"I guess I look like a rock quarry that someone has dynamited."
The Frence called him a monster.
The Itallians called him a brute.
His real name was Charles Buchinsky.
We called him Charles Bronson.
His death was announced today. He was 81.
From the heights of things like Once Upon a Time in the West to the depths of things like Death Wish Too Many, here's to remembering.
My favorite Bronson flicks:
The Magnificent Seven
The Great Escape
The Dirty Dozen
Villa Rides
The Mechanic
Breakheart Pass
As a kid I also enjoyed reruns of The Travels Of Jamie McPheeters, in which he played a wagon master and mentor to Kurt Russell. Unflappable cool!
I cant beleive he passed away.2003 been a f**ked up year for actors, looks liek Charles finally got his death wish.
Damn, another one of the greats gone. Here's to you, Chuck. The biggest badass of them all.
I was hoping he would kick pneumonia's ass. I'd heard a few weeks ago that he didn't even realize how big of a star he had been anymore. It's a real shame to read something like that.
RIP.
Nick
Sorry Apostic, I seen your post earlier and didn't realise that you were post Charles Bronson. He's one of the great ones.
Dirty Dozen was another good one.
I'm going to be 30 in less than a year and I can honestly say that I've never seen any films with Charles Bronson.
I never had the desire to.
He always looked like a wuss in my opinion. I mean he didn't have that tough guy look and his voice definitely wasn't that of a badass. Remember this opinion was formed many years ago so don't dog me about it...I wouldn't say that I still think this....I just never really thought about it....maybe watching a few of his films can change my mind.
I'll have to rent something with him in it now.
Post Edited (08-31-03 23:41)
Not sure how he did it either, but he made some good movies.
HOUSE OF WAX
(http://members.aol.com/kriegerg69/webgraphics/bronsonwaxpics.jpg)
MASTER OF THE WORLD
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Action Star Charles Bronson Dies at 81
12 minutes ago
By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES - Charles Bronson, the Pennsylvania coal miner who drifted into films as a villain and became a hard-faced action star, notably in the popular "Death Wish" vengeance movies, has died. He was 81.
Bronson died Saturday of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with his wife at his bedside, publicist Lori Jonas said. He had been in the hospital for weeks, Jonas said.
During the height of his career, Bronson was hugely popular in Europe; the French knew him as "le sacre monstre" (the sacred monster), the Italians as "Il Brutto" (the ugly man). In 1971, he was presented a Golden Globe as "the most popular actor in the world."
Like Clint Eastwood, whose spaghetti westerns won him stardom, Bronson had to make European films to prove his worth as a star. He left a featured-role career in Hollywood to play leads in films made in France, Italy and Spain. His blunt manner, powerful build and air of danger made him the most popular actor in those countries.
At age 50, he returned to Hollywood a star.
In a 1971 interview, he theorized on why the journey had taken him so long:
"Maybe I'm too masculine. Casting directors cast in their own, or an idealized image. Maybe I don't look like anybody's ideal."
His early life gave no indication of his later fame. He was born Charles Bunchinsky on Nov. 3, 1921 â€" not 1922, as studio biographies claimed â€" in Ehrenfeld, Pa. He was the 11th of 15 children of a coal miner and his wife, both Lithuanian immigrants.
Young Charles learned the art of survival in the tough district of Scooptown, "where you had nothing to lose because you lost it already." The Bunchinskys lived crowded in a shack, the children wearing hand-me-downs from older siblings. At the age of 6, Charles was embarrassed to attend school in his sister's dress.
Charles' father died when he was 10, and at 16 Charles followed his brothers into the mines. He was paid $1 per ton of coal and volunteered for perilous jobs because the pay was better. Like other toughs in Scooptown, he raised some hell and landed in jail for assault and robbery.
He might have stayed in the mines for the rest of his life except for World War II.
Drafted in 1943, he served with the Air Force in the Pacific, reportedly as a tail gunner on a B29. Having seen the outside world, he vowed not to return to the squalor of Scooptown.
He was attracted to acting not, he claimed, because of any artistic urge; he was impressed by the money movie stars could earn. He joined the Philadelphia Play and Players Troupe, painting scenery and acting a few minor roles.
At the Pasadena Playhouse school, Bronson improved his diction, supporting himself by selling Christmas cards and toys on street corners. Studio scouts saw him at the Playhouse and he was cast as a gob in the 1951 service comedy "You're in the Navy Now" starring Gary Cooper.
As Charles Buchinsky or Buchinski, he played supporting roles in "Red Skies of Montana," "The Marrying Kind," "Pat and Mike" (in which he fell victim to Katharine Hepburn's judo), "The House of Wax," "Jubal" and other films. In 1954 he changed his last name, fearing reaction in the McCarthy era to Russian-sounding names.
Bronson's first starring role came in 1958 with an eight-day exploitation film, "Machine Gun Kelly." He also appeared in two brief TV series, "Man with a Camera" (1958) and "The Travels of Jamie McPheeters" (1963).
His status grew with impressive performances in "The Magnificent Seven," "The Great Escape," "The Battle of the Bulge," "The Sandpiper" and "The Dirty Dozen." But real stardom eluded him, his rough-hewn face and brusque manner not fitting the Hollywood tradition for leading men.
Alain Delon (news), like many French, had admired "Machine Gun Kelly," and he invited Bronson to co-star with him in a British-French film, "Adieu, L'Ami" ("Farewell, Friend"). It made Bronson a European favorite.
Among his films abroad was a hit spaghetti western, "Once Upon a Time in the West." Finally Hollywood took notice.
Among his starring films: "The Valachi Papers," "Chato's Land," "The Mechanic," "Valdez," "The Stone Killer," "Mr. Majestyk," "Breakout," "Hard Times," "Breakout Pass," "White Buffalo," "Telefon," "Love and Bullets," "Death Hunt," "Assassination," "Messenger of Death."
The titles indicate the nature of the films: lots of action, shooting, dead bodies. They were made on medium-size budgets, but Bronson was earning $1 million a picture before it was fashionable.
His most controversial film came in 1974 with "Death Wish." As an affluent, liberal architect, Bronson's life is shattered when young thugs kill his wife and rape his daughter. He vows to rid the city of such vermin, and his executions brought cheers from crime-weary audiences.
The character's vigilantism brought widespread criticism, but "Death Wish" became one of the big moneymakers of the year. The controversy accelerated when Bernard Goetz shot youths he thought were threatening him in a New York subway.
Bronson made three more "Death Wish" films, and in 1987 he defended them:
"I think they provide satisfaction for people who are victimized by crime and look in vain for authorities to protect them. But I don't think people try to imitate that kind of thing."
Bronson could be as taciturn in interviews as he appeared on the screen. He remained aloof from the Hollywood scene, once observing, "I have lots of friends and yet I don't have any."
His first marriage was to Harriet Tendler, whom he met when both were fledgling actors in Philadelphia. They had two children before divorcing.
In 1966 Bronson fell in love with the lovely blonde British actress Jill Ireland, who happened to be married to British actor David McCallum . Bronson reportedly told McCallum bluntly: "I'm going to marry your wife."
The McCallums were divorced in 1967, and Bronson and Ireland married the following year. She co-starred in several of his films.
The Bronsons lived in a grand Bel Air mansion with seven children: two by his previous marriage, three by hers and two of their own. They also spent time in a colonial farmhouse on 260 acres in West Windsor, Vt.
Ireland lost a breast to cancer in 1984. She became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society and wrote a bestselling book, "Life Wish." She followed with "Life Lines," in which she told of her struggle to rescue her 27-year-old son, Jason McCallum Bronson, from drug addiction. He died of an overdose in 1989, and she died of cancer a year later.
Bronson is survived by his wife, Kim, six children and two grandchildren. Funeral services will be private.
Kool post kriegerg69. I forgot about MASTER OF THE WORLD and HOUSE OF WAX.
I'd only found out recently how ill he had become. I'm very glad that he is at peace now, but I am grief stricken at the way he had to leave this world. There is so much I want to say, but I just can't right now. Maybe I'll post later.
I'm probably going to have things thrown at me for this, but my favorite Bronson flick is White Buffalo.
Go kick some ass in Valhalla, Chuck. Cheers.
Brother R
Sadly, I've never seen any of Mr. Bronson's movies, but it is sad to here of his passing. I read a few weeks ago that he didn't have much time left and that he had Alzhimer's. But, the man had one hell of a life and a long career. I'll probably rent the movie "Hard Times." I read the back of the DVD the other day and it sounds pretty damn good. My hat is off to him.
<>
I really dug that movie as a little kid!
I'd like to see WHITE BUFFALO again. Seen parts of it. Only remember and white buffalo coming out of the mist or something.
I have to say that I can't pinpoint a favorite film of his because I enjoyed them all.
Thank you & rest well, you deserve it.
ASHETHECAT - I'm going to be 30 in less than a year and I can honestly say that I've never seen any films with Charles Bronson....
Well, arguably there are some very good movies he's been in where he wasn't the star so even if you can't seem him as the 'tough guy, leading man', they are very worth watching anyway.
I'm thinking:
The Dirty Dozen
The Magnificent Seven
The Great Escape
Post Edited (09-01-03 17:52)
I cannot remember a time that I wasn't a fan of Bronson. I remember being a very young kid in the late '70s-early '80s and watching (edited on TV of course) movies like Telefon, White Buffalo, The Mechanic; the list goes on and on. I remember when Assasination (a movie even my mom likes) came out in 1987, I really wanted to see it even though I was only 11 at the time. I remember when I was a kid I thought maybe he was a very quiet man, because Jill was writing these books and speaking out, while it seemed to me that he was in the background. One of the few interviews of his I read was back in 1991 after Jill's death discussing his role as the newspaper editor that answers the famous letter in an adaption of Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus. As I got older I came to really appreciate his work. I even enjoyed his made-for-cable work as well - I highly recommend Donato & Daughter (1993). Bronson was someone that I had always wanted to meet; he seemed like someone that would be interesting and that would have a lot of interesting annecdotes. From House Of Wax and Machine Gun Kelly; to The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, and The Dirty Dozen; to Death Wish, Mr. Majestyk, and Hard Times; and beyond. 95 films roles (film, tv-movie, and cable-movie), 2 regular television series roles, and 53 guest starring television roles spanning 48 years. Thank you, Mr. Bronson.
>The character's vigilantism brought widespread criticism, but "Death Wish"
>became one of the big moneymakers of the year. The controversy accelerated
>when Bernard Goetz shot youths he thought were threatening him in a New York
>subway.
>
>Bronson made three more "Death Wish" films, and in 1987 he defended them:
Actually, there are 5 Death Wish movies.
Those are probably my favorite Bronson movies followed by 10 to Midnight.
My favorite Bronson film is MR. MAJESTYK. I think the fact that the story was written by the great Elmore Leonard is one of the reasons why it is so good. Plus, it has some excellent 70s character actors in it (Al Letteiri and Paul Koslo, for example).
I'm also a big fan of THE DIRTY DOZEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE, and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. But I don't consider those to be "Bronson" films. They are films in which he appears, but he isn't the star.
Some other Bronson films that I like are:
* DEATH WISH
* 10 TO MIDNIGHT
* FROM NOON 'TIL THREE
Some bad Bronson films are:
* DEATH WISH 3
* THE VALACHI PAPERS
* ASSASSINATION
* BORDERLINE
Mediocre Bronson films include:
* BREAKOUT
* THE MECHANIC (great idea, but not executed very well)
* ST. IVES (I haven't seen it in about 15 years, but it seemed to be confusing)
* MURPHY'S LAW (would have been much better without Kathleen Wilhoite's stupid dialogue)
"Vera Cruz" and "Big House, U.S.A" And "House of Wax," where he was Vincent Price's mute assistant, and whose head was put to such good use in the film.