Charles Bronson Popular Books

Charles Bronson Biography & Facts

Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains. Bronson's father, a miner, died when Bronson was young. Bronson himself worked in the mines as well until joining the United States Army Air Forces in 1943 to fight in World War II. After his service, he joined a theatrical troupe and studied acting. During the 1950s, he played various supporting roles in motion pictures and television, including anthology drama TV series in which he would appear as the main character. Near the end of the decade, he had his first cinematic leading role in Machine-Gun Kelly (1958). Bronson had sizeable co-starring roles in The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), This Property Is Condemned (1966), and The Dirty Dozen (1967). On television, Bronson was nominated for an Emmy Award for his supporting role in an episode of General Electric Theater, and performed in many major television shows. Eventually, actor Alain Delon (who was a fan of Bronson) hired him to co-star with him in the French film Adieu l'ami (1968). That year, he played one of the leads in the Italian spaghetti western, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Bronson continued playing leads in various action, western, and war films made in Europe, including Rider on the Rain (1970), which won Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. During this time Bronson was the most popular American actor in Europe. Eventually, he returned to the United States to make more films, working with director Michael Winner. Their first collaborations included Chato's Land (1972), The Mechanic (1972) and The Stone Killer (1973). At this point, he became the world's number one box office star, commanding $1 million per film. In 1974, Bronson starred in the controversial film Death Wish (also directed by Winner), about an architect-turned-vigilante, a role that typified the rest of his career. Most critics initially panned the film as exploitative, but the movie was a major box-office success and spawned four sequels. Until his retirement in the late 1990s and death in 2003, Bronson played almost exclusively lead roles in action-oriented films, in films such as Mr. Majestyk (1974), Hard Times (1975), St. Ives,(1976), The White Buffalo (1977), Telefon (1977), and Assassination (1989). During this time he would often collaborate with director J. Lee Thompson. He made a number of non-action television films in which he would act against type. His last significant appearance in cinema was a supporting role in The Indian Runner (1991), a dramatic film for which his performance received good reviews. Early life and war service Bronson was born November 3, 1921, in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, a coal mining region in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains, north of Johnstown. He was the 11th of 15 children born into a Roman Catholic family of Lithuanian heritage. His father, Walter Buchinsky (born: Valteris P. Bučinskis), was a Lipka Tatar from Druskininkai in southern Lithuania. Bronson's mother, Mary (née Valinsky), whose parents were from Lithuania, was born in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania's Coal Region.Bronson did not speak any English at home during his childhood in Pennsylvania, like many children he grew up with. He once recounted that even as a soldier, his accent was strong enough to make his comrades think he was a foreigner. Besides English, he could speak Lithuanian, Russian and Greek.In a 1973 interview, Bronson remarked that he did not know his father very well, and was not sure if he loved or hated him, adding that all he could remember about him was that whenever his mother announced that his father was coming home, the children would hide. In 1933, Bronson's father died and he went to work in the coal mines, first in the mining office and then in the mine. He later said he earned one dollar for each ton of coal that he mined. In another interview, he said that he had to work double shifts to earn $1 a week. Bronson later recounted that he and his brother engaged in dangerous work removing "stumps" between the mines, and that cave-ins were common.The family suffered extreme poverty during the Great Depression, and Bronson recalled going hungry many times. His mother could not afford milk for his younger sister, so she was fed warm tea instead. His family was so poor that he once had to wear his sister's dress to school for lack of clothing. Bronson was the first member of his family to graduate from high school.Bronson worked in the mines, until enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces in 1943 during World War II. He served in the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, and in 1945 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress aerial gunner with the Guam-based 61st Bombardment Squadron within the 39th Bombardment Group, which conducted combat missions against the Japanese home islands. He flew 25 missions and received a Purple Heart for wounds received in battle. Career and education 1946 to 1951: acting training After the end of World War II, Bronson did odd jobs until a theatrical group in Philadelphia hired him to paint scenery, which led to acting in minor roles. He later shared an apartment in New York City with Jack Klugman, who was an aspiring actor at the time. Eventually, he moved to Hollywood, where he enrolled in acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse. 1951 to 1958: early films to leading roles In his early career, Bronson was still credited as Charles Buchinsky. His first film role – an uncredited one – was as a sailor in You're in the Navy Now in 1951, directed by Henry Hathaway. Other screen appearances in 1951 were The Mob, and The People Against O'Hara, directed by John SturgesIn 1952, he acted in Bloodhounds of Broadway; Battle Zone; Pat and Mike, Diplomatic Courier (1952), Henry Hathaway's My Six Convicts, The Marrying Kind, and Red Skies of Montana.That year on television, he boxed in a ring with Roy Rogers in Rogers' show Knockout. He appeared on an episode of The Red Skelton Show as a boxer in a skit with Skelton playing "Cauliflower McPugg". He appeared with fellow guest star Lee Marvin in an episode of Biff Baker, U.S.A., an espionage series on CBS.In 1953, he played Igor the sidekick of Vincent Price in the horror film House of Wax, directed by Andre de Toth. To prepare his role as a mute he took a course in sign language. Ben S. Parker of The Commercial Appeal said "Buchinsky adds mute menace as a deaf-and-dumb assistant to the madman". In the US, the film reach the 4th place on the highest box-office of that year and made 23 millions. The Library of Congress selected House of Wax for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2014, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".That same year, he.... Discover the Charles Bronson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Charles Bronson books.

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  • The Secret Prison Governor synopsis, comments

    The Secret Prison Governor

    The Secret Prison Governor

    Unedited, uncensored and unbelievable: this book shows the harsh reality of life behind bars from a real prison governor who spares no details. How do you bring order to the lawles...

  • The Official Charles Bronson Quiz Book synopsis, comments

    The Official Charles Bronson Quiz Book

    Chris Cowlin

    Charles Bronson is undoubtedly the most notorious prisoner in Britain and is not only a household name but also as much of an institution as the multitude of Her Majesty's establis...

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    The Parkhurst Years

    Bobby Cummines

    ‘The next stage meant that there was no going back. An Irish prisoner stepped forward and slipped a blade into my hand. I felt the ice cold metal and pressed it against the governo...

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    This Book Has Balls

    Michael Rapaport

    The sports world according to Michael Rapaportactor, Top 50 podcaster, awardwinning film maker, and sports fanaticfrom the greatest and downright worst athletes, players, teams, an...

  • Inside Parkhurst - The Final Stretch synopsis, comments

    Inside Parkhurst - The Final Stretch

    David Berridge

    Return to HMP Parkhurst in this raw and fascinating account of life as a prison officer. David Berridge returns with more stories from his time as a prison officer at HMP Parkhurst...

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    DEATH WISH, Starring Charles Bronson, Architect

    Rob Kovitz

    The first one is the hardest. Then he discovers he likes it. DEATH WISH: Starring Charles Bronson, Architect is based on the sensationalistic and controversial Death Wish movies, ...

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    Essex Boy

    Bernard O'Mahoney & Steven Ellis

    Two films and numerous books have attempted to tell the shocking story of two of Britain's most ruthless gangs. For 20 years, the Essex Boys firm and their successors, the New Gene...

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    The Book That Changed America

    Randall Fuller

    A compelling portrait of a unique moment in American history when the ideas of Charles Darwin reshaped American notions about nature, religion, science and race“A lively and inform...

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    Onita Pacific Corp. V. Trustees Of Charles D. Bronson

    Supreme Court of Oregon

    This proceeding stems from a dispute regarding the terms of a real estate development agreement. At trial, after the  court directed a verdict in favor of defendantsfn1 on pla...