
Charles Bronson
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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
Known for
Credits

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
as 'Harmonica'

The Magnificent Seven (1960)
as Bernardo O'Reilly

The Great Escape (1963)
as Danny 'Tunnel King'

The Dirty Dozen (1967)
as Joseph Wladislaw

Death Wish (1974)
as Paul Kersey

The Mechanic (1972)
as Arthur Bishop

Red Sun (1971)
as Link

House of Wax (1953)
as Igor

Death Wish II (1982)
as Paul Kersey

Death Wish 3 (1985)
as Paul Kersey

Hard Times (1975)
as Chaney

Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)
as Paul Kersey

Chato's Land (1972)
as Pardon Chato

Jubal (1956)
as Reb

Battle of the Bulge (1965)
as Maj. Wolenski

Death Hunt (1981)
as Albert Johnson

Mr. Majestyk (1974)
as Vince Majestyk

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
as Paul Kersey

Vera Cruz (1954)
as Pittsburgh

Villa Rides (1968)
as Rodolfo Fierro

Murphy's Law (1986)
as Jack Murphy

Breakdown: 1975 (2025)
as Self - Actor in Death Wish (archive footage)

Telefon (1977)
as Major Grigori Borzov

Never So Few (1959)
as Sgt. John Danforth

The White Buffalo (1977)
as Wild Bill Hickok/James Otis

Breakheart Pass (1975)
as John Deakin

The Evil That Men Do (1984)
as Holland

Kid Galahad (1962)
as Lew Nyack

Cold Sweat (1970)
as Joe Martin

10 to Midnight (1983)
as Leo Kessler

Apache (1954)
as Hondo

Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989)
as Lieutenant Crowe

Farewell, Friend (1968)
as Franz Propp

Pat and Mike (1952)
as Henry 'Hank' Tasling

Messenger of Death (1988)
as Garret Smith

4 for Texas (1963)
as Matson

The Stone Killer (1973)
as Lou Torrey

St. Ives (1976)
as Raymond St. Ives

The Valachi Papers (1972)
as Joe Valachi

Borderline (1980)
as Jeb Maynard

Breakout (1975)
as Nick Colton

The Sandpiper (1965)
as Cos Erickson

You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
as Josh Corey

The Sea Wolf (1993)
as Capt. Wolf Larsen

The Valdez Horses (1973)
as Chino Valdez

Drum Beat (1954)
as Kintpuash

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)
as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Guns for San Sebastian (1967)
as Teclo

The Indian Runner (1991)
as Mr. Roberts

Guns of Diablo (1964)
as Linc Murdock

La Classe américaine (1993)
as The Indian (archive footage)

Violent City (1970)
as Jeff Heston

Rider on the Rain (1970)
as Col. Harry Dobbs

Machine-Gun Kelly (1958)
as George R. 'Machine Gun' Kelly

Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
as Self

This Property Is Condemned (1966)
as J.J. Nichols

Rat Pack (2022)
as Self (archive footage)

Raid on Entebbe (1976)
as Brig. Gen. Dan Shomron

Crime Wave (1953)
as Ben Hastings

From Noon Till Three (1976)
as Graham Dorsey

Big House, U.S.A (1955)
as Benny Kelly

Assassination (1987)
as Jay Killion

Riding Shotgun (1954)
as Pinto

The Mob (1951)
as Jack (uncredited)

Twinky (1970)
as Scott Wardman

Caboblanco (1980)
as Gifford Hoyt

Donato and Daughter (1993)
as Sgt. Mike Donato

Diplomatic Courier (1952)
as Russian Agent (uncredited)

Breach of Faith: A Family of Cops II (1997)
as Commissioner Paul Fein

My Six Convicts (1952)
as Jocko

Torpedo Alley (1953)
as Submariner

Love and Bullets (1979)
as Charlie Congers

Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
as Pvt. Edwards

Act of Vengeance (1986)
as Joseph 'Jock' Yablonski

A Thunder of Drums (1961)
as Trooper Hanna

The Big Sur (1965)
as Self (uncredited)

Spanish Western (2015)
as Self (archive footage)

Family of Cops (1995)
as Paul Fein

Master of the World (1961)
as John Strock

The Clown (1953)
as Gambler (uncredited)

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood (1987)
as Self

Sinatra: 80 Years My Way (1995)
as Self - Audience Member (uncredited)

You're in the Navy Now (1951)
as Wascylewski

The Marrying Kind (1952)
as Eddie

The People Against O'Hara (1951)
as Angelo Korvac (uncredited)

Target Zero (1955)
as Sgt. Vince Gaspari

Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion (1999)
as Paul Fein

The Meanest Men in the West (1978)
as Harge Talbot Jr.

Someone Behind the Door (1971)
as The Stranger

Elvis: A Life in Music (2026)
as Self (archive footage)

Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity (2020)
as Self (archive footage)

Gang War (1958)
as Alan Avery

Run of the Arrow (1957)
as Blue Buffolo

Off Limits (1952)
as Russell (Uncredited)

The Bull of the West (1972)
as Ben Justin

Red Skies of Montana (1952)
as Neff (uncredited)

X-15 (1961)
as Lt. Col. Lee Brandon

All-Star Party for Frank Sinatra (1983)
as Self

Showdown at Boot Hill (1958)
as Luke Welsh

No Time at All (1958)
as Wolf Hagan

Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952)
as Phil Green, aka 'Pittsburgh Philo' (uncredited)

Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1991)
as Francis Church

Mean Justice (1971)
as Moreno

Operation Dirty Dozen (2006)
as Self

Tennessee Champ (1954)
as Sixty Jubel

Battle Zone (1952)
as Marine Private (uncredited)
All Star Party for Clint Eastwood (1986)
as Self (uncredited)

When Hell Broke Loose (1958)
as Steve Boland

Catastrophe: No Safe Place (1980)
as Self - Host

Valachi: The Violent Era (1972)
as Self





