Charles Bronson - ©Theda Bara

The name I bring to you in this post is that of the American actor Charles Bronson, a specialist in crime films and westerns. Bronson started in the cinema in 1951, where he made two films: “You’re in the Navy Now”, character: “Wascylewski”, and “The People Against O’Hara”, character “Angelo Korvacsem”, both without having his name credited in the subtitles.

Few words and lots of action: this was Charles Bronson’s motto in his films. “Death Wish” (1974) started the first film in the franchise, in the role of “Paul Kersey”, a man who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually abused by robbers. Eight years later (1982) “Death Wish 2” was released, in addition to three more sequels: “Death Wish 3” (1985); “Death Wish 4: The Crackdown” (1987) and “Death Wish 5” (1994). “Death Wish” was a turning point for Charles Bronson, who was 53 in the first film and was best known in Europe and Asia for his role in the war film “The Great Escape” (1963), character: “Hendley The Scrounger”. In March 2016, Paramount and MGM announced a remake starring Bruce Willis (1955-). The remake was released on March 2, 2018 and became a huge success again, where Willis, plays a surgeon “Paul Kersey” a man completely dedicated to his family and his profession. The story harks back to the original, in an unfortunate twist of fate, his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually abused by thieves. 

Despite having acted in almost 200 films, awards were never Charles Bronson’s strong point, who won only one Golden Globe: the Henrietta Award for Favorite Actor in World Cinema in 1972 - an award that existed between 1950 and 1979.

Bronson’s last role was in the TV movie trilogy: “Point Blank” (1995/1997/1999) where he played investigator “Paul Flein”  and acted alongside his last wife Kim Weeks.

Charles Bronson has his star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, at number 6901 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Motion Picture category.

Charles Bronson, born Charles Dennis Buchinsky, on November 3, 1921, Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, United States, died on August 30, 2003, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States, four days before his 82nd birthday.

Charles Bronson was married three times, first to housewife Harriet Tendler Bronson (1929-2020) from 1949 to 1967. The couple had two children, New York theater and film writer Suzanne Bronson (1950-) and musician Tony Bronson (1972-), born 5 years after his parents separated in a reunion of the couple Bronson and Tendler, when the actor was already in his second marriage; Bronson’s second marriage was to British actress and singer Jill Dorothy Ireland (1936-1990) from 1968 to 1990, from whom the actor was widowed. The couple had two daughters, American film director Katrina Holden Bronson (1968-) and Zuleika Bronson (1972-) who even tried an acting career, but gave up; Bronson’s last marriage was to American actress Kim Weeks Bronson (1960-), from 1998 to 2003, with whom he lived for 5 years without having children and until leaving her a widow.