-- Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania on November 3, 1921. He was the 11th of 15 children and was of Lithuanian ancestry. His father, born Valteris Bucinskis, immigrated to the U.S. and changed his name to Walter Buchinsky as it sounded more American. He settled in Pennsylvania, where he met Mary Valinsky, who was also of Lithuanian heritage. The two married and settled in the coal mining town of Tamaqua.
When Bronson was just ten years old, his father died unexpectedly. It couldn't have come at a worse time, as America was already in the throes of the Great Depression. So when he turned 16, he put school on the back burner and joined his brothers in the mines, earning $1 for every ton of coal he produced. He stuck with it until 1943, when he was drafted into the Army and assigned to the Air Corps. He served as a tail gunner aboard a B-29 bomber and flew 25 missions, earning the Purple Heart.
After the war, Bronson joined a theatrical group in Philadelphia and worked a series of odd jobs. He made his way to New York City, intent on making it on the Broadway stage. But by 1950, Hollywood was calling, so Bronson headed west and started finding small roles.
Now I've been referring to him as Bronson herein, but he didn't take that name until 1954 at the height of the Red Scare and the McCarthy hearings. On advice of his agent, he changed his named from Charles Buchinsky to something that sounded a little more American, just as his father had done years earlier. He took the name Bronson from the Bronson Gate at Paramount Studios.
New name in tow, Bronson headlined a detective series on ABC called Man With a Camera. He moved from there to a series of low-budget films, including Machine Gun Kelly (1958) and Showdown at Boot Hill (1959). He was still taking roles on television though, most memorably on The Twilight Zone ("Two," with Elizabeth Montgomery) and a recurring role on Have Gun - Will Travel.
Bronson's first major role, the one would make him a household name, was in the 1960 film The Magnificent Seven. He was paid $50,000 for the role and according to co-star Eli Wallach, Bronson was a loner who kept to himself throughout production. But director John Sturges was impressed enough to cast Bronson in his next blockbuster The Great Escape (1963). For this role, Bronson had to conquer his claustrophobia, developed from his childhood years spent in the mines, to play a Polish prisoner of war tunneling his way out.
His next major role was in the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen. Although the film was a box office success, Bronson was only third billed. Seeking more starring roles, he left for Europe, where he worked regularly for the next five years, starring in such features as Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) and Rider on the Rain (1970). Note: If you click on only one link in this whole blog post, make it Rider on the Rain. It does not disappoint.
It was during this period that he married British actress Jill Ireland. The two were introduced by their mutual friend David McCallum, who coincidentally, was Ireland's husband at the time. Bronson famously told McCallum "I'm going to marry your wife." I like a man who keeps his word.
Bronson returned to the U.S. in 1972. It was a smart move, as he was cast in the role that would define his career, that of Paul Kersey in Death Wish (1974). The story sees Bronson as a successful New York City architect who turns into a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is assaulted. The movie was so successful that it spawned four sequels, all of diminishing quality. But you gotta love the title Death Wish 4: The Crackdown.
In 1990, Ireland lost her battle with cancer. By then, she and Bronson were living in Vermont, and he had her interred at Brownsville Cemetery in West Windsor. He continued acting throughout the 1990s in a series of films that you've probably never heard of.
Then in 1998, Bronson had hip replacement surgery. It marked the end of his career as he was no longer able to perform the action sequences that had defined him. He officially retired from acting and began to focus on his health. But his years of smoking finally caught up with him, and he died of lung cancer on August 30, 2003. He was 81 years old.
He was buried with Jill at Brownsville Cemetery. It's a very elaborate and expensive marker. Despite that, only his name appears on it. Though unconfirmed, I suspect the children from his first marriage didn't care much for Jill.
Rest in peace.
Trivia
- Bronson's life was chronicled in the biography American Legends: The Life of Charles Bronson by the Charles River Editors. Pick up a copy from Amazon.
- The poem on Bronson's marker was written by poet Mary Elizabeth Frye in 1932. It wouldn't gain popularity until 1979, when it was used in an NBC movie of the week called Better Late Than Never. Neither Bronson nor Ireland appeared in the film.
- As a young actor in the 1940s, Bronson shared a New York City boarding house with Jack Klugman, who was also yet to be discovered. I wonder which one was the slob.
- Bronson was considered for but not offered the lead role in Superman (1978), Escape From New York (1981), Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Die Hard (1988). He was offered the role of the Man With No Name in A Fistful of Dollars (1964) but passed, believing it to be a bad script. The role went to Clint Eastwood, and the film was a box office success spawning two sequels. He was also offered the role of Adam Sandler's father in Billy Madison (1995) but turned it down. The role went to Darren McGavin.
- Bronson had a lot of fans, one of whom took it a little too seriously. When she passed away in the 1990s, she left her estate (worth over $1 million) to the actor, whom she had never even met. Her family sued Bronson and the two parties settled out of court.
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