kings Row (1942)
as Henry Gordon
Wilson (1944)
as Professor Henry Holmes
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
as Self
Bachelor Mother (1939)
as J. B. Merlin
Edison, the Man (1940)
as General Powell
Pepe (1960)
as Charles Coburn
John Paul Jones (1959)
as Benjamin Franklin
Made for Each Other (1939)
as Judge Joseph M. Doolittle
Of Human Hearts (1938)
as Dr. Charles Shingle
The Long Wait (1954)
as Gardiner
Yellow Jack (1938)
as Dr. Finlay
A Royal Scandal (1945)
as Nicolai Iiyitch
Over 21 (1945)
as Robert Drexel Gow
Our Wife (1941)
as Professor Drake
It's Showtime (1976)
as Self (archive footage)
Lord Jeff (1938)
as Captain Briggs
Idiot's Delight (1939)
as Dr. Hugo Waldersee
The Green Years (1946)
as Alexander Gow
In Name Only (1939)
as Richard Walker
Mr. Music (1950)
as Alex Conway
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)
as Self (archive footage)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
as Max Dreyfus
Three Faces West (1940)
as Dr. Karl Braun
Road to Singapore (1940)
as Joshua Mallon IV
In This Our Life (1942)
as William Fitzroy
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959)
as Grampa Pennypacker
Trouble Along the Way (1953)
as le Père Matthew William Burke
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
as Samuel Fulton / John Smith
Together Again (1944)
as Jonathan Crandall Sr
H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
as John Pulham
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as John P. Merrick/Thomas Higgins
Princess O'Rourke (1943)
as Uncle Holman
Peggy (1950)
as Professor Brookfield
Green Grass of Wyoming (1948)
as Beaver Greenway
The Constant Nymph (1943)
as Charles Creighton
Town on Trial (1957)
as Dr. John Fenner
A Stranger in My Arms (1959)
as Vance Beasley
Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)
as Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
Yes Sir, That's My Baby (1949)
as Professor Jason Hartley
B.F.'s Daughter (1948)
as Burton F. 'B.F.' Fulton
Knickerbocker Holiday (1944)
as Peter Stuyvesant
Florian (1940)
as Dr. Johannes Hofer
The People's Enemy (1935)
as Judge
My Kingdom for a Cook (1943)
as Rudyard Morley
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
as General Michael O'Hara
George Washington Slept Here (1942)
as Stanley Menninger
How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955)
as Dr. Tweed
Unexpected Uncle (1941)
as Seton Mansley
Louisa (1950)
as Mr. Burnside
The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
as Dr. John Corday
Everybody Does It (1949)
as Major Blair
The Power and the Prize (1956)
as Guy Eliot
Shady Lady (1945)
as Col. John Appleby
The Rocket Man (1954)
as Mayor Ed Johnson
The Captain is a Lady (1940)
as Captain Abe Peabody
How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957)
as Uncle George Clitterbern
The Impatient Years (1944)
as William Smith
The Highwayman (1951)
as Lord Walters