JAMES COBURN
Name: James Harrison Coburn Jr.
Born: 31 August 1928 Laurel, Nebraska U.S.
Died: 18 November 2002 Beverly Hills, California U.S.
James Harrison Coburn, Jr. (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an Oscar-winning
American actor.
Coburn was born in Laurel, Nebraska, the son of Mylet S. (née Johnson) and James
Harrison Coburn, Sr., a garage mechanic. His maternal grandparents were
immigrants from Sweden. He grew up in Compton, California and acted in
college, eventually making his stage debut at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Coburn became famous in the 1960s and 1970s as the "tough guy" in a variety of
films, first mostly with his friends Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn and Charles
Bronson (with whom he co-starred in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape).
A villainous part in the hugely successful Charade (1963) and a character role
as a one-armed Indian tracker in Major Dundee (1965) gained him much notice. In
1966, he 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, he
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 him.
In 1971, he starred in the western A Fistful of Dynamite, directed by Sergio
Leone, where he plays as an Irish dynamite expert and revolutionary who has fled
to Mexico during the time of the Mexican Revolution in the early part of the 20th
century. In 1973 he 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 critically-acclaimed war epic
which performed poorly in the US but was a huge hit in Europe. The two remained
good friends until the legendary director's death in 1984 of a stroke.
Due to severe rheumatoid arthritis, he featured in very few films during the
1980s and spent time writing songs with his partner at that time, British singer-songwriter
Lynsey De Paul. 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), Maverick (1994), The Nutty Professor
(1996), and Payback (1999), mostly in small but memorable roles. For appearing
as the abusive father of protagonist Nick Nolte in Affliction, he received an
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1998.
He died suddenly on November 18, 2002, aged 74, of cardiac arrest, while
listening to the radio. He was survived by his wife, Paula Coburn (née Murad),
who was at his side when he died, as well as a son, and a stepdaughter. At the
time of his death, James Coburn was the voice for the "Like a Rock" Chevrolet
television ad campaign. Actor James Garner succeeded Coburn for the remainder of
the ad campaign.
Paula Murad had hosted a TV show in Washington D.C. before moving to California.
She made a few movie and television appearances. Paula Murad Coburn died of
cancer on July 30, 2004.
Name: James Harrison Coburn Jr.
Born: 31 August 1928 Laurel, Nebraska U.S.
Died: 18 November 2002 Beverly Hills, California U.S.
James Harrison Coburn, Jr. (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an Oscar-winning
American actor.
Coburn was born in Laurel, Nebraska, the son of Mylet S. (née Johnson) and James
Harrison Coburn, Sr., a garage mechanic. His maternal grandparents were
immigrants from Sweden. He grew up in Compton, California and acted in
college, eventually making his stage debut at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Coburn became famous in the 1960s and 1970s as the "tough guy" in a variety of
films, first mostly with his friends Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn and Charles
Bronson (with whom he co-starred in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape).
A villainous part in the hugely successful Charade (1963) and a character role
as a one-armed Indian tracker in Major Dundee (1965) gained him much notice. In
1966, he 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, he
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 him.
In 1971, he starred in the western A Fistful of Dynamite, directed by Sergio
Leone, where he plays as an Irish dynamite expert and revolutionary who has fled
to Mexico during the time of the Mexican Revolution in the early part of the 20th
century. In 1973 he 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 critically-acclaimed war epic
which performed poorly in the US but was a huge hit in Europe. The two remained
good friends until the legendary director's death in 1984 of a stroke.
Due to severe rheumatoid arthritis, he featured in very few films during the
1980s and spent time writing songs with his partner at that time, British singer-songwriter
Lynsey De Paul. 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), Maverick (1994), The Nutty Professor
(1996), and Payback (1999), mostly in small but memorable roles. For appearing
as the abusive father of protagonist Nick Nolte in Affliction, he received an
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1998.
He died suddenly on November 18, 2002, aged 74, of cardiac arrest, while
listening to the radio. He was survived by his wife, Paula Coburn (née Murad),
who was at his side when he died, as well as a son, and a stepdaughter. At the
time of his death, James Coburn was the voice for the "Like a Rock" Chevrolet
television ad campaign. Actor James Garner succeeded Coburn for the remainder of
the ad campaign.
Paula Murad had hosted a TV show in Washington D.C. before moving to California.
She made a few movie and television appearances. Paula Murad Coburn died of
cancer on July 30, 2004.