"Someday I'd like a part where I can lean my elbow against a mantle piece and have a cocktail." – Charles Bronson

Sorry Charlie, but somehow I just can’t picture it.

Born Charles Buchinsky in 1921 and product of the coal mines of Pennsylvania. He was the only one of his parents 15 kids that managed to graduate from high school. Looking to escape a life in the mines, he joined the armed forces and served time during World War II as a tail gunner. Once he got out of the service he used the G. I. Bill to study acting. His image of the “tough guy” was about to be born…

Although Bronson has made many a clunker during his long career, he has also made some pretty good films, most notably, The Magnificent Seven where he held his own with such powerhouses as Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner and James Coburn, Once Upon a Time in the West, directed by Sergio Leone and my personal favorite, The Great Escape where he played a claustrophobic tunnel digger.

Update: Charles Bronson died from pneumonia on August 30, 2003 at the age of 81.

(Jeez, a quick review of his movie titles even sounds tough.)

Filmography

Family of Cops III (1999)
Breach of Faith: Family of Cops II (1997)
Family of Cops (1995)
100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994)
Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994)
Donato and Daughter (1993)
The Sea Wolf, (1993)
Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1991)
The Indian Runner, (1991)
Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989)
Messenger of Death (1988)
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
Assassination (1987)
Murphy's Law (1986)
Act of Vengeance (1986)
Death Wish 3 (1985)
The Evil That Men Do (1984)
10 to Midnight (1983)
Death Wish II (1982)
Death Hunt (1981)
Borderline (1980)
Caboblanco (1980)
Love and Bullets (1979)
Telefon (1977)
The White Buffalo (1977)
Raid on Entebbe (1977)
From Noon Till Three (1976)
St. Ives (1976)
Breakheart Pass (1975)
Hard Times (1975)
Breakout (1975)
Death Wish (1974)
Mr. Majestyk (1974)
Valdez, il mezzosangue (1973)
The Stone Killer (1973)
The Mechanic(1972)
The Valachi Papers(1972)
The Bull of the West(1971)
Chato's Land (1971)
Quelqu'un derrière la porte (1971)
Soleil rouge (1971)
Città violenta (1970)
De la part des copains (1970)
You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
Le Passager de la pluie (1969)
Twinky (1969)
C'era una volta il West (1969)
San Sebastian 1746 in 1968 (1968)
Villa Rides (1968)
Adieu l'ami (1968)
La Bataille de San Sebastian, La (1968)
The Meanest Men in the West (1967)
Operation Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
This Property Is Condemned (1966)
The Big Sur (1965) (uncredited)
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
The Sandpiper (1965)
Guns of Diablo (1964)
4 for Texas (1963)
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963)
The Great Escape (1963)
"Empire" (1962)
This Rugged Land (1962)
Kid Galahad (1962)
A Thunder of Drums (1961)
X-15 (1961)
Master of the World (1961)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Never So Few (1959)
"Man with a Camera" (1958)
Gang War (1958)
Machine-Gun Kelly (1958)
When Hell Broke Loose (1958)
Ten North Frederick (1958)
Showdown at Boot Hill (1958)
Run of the Arrow (1957)
Jubal (1956)
Target Zero (1955)
Big House, U.S.A. (1955)
Apache (1954)
Riding Shotgun (1954)
Tennessee Champ (1954)
Drum Beat (1954/I)
Vera Cruz (1954)
Crime Wave (1954)
Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
House of Wax (1953)
Torpedo Alley (1953)
Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952)
The Clown (1952)
Red Skies of Montana (1952)
Battle Zone (1952)
The Marrying Kind(1952)
Diplomatic Courier (1952)
Pat and Mike (1952)
My Six Convicts (1952)
The Mob (1951)
The People Against O'Hara http://www.celebritystorm.com/actors/pics/CharlesBrons