American Powerviolence band from DeKalb, Illinois, active between 1994-1997. Although they were often associated with the straight edge scene, only two of the members actually abstained from drug and alcohol use.
Shared a room with Jack Klugman in a New York boarding house in the 1940s.
He had two children with his first wife, Tony and Suzanne. He then married Jill Ireland , who had two sons with her first husband, David McCallum. One adopted son (Jason) died of an accidental drug overdose in 1989. He and Ireland had a daughter named Zuleika.
Perhaps the biggest late bloomer in Hollywood history, he did not get the marquee treatment he deserved until his late 40s. He was already 53 when Death Wish premiered.
The name Bronson is said to be taken from the "Bronson Gate" at Paramount Studios, at the north end of Bronson Avenue.
Spoofed in an episode of "The Simpsons" in which the Simpson family mistakenly travels to Bronson, Missouri, instead of Branson. In Bronson, such lines of dialogue as these are spoken by its citizens: "No dice.", "This aint ovah."
Changed his stage name in the early 1950s in the midst of the McCarthy "Red Scare" at the suggestion of his agent, who was fearful that his last name (Buchinsky) would damage his career.
Dick Van Dyke received a lemon cake every Christmas from Bronson, who lived nearby in Malibu, for 16 years.
In 1949 he moved to California, where he signed up for acting lessons at the Pasadena Playhouse
In 1954 on the Mexican set of Vera Cruz , he and fellow cast member Ernest Borgnine --who were playing American gunfighters involved in the Mexican fight against the French--had some spare time on their hands and decided to go to a nearby town for cigarettes. They saddled up in costume, sidearms and all, and began riding to town. On the way they were spotted by a truck full of Mexican "federales"--national police--who mistook them for bandits and held them at gunpoint until their identities could be verified.
Was drafted into the army in 1943 and assigned to the Air Corps. At first he was a truck driver, but was later trained as a bomber tail gunner and assigned to a B-29. He flew 25 missions and received, among other decorations, a Purple Heart for wounds incurred in battle.
"I am not a Casper Milquetoast," Bronson told The Washington Post in 1985, recalling the time he was visiting Rome and felt someone stick a gun in his side. "A guy in broken English asked me for money. I said, You give ME money. He turned around and walked away."
John Huston once summed him up as "a grenade with the pin pulled".
Was by all accounts a very quiet and introspective collaborator, often sitting in a corner for much of a shoot and listening to a directors instructions and not saying a word until cameras were rolling. Don Siegel , who directed him in Telefon , and Tom Gries , who directed him in Breakheart Pass , both commented on how surprised they were to discover how thoroughly and completely prepared Bronson was when he came to work, as it didnt seem to fit his "laid-back", taciturn image.
He grew privately frustrated by the declining quality and range of roles over his career, being pigeonholed as a violent vigilante after the commercial success of Death Wish . His own favorite of his "vigilante" movies was Cera una volta il West (aka Once Upon a Time in the West).
In 1963 Sergio Leone asked him to star in his western Per un pugno di dollari (A Fistful of Dollars). Bronson turned the role down, so Leone asked Clint Eastwood.
His father died when he was 10, and at 16 he followed his brothers into the mines to support the family. He was paid $1 per ton of coal and volunteered for perilous jobs because the pay was better.
Responding to critics complaints, he said: "We dont make movies for critics, since they dont pay to see them anyhow."
Called West Windsor, Vermont, his home for more than three decades (Bronson Farm), and was buried in nearby Brownsville Cemetery, near the foot of Mt. Ascutney.
Appeared with Steve McQueen and James Coburn in two films, both of which were directed by John Sturges : The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape .
With Bronsons death on August 30, 2003, Robert Vaughn became the last surviving actor to have played one of the title characters in The Magnificent Seven . Vaughn died on November 11, 2016 at the age of 83.
His stepson, Jason McCallum Bronson, the adoptive son of David McCallum and Jill Ireland , died of an accidental drug overdose in 1989.
Was introduced to his second wife, Jill Ireland , by her then-husband David McCallum during the filming of The Great Escape .
Spoke fluent Russian, Lithuanian and Greek.
Owned homes in Europe, including Lithuania and Greece.
Had hip replacement surgery in August 1998.
The voice of the sarcastic store clerk in "The Simpsons" is based on him.
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.
The term "Charles Bronson" is frequently uttered in Reservoir Dogs in reference to a hard-man.
He was very active in raising funds for the John Wayne Cancer Institute.
Advertised Mandom hair oil.
Capable of essaying a variety of types, from Russian to American Indian, from homicidal villain to tight-lipped hero, Bronson suddenly became a star at the age of 53. Following the success of Death Wish he repeated, with little variation, his role as a vengeful urban vigilante.
In the latter part of his career, he worked predominantly with The Guns of Navarone director J. Lee Thompson. They made nine films together in just over a decade between 1977 and 1989: 10 to Midnight , Caboblanco , Death Wish 4: The Crackdown , The Evil That Men Do , Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects , Messenger of Death , Murphys Law , St. Ives and The White Buffalo .
His parents were from Lithuania, where his father was a coal miner, and he grew up in a western Pennsylvania coal-mining town. Like all the men in his family he worked in the mines, but hated it and used a variety of means to escape it (including the military and, eventually, acting). His expertise with tunneling and working underground turned out to be quite helpful when making The Great Escape in the role of "Tunnel King" Velinski. However, even though the "tunnel" he was working in was a cutaway set, he could only stay in it for a few minutes at a time before he had to get up and leave. As a boy working in the mines, he was caught in a cave-in and almost died before he was finally rescued. Ever since that time he had had a deathly fear of enclosed spaces.
Made six films with director Michael Winner : Chatos Land , The Mechanic , The Stone Killer , Death Wish , Death Wish II and Death Wish 3 .
In the 90s a lady whom hed never met left him her estate worth well over a million dollars. She was a big fan of his. Her family sued and he ended up settling with them out of court.
Diagnosed with Alzheimers disease in 2000 after suffering ill health for the previous two years.
Retired from acting after undergoing hip replacement surgery in 1998.
Japanese manga artist Buronson , famed for his "Fist of the Northstar" manga, took the name in honor of Bronson (his real name is Yoshiyuki Okamura) and sports a similar mustache.
He and wife Jill Ireland adopted Katrina Holden Bronson after her mother Hilary Holden died in 1983.
Growing up without much money for newer clothes, as a boy he often wore his older sisters hand-me-downs.
He was considered for the role of Snake Plissken in Escape from New York , but director John Carpenter felt Bronson was too old and too tough, and cast Kurt Russell instead.
Tested and read for Christopher Reeve s role in Superman .
He was considered for Gene Hackman s Oscar-winning role in The French Connection .
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 48-50. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.
Tennessee Williams wanted him to play the general in his play "The Red Devil Battery Sign" in 1975, but he wasnt interested.
Bill Murray said he based his character in Lost in Translation on Bronson.
Stepfather of Valentine McCallum.
Left an estate worth $48 million including an $80million house in Malibu as well as a $4.8-million beach house and a ranch in Vermont.
Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, December 10, 1980. Bronson and wife Jill Ireland attended the ceremony.
Started acting in his mid-20s.
He was seriously considered for the role of Gen. Stanislaw Sosabowski in A Bridge Too Far , which was directed by his The Great Escape co-star Richard Attenborough. However, Gene Hackman was eventually cast.
Was one of the first big stars to notice the emerging "new media" that was arriving--video and laserdisc--and had a clause put in all his contracts that sales from these new formats should be included in his royalties.
Once told Roger Ebert that getting drafted into World War II was one of the best things that happened to him. For the first time in his life he was well fed and well dressed, and it afforded him the opportunity to improve his English.
Robert Mitchum did not get along with Bronson when they filmed Villa Rides . He later said he could not understand why Bronson was famous.
Although born in Pennsylvania, Bronson grew up speaking Russian and Lithuanian as his first language (his father was an immigrant, and his mother was the daughter of immigrants). He did not become truly fluent in English until he served in the military during World War II.
Was a successful artist and painter. Bronson once had an "anonymous" showing of his artwork at a gallery in California (under his birth name of Buchinsky), and every piece of art sold within two weeks.
Was once considered to star in a film to be directed by Sam Peckinpah (in the latter part of his career) but he refused. His reason was "I aint working with no drunk".
Nickname graniteface.
His first wife was Jewish.
A heavy smoker for most of his life, he suffered from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in later years.
Was often angry about his short height.
When Bronson first signed with his long time agent Paul Kohner, he told him if he made him a star, hed buy him a Rolls Royce. True to his word, when Bronson made it big, he delivered a brand new Rolls Royce to the Kohner house.
According to director Michael Winner , Bronson had a considerable amount of plastic surgery in the 1980s.
I guess I look like a rock quarry that someone has dynamited.
I am not a fan of myself.
That was what I was for.
[explaining his enduring popularity] Audiences like to see the bad guys,get their comeuppance.
I had a very bad experience on the plane in from California yesterday.
One of the ironies is that I made my breakthrough in movies shot in,Europe that the Japanese thought were American movies and that the,Americans thought were foreign.
His whole approach to life is gentle, and he has raised his daughter,that way. Now he has second thoughts, and he becomes a killer.
