Biography
This page uses content from the James Coburn biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
James Coburn (August 31, 1928, Laurel, Nebraska – November 18, 2002) was an Oscar-winning American movie actor.
Coburn became famous as the "tough guy" in a variety of films, first mostly with his friends Robert Vaughn and Charles Bronson (whom he co-starred with 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. 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.
He died suddenly on November 18, 2002 from a heart attack, at the age of 74.
Filmography
- Ride Lonesome (1959)
- Face of a Fugitive (1959)
- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
- The Murder Men (1961)
- Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
- The Great Escape (1963)
- Charade (1963)
- The Man from Galveston (1963)
- Kings of the Sun (1963) (narrator)
- Action on the Beach (1964) (short subject)
- The Americanization of Emily (1964)
- Major Dundee (1965)
- A High Wind in Jamaica (1965)
- The Loved One (1965)
- Our Man Flint (1966)
- What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
- Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966)
- In Like Flint (1967)
- Waterhole #3 (1967)
- The President's Analyst (1967)
- Duffy (1968)
- Candy (1968)
- Hard Contract (1969)
- Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970)
- A Fistful of Dynamite (1971)
- The Carey Treatment (1972)
- The Honkers (1972)
- A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1972)
- The Life and Legend of Bruce Lee (1973) (documentary)
- Harry in Your Pocket (1973)
- Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
- The Last of Sheila (1973)
- The Internecine Project (1974)
- Bite the Bullet (1975)
- Hard Times (1975)
- Sky Riders (1976)
- The Last Hard Men (1976)
- Midway (1976)
- White Rock (1977) (documentary) (narrator)
- Bruce Lee, the Legend (1977) (documentary)
- Cross of Iron (1977)
- Speed Fever (1978) (documentary)
- California Suite (1978) (Cameo)
- Firepower (1979)
- The Muppet Movie (1979) (Cameo)
- Goldengirl (1979)
- The Baltimore Bullet (1980)
- Loving Couples (1980)
- Mr. Patman (1980)
- High Risk (1981)
- Looker (1981)
- Martin's Day (1984)
- Death of a Soldier (1986)
- Walking After Midnight (1988) (documentary)
- Call from Space (1989) (short subject)
- Train to Heaven (1990)
- Young Guns II (1990)
- Hudson Hawk (1991)
- The Player (1992) (Cameo)
- Deadfall (1993)
- Curse of the Dragon (1993) (documentary)
- Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
- Maverick (1994)
- The Set Up (1995)
- Skeletons (1996)
- Eraser (1996)
- The Nutty Professor (1996)
- Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right (1996) (documentary)
- Keys to Tulsa (1997)
- The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1997)
- Affliction (1997)
- Payback (1999)
- The Good Doctor (2000) (short subject)
- Intrepid (2000)
- Proximity (2001)
- Texas Rangers (2001) (narrator)
- Yellow Bird (2001)
- The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
- Monsters, Inc. (2001) (voice)
- Kurosawa (2001) (documentary)
- Snow Dogs (2002)
- American Gun (2002)
Television Work
- The Rifleman (1958) Episode entitled Young Englishman
- Tales of Wells Fargo (1958) Episode entitled Butch Cassidy
- Trackdown (1959) Episode entitled Hard Lines
- Bat Masterson (1959) Episode entitled The Black Pearls
- Wanted: Dead or Alive (1959) Episode entitled Reunion For Revenge
- Wanted: Dead or Alive (1959) Episode entitled The Kovack Affair
- Bronco (1959) Episode entitled Payroll of the Dead
- Have Gun Will Travel (1959) Episode entitled One Came Back
- Klondike (1960-1961)
- Wanted: Dead or Alive (1960) Episode entitled The Trial
- Peter Gunn (1960) Episode entitled The Murder Clause
- Bronco (1960) Episode entitled Shadow of Jesse James
- Lawman (1960) Episode entitled The Catcher
- Lawman (1960) Episode entitled The Showdown
- The Deputy (1960) Episode entitled The Truly Yours
- Have Gun Will Travel (1960) Episode entitled The Gladiators
- Acapulco (1961) (canceled after 8 episodes)'
- Bat Masterson (1961) Episode entitled Six Feet of Gold
- Laramie (1961) Episode entitled The Mark of the Maneaters
- Cheyenne (1961) Episode entitled Trouble Street
- Bonanza (1961) Episode entitled The Fugitive
- The Rifleman (1961) Episode entitled The High Country
- Rawhide (1962) Episode entitled The Hostage Child
- Tales of Wells Fargo (1962) Episode entitled The Wayfarers
- Combat! (1963) Episode entitled Masquerade
- The Twilight Zone (1963) Episode entitled The Old Man In the Cave
- The Greatest Show On Earth (1963) Episode entitled Uncaged
- Stoney Burke (1963) Episode entitled The Test
- Route 66 (1964) Episode entitled Kiss the Monster, Make Him Sleep
- The Defenders (1964) Episode entitled The Man Who Saved His Country
- Bracken's World (1970) Episode entitled Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon
- The Dain Curse (1978) (miniseries)
- Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls (1981)
- Darkroom (1981-1982)
- Malibu (1983)
- Draw! (1984)
- Faerie Tale Theatre (1984) Episode entitled Pinocchio
- Sins of the Father (1985)
- The Edge and Beyond (1988-1990) (narrator)
- The Infinite Voyage (host from 1990-1991)
- Captain Planet and the Planeteers (voice-over cast member from 1990-1993)
- Silverfox (1991) (pilot)
- Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992)
- Murder She Wrote (1992) Episode entitled Day of the Dead
- National Lampoon's True Facts (1992)
- The Fifth Corner (1992) (canceled after 6 episodes)
- Christmas Reunion (1993)
- The Hit List (1993)
- Greyhounds (1994) (pilot)
- The Avenging Angel (1995)
- Picket Fences (1995) Episode entitled Upbringings
- Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder (1995)
- The Cherokee Kid (1996)
- The Second Civil War (1997)
- Profiler (1997) Episode entitled Shadow of Angels
- Mr. Murder (1998)
- Noah's Ark (1999)
- Vengeance Unlimited (1999) Episode entitled Judgment
- Shake, Rattle & Roll: An American Love Story (1999)
- Missing Pieces (2000)
- Walter and Henry (2001)
- Arli$$ (2002) Episode entitled The Immortal
External links
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
IGN RSS Feeds