James Coburn's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Bracken's World James Coburn Acapulco Gregg Miles The Californians Anthony Wayne The Fifth Corner Dr. Grandwell

Main Movie Roles 2002 - Snow Dogs 2002 - The Kid Stays in the Picture 2001 - Proximity 2001 - Texas Rangers 2001 - Monsters, Inc. 2001 - The Man from Elysian Fields 1999 - Payback 1997 - Affliction 1996 - The Nutty Professor 1996 - Eraser 1994 - Maverick 1993 - Deadfall 1993 - Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit 1992 - Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time 1992 - The Player 1991 - Hudson Hawk 1990 - Young Guns II 1981 - Looker 1981 - High Risk 1979 - The Muppet Movie 1979 - Firepower 1978 - California Suite 1977 - Cross of Iron 1976 - Midway 1976 - The Last Hard Men 1976 - Sky Riders 1975 - Bite the Bullet 1975 - Hard Times 1973 - The Last of Sheila 1973 - Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid 1968 - Candy 1967 - In Like Flint 1967 - The President's Analyst 1966 - What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? 1966 - Our Man Flint 1965 - The Loved One 1965 - A High Wind in Jamaica 1965 - Major Dundee 1964 - The Americanization of Emily 1963 - The Great Escape 1963 - Charade 1962 - Hell Is for Heroes 1960 - The Magnificent Seven 1959 - Face of a Fugitive 1959 - Ride Lonesome

BIOGRAPHY:

Lanky, charismatic and versatile actor with an amazing grin that put everyone at ease, James Coburn studied acting at UCLA, and then moved to New York to study under noted acting coach Stella Adler. After being noticed in several stage productions, Coburn appeared in a handful of minor westerns before being cast as the knife-throwing, quick-shooting Britt in the John Sturges mega-hit The Magnificent Seven (1960). Sturges remembered Coburn's talents when he cast his next major film project, The Great Escape (1963), where Coburn played the Australian POW Sedgewick. Regular work now came thick and fast for Coburn, including appearing in Major Dundee (1965), the first of several films he appeared in directed by Hollywood enfant terrible Sam Peckinpah. The next two years were a key period for Coburn, with his performances in the wonderful 007 spy spoof Our Man Flint (1966) and the eerie Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). Coburn followed up in 1967 with a Flint sequel, In Like Flint (1967), and the much underrated political satire The President's Analyst (1967). The remainder of the 1960s was rather uneventful for Coburn. However, he became associated with martial arts legend Bruce Lee (I) and the two trained together, traveled extensively and even visited India scouting locations for a proposed film project, but Lee's untimely death (Coburn, along with Steve McQueen (I), was a pallbearer at Lee's funeral) put an end to that.

The 1970s saw Coburn appearing again in several strong roles, starting off in Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), alongside Charles Bronson in the Depression-era Hard Times (1975) and as a disenchanted German soldier on the Russian front in Peckinpah's superb Cross of Iron (1977). Towards the end of the decade, however, Coburn was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which severely hampered his health and work output for many years. After conventional treatments failed, Coburn turned to a holistic therapist, and through a restructured diet program, made a definite improvement. By the 1990s he was once again appearing regularly in both film and TV productions.

No one was probably more surprised than Coburn himself when he was both nominated for, and then won, the Best Supporting Actor Award in 1997 for playing Nick Nolte's abusive and alcoholic father in Affliction (1997). At 70 years of age, Coburn's career received another shot in the arm, and he appeared in another 14 films, including Snow Dogs (2002) and The Man from Elysian Fields (2001), before his death from a heart attack in November of 2002. Coburn's passions in life included martial arts, card playing and enjoying fine Cuban cigars!


TRIVIA:

• He once played the gong on _"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962)_ (qv).
• He had a relationship with 'Lynsey De Paul' (qv).
• He co-wrote two songs with 'Lynsey De Paul' (qv), "Melancholy Melon" and "Losin' the Blues for You" that appeared on her album "Tigers and Fireflies".
• College friend of his _The Magnificent Seven (1960)_ (qv) co-star 'Robert Vaughn (I)' (qv).
• Became good friends with 'Kris Kristofferson (I)' (qv) during the filming of _Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)_ (qv). They also worked together on _Convoy (1978)_ (qv) and _Payback (1999/I)_ (qv). Coburn contributed with backup vocals on Kristofferson's album "Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame".
• Appeared with 'Steve McQueen (I)' (qv) and 'Charles Bronson' (qv) in two films, both of which were directed by 'John Sturges' (qv): _The Magnificent Seven (1960)_ (qv) and _The Great Escape (1963)_ (qv).
• Despite being one of the stars, he had only eleven lines in _The Magnificent Seven (1960)_ (qv).
• For a time he did ads for "Schlitz" beer. Later after the contract was finished he admitted on a talk show that he never liked the taste of the beer.