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James Coburn
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James Coburn (August 31, 1928, Laurel, Nebraska – November 18, 2002) was an Oscar-winning American actor.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Career
- 1.2 Death
- 1.3 Personal life
- 2 Filmography
- 3 Television work
- 4 External links
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Biography
Career
Coburn became famous as the "tough guy" in a variety of films, first mostly with his friends Robert Vaughn and Charles Bronson (with whom he co-starred in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape).
In
1966, Coburn finally became a bona-fide star with the release of
Our Man Flint, a
James Bond spoof released by
20th Century Fox as competition. After a sequel, Coburn decided to branch off into the independent film world. Due to his interests in karate (which he discovered by training with
Bruce Lee),
Buddhism, and gong-playing, the remainder of the decade (which included less-than-memorable films) proved uneventful to Coburn.
In
1973, however, Coburn teamed up with radical director
Sam Peckinpah for the film
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (they had first worked together in
1965 on
Major Dundee). But an MGM producer tried to sabotage the production causing the film to be drastically edited when it opened. Both Peckinpah and Coburn were disappointed and delved into
Cross of Iron, a war epic which also flopped. The two still remained good friends until the legendary director's death in
1984 of a stroke.
Due to severe rheumatoid arthritis, he appeared in very few films during the 1980s and spent time writing songs with his partner at that time, British singer-songwriter Lynsey De Paul. He claimed to have healed himself with pills containing a sulfur-containing compound, and returned to screen in the 1990s.
He then appeared in films such as Young Guns II (1990), Sister Act 2 (1993), The Nutty Professor (1996), Maverick (1994), and Payback (1999), mostly in small but memorable roles. For his appearance as the abusive father of protagonist Nick Nolte in Affliction he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998.
Death
He died suddenly on November 18, 2002 at the age of 74, from a cardiac arrest, while listening to the radio. He was survived by his wife Paula Murad, a son, and a stepdaughter. Paula Murad died of cancer on July 30, 2004, at the age of 49.
Personal life
He is also the grandson of also Oscar-winning character actor
Charles Coburn.
Filmography
Television work
