Charles Bronson Biography

The son of a Lithuanian coal miner, American actor Charles Bronson (born Buchinski) was expected to follow his father into the industry.

However, he served abroad during World War II, and returned determined to pursue a career in the arts. He began working backstage for a Philadelphia theatre company and, after a few small roles, fell in love with acting.

After a few scattered acting jobs in New York, Bronson enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse. By 1951, he was playing bit parts in films such as ‘You're in the Navy Now’ and ‘The Clown’. His first role of importance was as Igor in ‘House of Wax’.

He was billed as Charles Bronson for the first time in ‘Drum Beat’, although he was still often stereotyped as a hoodlum or a convict. His first starring role was in 1958's ‘Gang War’, but he first achieved major recognition for ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ the same year.

Bronson achieved his first fan-following with the TV series, ‘Man With a Camera’, and appeared as one of 'The Magnificent Seven' in 1960. However, his next few roles tend tended to fit the mould of ‘supporting villain’ and, in 1968, he moved to Europe, hoping to find bigger and better opportunities.

After success in such films as ‘Guns for San Sebastian’, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, and ‘Cold Sweat’, Bronson returned to Hollywood, a full-fledged star at last. His most successful films of the 1970s were ‘Death Wish’ and its sequels, a series of brutal "vigilante" pictures.

In many of his 1970s films, Bronson co-starred with his second wife, Jill Ireland. Unfortunately she lost her fight against cancer in 1990.

He appeared in ‘The Indian Runner’ in 1991 and ‘Death Wish 5: The Face of Death’ in 1994, but has since done mostly television work.

He died from pneumonia at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on 30 August 2003.