Charles Bronson

Bronson was married 3 times: to Harriet Tendler from 1949-1967, to Jill Ireland from 1968 until her death in 1990, and to Kim Weeks from 1998 until his death in 2003. He had two children by both Tendler and Ireland.

Bronson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard.

The final line he delivered on screen, in Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion, was "We're gonna have a baby and I can't wait."

His final acting role was in the television movie Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion.

Bronson's favorite film role was Once Upon a Time in the West. Ironically, he got this role only after Clint Eastwood declined it.

He called West Windsor, Vermont his home for more than three decades and is buried in nearby Brownsville Cemetery, near the foot of Mt. Ascutney.

Bronson was by most accounts a very quiet and introspective collaborator, often sitting in a corner for much of a shoot and listening to a director's instructions and not saying a word until cameras were rolling.

He was the first actor considered for the role of Snake Plissken in Escape from New York.

His final film was Death Wish V.

Despite being of Polish and Lithuanian ancestory, he frequently played Mexicans.

Bronson and fellow actor Ernest Borgnine, in costume as Mexican bandits, were reportedly detained and questioned by Mexican police while on their way to work on the film Vera Cruz in 1954.

Bronson co-starred with Elizabeth Montgomery in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone entitled Two.

Bronson starred in the ABC TV detective series Man With a Camera from 1958-60.

Bronson appeared in two films with Henry Fonda: The Battle of the Bulge and Once Upon a Time in the West.

Bronson co-starred with James Coburn in three films: The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, and Hard Times.

Bronson made four sequels to the original Death Wish.

Though he'd been popular in Europe for many years, Bronson didn't become a major star in the United States until 1974's Death Wish.

Bronson replaced Clint Eastwood in the role of the laconic gunfighter The Man With No Name for the 1968 spaghetti western epic Once Upon a Time in the West.

Bronson was known as "le monster sacre" to the French movie going public. Le monster sacre means the sacred monster.

Bronson was known as "Il Bruto" to the Italian movie going public. Il Bruto means The Ugly.

Bronson once played a Gypsy bootlegger on an episode of The Untouchables entitled The Death Tree.

Bronson won a Golden Globe award in 1971 as the "Most Popular Actor in the World."

In The Dirty Dozen, Bronson's character was the only one of the "dozen" to survive the mission.

Lee Marvin and Bronson appeared in two films together: The Dirty Dozen and Death Hunt.

Director Sergio Leone once called Bronson the greatest actor he ever worked with.

Bronson owned homes in Lithuania and Greece.

Bronson spoke fluent Russian, Lithuanian, and Greek.

Dick Van Dyke received a lemon cake from Bronson every Christmas for years.

According to one report, he took his stage name Bronson from the Bronson Gate to Paramount Studios.

Bronson once roomed with Jack Klugman at a New York rooming house.

He originally billed under his real name of Charles Buchinsky when he entered movies but later changed his last name to Bronson.

He once said he got into acting because it seemed like a much easier way of making a living than working in a coal mine or a steel mill.

Bronson was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat during World War II.

Bronson was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and served as a tail gunner on board a B-29 bomber.

According to one report, Bronson was once forced to wear his sister's dress to school because his family was so poor and he had no other clothes.

Bronson's father passed away when he was ten years old.

Bronson was one of 15 children of Polish and Lithuanian immigrant parents.

Bronson's birthname was Charles Dennis Buchinsky.

With his death on August 30, 2003, Robert Vaughn is the only one of the seven main stars of The Magnificent Seven who is still alive as of December 2005.