Charles Buchinsky was born into a Luthuanian family in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania. His father was a coal miner who died when Charles was 10. By age 16, the young Charles was working in a mine as well, with bleak prospects. In 1943 he was drafted, and served in the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, both in the states and on the island of Guam. After the war, odd jobs brought him in contact with actors, and in 1949 he studied at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Bronson landed bit parts in low budget movies, uncredited at the beginning, and sometimes credited as Buchinsky. In 1953 he played the part of Igor in House of Wax, and the following year, the role of Hondo, an Indian, in Apache. He landed his first lead in Roger Corman's 1958 crime film Machine Gun Kelly. It was formulaic but for what it was, still a decent movie. Following that, he became a staple in the action genre, with very good parts in The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), and The Dirty Dozen (1967) -- all films that have stood the test of time. But it is odd to see him playing a beatnik in The Sandpiper (1965), a Taylor/Burton romantic drama.
After a 1998 hip replacement, Bronson essentially retired. His health deteriorated, and he suffered from Alzheimer's in his final years. He died from pneumonia in 2003 at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, aged 81.
[1] Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Father: (coal miner)
Mother: (d. 1934)
Wife: Harriet Tendler (m. 1949, div. 1965)
Wife: Jill Ireland (actress, m. 4-Oct-1968, d. 18-May-1990 breast cancer)
Wife: Kim Weeks (m. 22-Dec-1998)
Son: Tony
Daughter: Suzanne
Son: Jason McCallum (stepson, d. Nov-1989, heroin overdose)
Daughter: Zuleika
Daughter: Katrina Holden Bronson (adopted)
Son: Valentine McCallum (stepson, b. 1962, with Ireland, d.)
Son: Paul McCallum (stepson, b. 1963, with Ireland)
High School: South Fork High School, Ehrenfeld, PA (1939)
Hip Replacement Surgery 1998
Purple Heart
Lithuanian Ancestry
Risk Factors: Alzheimer's
TELEVISION
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters Linc Murdock (1963-64)
Empire Paul Moreno (1962-63)
Man with a Camera Mike Kovac (1958-60)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion (12-Jan-1999)
Breach of Faith: Family of Cops II (2-Feb-1997)
Family of Cops (26-Nov-1995)
Death Wish V: The Face of Death (14-Jan-1994)
Donato and Daughter (21-Sep-1993)
The Sea Wolf (18-Apr-1993)
Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (8-Dec-1991)
The Indian Runner (7-Sep-1991)
Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (3-Feb-1989)
Messenger of Death (16-Sep-1988)
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (6-Nov-1987)
Assassination (9-Jan-1987) · Jay Killion
Act of Vengeance (21-Apr-1986)
Murphy's Law (18-Apr-1986)
Death Wish 3 (1-Nov-1985)
The Evil That Men Do (15-Mar-1984)
10 to Midnight (11-Mar-1983) · Leo Kessler
Death Wish II (20-Feb-1982) · Paul Kersey
Death Hunt (21-Sep-1981)
Borderline (31-Oct-1980)
Caboblanco (14-Mar-1980)
Love and Bullets (10-Aug-1979)
The Meanest Men in the West (1978)
Telefon (16-Dec-1977)
The White Buffalo (May-1977) · Bill Hickok
Raid on Entebbe (9-Jan-1977)
St. Ives (17-Sep-1976)
From Noon Till Three (13-Aug-1976)
Breakheart Pass (25-Dec-1975) · Deakin
Hard Times (4-Sep-1975)
Breakout (7-Mar-1975)
Death Wish (24-Jul-1974) · Paul Kersey
Mr. Majestyk (17-Jul-1974) · Vince Majestyk
Chino (14-Sep-1973)
The Stone Killer (8-Aug-1973)
The Mechanic (17-Nov-1972)
Chato's Land (7-Jun-1972)
The Valachi Papers (6-Jan-1972) · Joe Valachi
Someone Behind the Door (8-Dec-1971)
Red Sun (15-Sep-1971)
Cold Sweat (18-Dec-1970)
The Family (17-Sep-1970)
You Can't Win 'Em All (24-Jul-1970)
Lola (6-Jan-1970)
Rider on the Rain (1969)
Once Upon a Time in the West (21-Dec-1968) · Harmonica
Farewell, Friend (14-Aug-1968)
Villa Rides (17-Jul-1968)
Guns for San Sebastian (20-Mar-1968)
The Dirty Dozen (15-Jun-1967) · Joseph Wladislaw
This Property Is Condemned (3-Aug-1966)
Battle of the Bulge (16-Dec-1965) · Wolenski
The Sandpiper (23-Jun-1965) · Cos Erickson
Guns of Diablo (1964) · Linc Murdock
4 for Texas (18-Dec-1963) · Matson
The Great Escape (4-Jul-1963) · Danny
Kid Galahad (11-Aug-1962) · Lew Nyack
X-15 (22-Dec-1961)
A Thunder of Drums (26-Sep-1961) · Pvt. Hanna
Master of the World (11-Sep-1961) · Strock
The Magnificent Seven (23-Oct-1960) · O'Reilly
Never So Few (7-Dec-1959) · Sgt. John Danforth
Machine Gun Kelly (13-Feb-1959) · Machine Gun Kelly
Gang War (Jul-1958)
Showdown at Boot Hill (1-May-1958)
Run of the Arrow (2-Aug-1957) · Blue Buffalo
Jubal (6-Apr-1956) · Reb Haislipp
Target Zero (15-Nov-1955)
Big House, U.S.A. (3-Mar-1955) · Benny Kelly
Vera Cruz (25-Dec-1954)
Drum Beat (17-Nov-1954) · Capt. Jack
Apache (9-Jul-1954) · Hondo
Riding Shotgun (1-Apr-1954) · Pinto
Tennessee Champ (25-Feb-1954)
Crime Wave (12-Jan-1954) · Ben Hastings
Miss Sadie Thompson (23-Dec-1953) · Edwards
House of Wax (10-Apr-1953) · Igor
Pat and Mike (13-Jun-1952) · Hank Tasling
My Six Convicts (12-Mar-1952) · Jocko
AKA Charles Dennis Buchinsky