Birthday: Nov 3, 1921

Birthplace: Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, USA

Biography: Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor of tough guy roles. In most of his roles he starred as a brutal police detective, a western gunfighter, vigilante, boxer or a Mafia hitman. After the war, he decided to pursue 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. Bronson was roommates with Jack Klugman, another starving actor... ... (read more...) at the time. He changed his surname to Bronson, taking his inspiration from the Bronson Gate at Paramount Studios, situated on the corner of Melrose Ave. and Bronson St. One of his earliest screen appearances under his new name was as Vincent Price's henchman in the 1953 horror classic House of Wax. Bronson made several appearances on television in the 1950s and 1960s, including three leading roles on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the episodes "And So Died Riabouchinska" (1956), "There Was an Old Woman" (1956), and "The Woman Who Wanted to Live" (1962); he also starred alongside Elizabeth Montgomery in The Twilight Zone episode "Two" (1961). From 1958 to 1960, Bronson starred in the ABC detective series Man With A Camera. Bronson portrayed 'Mike Kovac', a former combat photographer, free-lancing in New York City. Frequently, Bronson's character was involved in assignments for the Police Department, which commonly put Bronson's character in danger. Also on ABC, Bronson gained attention in 1963 in the role of Linc, the stubborn wagonmaster in the TV western The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, which also starred twelve-year-old Kurt Russell. Although he began his career in the United States, Bronson first made a serious name for himself acting in European films. He became quite famous on that continent, and was known by two nicknames: The Italians called him "Il Brutto" ("The Ugly One") and to the French he was known as "le sacré monstre," (litterally "the sacred monster", but more accurately "what a monster!" or "a monster among monsters"). 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." That same year, he wondered if he was "too masculine" to ever become a star in the United States. Bronson's most famous films include The Great Escape (1963), in which he played Danny Velinski, a 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. 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." Leone had wanted Bronson for all three of what became known as the "Man with No Name" trilogy, but Bronson turned him down each time. In Hard Times (1975), he played a street fighter making his living in illegal boxing matches in Louisiana. He is also remembered for Death Wish (1974) which spawned several sequels (also starring Bronson), In Death Wish he played Paul Kersey, a successful New York architect, a liberal until his wife (played by Hope Lange) was murdered and his daughter raped. Kersey became a crime-fighting vigilante by night, a highly controversial role, as his executions were cheered by crime-weary audiences. After the famous 1984 case of Bernhard Goetz, the actor recommended that people not imitate his character. During the 1980s, Bronson made numerous films with smaller production companies, most notably Cannon Films. Ultra-violent films such as The Evil That Men Do and 10 To Midnight were blasted by critics but provided Bronson with good paying work throughout the 80s. Bronson's last starring role in a theatrically released film was 1989's Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, a particularly hard-boiled police melodrama pitting a bigoted cop against the sadistic leader of a child prostitution ring. Bronson was married to British actress Jill Ireland from 1968 until her death from breast cancer at age 54 in 1990. She was his second wife. He met her when she was still married to British actor David McCallum. At the time, Bronson (who shared the screen with McCallum in The Great Escape) reportedly told McCallum: "I'm going to marry your wife." Two years later, Bronson indeed married Jill, and they remained together until her death in 1990. On August 30, 2003 Bronson died of pneumonia while suffering from Alzheimer's disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, aged 81. He had been in poor health since undergoing hip replacement surgery in August 1998. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Kim, three children, two stepchildren and two grandchildren. A third stepson, Jason David McCallum (the adopted son of David McCallum and Jill Ireland), preceded him in death after succumbing to a drug overdose in 1985.