Charles Bronson

:For the Welsh prisoner, see Charles Bronson (prisoner). For the hardcore punk band, see Charles Bronson (band). Also, another Charles Bronson took a home movie at the JFK assassination showing the south façade of the TSBD.http://www.fermentmagazine.org/jfk2.htmlhttp://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/03/MS/2-vr.htmlhttp://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/part10.htm

Acting career

After the war, he decided to pursue the profession of acting, not from any love of the subject, but rather because he was impressed with the amount of money that he could potentially make in the business.

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During the McCarthy hearings he changed his last name to Bronson as Slavic names were suspect. One of his earliest screen appearances under his new name was as Vincent Price's henchman in 1953 horror classic House of Wax.

Related Topics:
McCarthy hearings - Slavic - Vincent Price - 1953 - House of Wax

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In 1961 Bronson made an appearance with Elizabeth Montgomery in The Twilight Zone, in the episode "Two."

Related Topics:
1961 - Elizabeth Montgomery - The Twilight Zone - Two

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Although he began his career in the United States, Bronson first made a serious name for himself acting in European films.

Related Topics:
United States - European

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He became quite famous on that continent, and was known by two nicknames: The Italians called him "Il Brutto" ("The Ugly") and to the French he was known as "le monstre sacré," the "sacred monster."

Related Topics:
Italians - French

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Even though he was not yet a headliner in America, his overseas fame earned him a 1971 Golden Globe as the "Most Popular Actor in the World."

Related Topics:
1971 - Golden Globe

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That same year, he wondered if he was "too masculine" to ever become a star in the US.

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Bronson's most famous films include The Great Escape, (1963) in which he played Danny Velinski, a Polish prisoner of war nicknamed "The Tunnel King", and The Dirty Dozen, (1967) in which he played an Army death row convict conscripted into a World War II suicide mission.

Related Topics:
Film - The Great Escape - 1963 - Polish - Prisoner of war - The Dirty Dozen - 1967 - Death row - World War II

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In the westerns The Magnificent Seven (1960) and the Sergio Leone epic Once Upon a Time in the West, (1968) he played heroic gunfighters, taking up the cause of the defenseless. Sergio Leone once called him "the greatest actor I ever worked with." In Hard Times (1975), he played a street fighter making his living in illegal boxing matches in Louisiana.

Related Topics:
The Magnificent Seven - 1960 - Sergio Leone - Once Upon a Time in the West - 1968 - Hard Times - 1975 - Boxing - Louisiana

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He is also remembered for Death Wish (1974) which spawned several sequels (also starring Bronson), In Death Wish he played a Paul Kersey, a prosperous liberal New York architect until his wife was murdered and daughter raped.

Related Topics:
Death Wish - 1974 - Liberal - New York - Architect - Rape

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He became a crime-fighting vigilante by night, a highly controversial role, as his executions were cheered by crime-weary audiences.

Related Topics:
Vigilante - Crime

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After the famous 1984 case of Bernhard Goetz, the actor recommended that people not imitate his character.

Related Topics:
1984 - Bernhard Goetz

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Bronson was married to actress Jill Ireland from 1968 until her death in 1990. She was his second wife. He met her when she was still married to actor David McCallum. At the time, Bronson (who shared the screen with McCallum in The Great Escape) bluntly told McCallum: "I'm going to marry your wife." Two years later, he made good on his boast and married Jill.

Related Topics:
Jill Ireland - 1968 - 1990 - David McCallum - The Great Escape

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Bronson died of pneumonia while suffering from Alzheimer's disease at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, California.

Related Topics:
Pneumonia - Alzheimer's disease - Los Angeles, California

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At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Kim, four children, two stepchildren and two grandchildren.

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A stepson, Jason McCallum Bronson, preceded him in death after succumbing to a drug overdose in 1989. With his death, Robert Vaughn is the only survivor of the seven main stars of The Magnificent Seven.

Related Topics:
Jason McCallum Bronson - Drug overdose - 1989 - Robert Vaughn - The Magnificent Seven

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