WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers

Born: 3rd November 1921

Died: 30th August 2003 (aged 81)

Charles Dennis Buchinsky was one of fifteen children born to Mary and Walter Buchinsky, both of Lithuanian descent. Walter was a coal miner and after he graduated high school (the first in his family to do so) he also worked there.  At the age of 22 Bronson enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and received a Purple Heart for wounds received in battle – here he honed his English as before joining the Air Force he could only speak Lithuanian and Russian fluently. After the War he was hired by a theatrical group in Pennsylvania as a scene painter and this led to minor acting roles. He enrolled in acting classes when he moved to Hollywood. Bronson made his big screen debt when he was 30 years old as Charles Buchinsky. He started using the name Bronson three years later because his agent thought the name Buchinsky sounded too Russian and in light of the Red Scare1 and proceedings being carried out by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)2 might ruin his career. After many bit parts and TV Bronson got his first lead role in Roger Corman’s Machine-Gun Kelly in 1968. Yet it was The Magnificent Seven two years later that gave him his European breakthrough and he was nearly 50 by the time he found International fame by taking on the role of an American Colonel in Rider on the Rain, a French thriller. By the mid 70s Bronson was one of the highest box-office draws in Hollywood

I have to say I prejudged Charles Bronson on a role that I had not seen but heard a lot about and that is the role of Paul Kersey in the Death Wish films. (Bronson made five Death Wish films – only 1 and 3 appear in his top five). I had always believed that he was a tough guy vigilante that just goes around killing what is effectively low life scum – rapists, muggers that sort of people. But oh no did I get it wrong – yes he becomes a vigilante to get revenge for his wife’s murder and daughter’s attack but he is more than that. A mild mannered architect by day, who was a conscientious objector during the Korean War, becomes a vigilante by night. But it doesn’t happen overnight unlike some films where they want to get revenge so straight away they get a gun and go around blasting people it is a well handled transition beautifully played by Bronson and directed by Michael Winner. The one thing I can say about number three is that Kersey’s eyesight must have been going as his accuracy with his gun is a little off – too many bullets wasted and so many people missed by his machine gun.

Charles Bronson carries a confidence that you’d think was not fitting for his character, Joseph T. Wladislaw, in The Dirty Dozen, he is after all a convicted criminal, but you learn that he was once an officer in the US Army – for a couple of days at least! For such a star studded cast it could be easy to get lost within the ‘shining stars’ but each holds his own although Bronson does stand out a little only because of his short stature, among so many tall actors, but it does not hinder his part in fact it emphasises the strength of his portrayal of Wladislaw. Now I had watched his second film, House of Wax, for the late great Vincent Price and had not realised that Bronson was in it – this has to be a testament to his acting, does it not? For someone of such small stature Bronson portrays quite a formidable character, even though Igor is a small part and he never speaks. It is surprising how much playing a deaf mute can add to someone’s acting and for what was one of Bronson’s first big screen roles he comes across as a very frightening character and a role that is not a surprise that it caught directors’ eyes. Now his third and fourth films are both based on true stories – The Valachi Papers is based on the true life of Joseph Valachi the first man to acknowledge the Mafia publicly and Breakout, a film about a prison rescue. In the Valachi Papers Bronson plays Valachi and the story is told through flashbacks of his time with the Mafia, and he plays him throughout which is from his late teens/early twenties into his sixties. Bronson himself was 51 at the time but his energy for the young Valachi is very convincing if we hadn’t already seen his face I would have thought, especially by the way he jumps down the stairs, a younger actor was taking that period of time. This film maybe looked at as just a gangster film but there is more to it which Bronson conveys very well. It’s just a shame that by fitting so many years into a two hour film they have missed out on what could be a stronger performance from Charles especially in the relationship with his wife – the scene where the proposal is made is quite cute as he is so awkward and funny, in a subtle way, that it would have been nice to have seen this side of his acting.

Breakout is set in America and Mexico and with his looks – the moustache and straw hat – it would be easy to assume that Bronson would be one of the Mexican contingent but he is not, he is the American flyboy that is the hero of the film. Nick Colton is what we Brits would probably call a wide boy – someone who plays a little close to the legal line. He’s tough yet can be funny and sensitive – this is helped by the fact that Bronson is working alongside his real life wife, Jill Ireland. This is a great story and well told with some sensitive acting from Bronson. Although Bronson’s sensitivity comes out again in his fifth film, The Sandpiper, I’m not sure of Charles Bronson’s character, Cos Erickson, is he a spurned lover or just in love with Laura? Personally I couldn’t make it out not that it matters as his role is absolutely irrelevant to the story. He plays the part well with what he does have – his discussion of religion and angels with the Reverend while slightly drunk is entertaining but again does no help with where his role fits in the script nor does the fight he has with the Reverend, which is a bit weak for the tough guy that Brosnan is but I guess fits with this role.

As you can probably guess from the way I started this film list I have not seen many Charles Bronson films, so I have limited knowledge with which to find a favourite character although, in the future I will not shy away from his films, but for now I would have to say I enjoyed the role he has as Paul Kersey* in the Death Wish films. The first film is probably the better of those I have seen there is so much more humanity than I ever expected from this film. Much can be said for the second film although there is slightly more vigilante than architect but I do have to admit that by the third film (which also made his top five – the second film just missed out) there is a lot, lot more, maybe a little too much, vigilantism and very little else which is a shame as they had characters that could have been developed more and Bronson’s connection could have been investigated more but it is still a good film although I found it a little farfetched. Having now watched Death Wish 1, 2 and 3 I can honestly say I was wrong about Bronson being a tough guy actor he isn’t – he plays tough well but he can also do emotion and can play with the fun side of a character. He is not as one dimensional as I first thought he would be. I haven’t watched the fourth or fifth film yet I found three a little dubious maybe at a later date but I’ll give it a little time.

*Bronson started playing Paul Kersey at the age of 54 and played his final appearance in 1994 twenty years later. (Death Wish V: The Face of Death was Bronson’s last big screen film only making three Family of Cops TV films before he retired)

As well as an accomplished actor Charles Bronson was also a talented artist; when talking about his art he once quoted as saying “I had a show of my stuff in Beverly Hills and it sold out in two weeks–and it wasn’t because my name was Charles Bronson, because I signed them Buchinsky”. Although a very quiet man who supposedly never watched himself on the screen and described himself as “only a product, like a cake of soap, to be sold as well as possible” Charles Bronson was married three times. He met his first wife, who was eight years his junior, at acting school. Two years after meeting her father begrudgingly gave consent for his Jewish daughter to marry Catholic Charles Bushinsky. They divorced after 18 years and two children. His second wife, Jill Ireland (who appeared alongside him in sixteen films) died of breast cancer after 22 years of marriage. They had one daughter and adopted another. Bronson died after five years of marriage to his third wife, actress Kim Weeks. Supposedly he was buried with a walking stick with the ashes of his send wife. Bronson’s suffered from Alzheimer’s during his last few years and died of Pneumonia Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 2003

1 A Red Scare is a form of moral panic provoked by fear of the rise, supposed or real, of leftist ideologies in a society, especially communism

2 (HUAC) set up to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist ties)