Charles Bronson, the legendary western accordionist, was born 100 years ago – PRAVDA.sk

Many American actors considered Charles Bronson to be an Indian for his appearance, but the representative of the gunslinger Bernard O’Reilly from the western Seven Brave or the legendary “Accordion” from the even more famous western at the time in the West had Lithuanian-Tatar roots.

Charles Bronson in the film Family of Cops.

In addition to gunmen, Bronson portrayed a number of action heroes who used not only wit but also physical strength and weapons on the path to justice. Today, 100 years have passed since the birth of the charismatic representative of the rough guys.

Charles Bronson, born Charles Dennis Buchinsky, was born on November 3, 1921 in the mining town of Ehrenfeld. His father was of Lithuanian-Tatar origin and mother of Lithuanian roots. The future famous actor grew up in poor conditions, had 14 siblings and did not speak English very well, the family spoke mostly Russian and Lithuanian.

When he was ten years old, his father died, so he had to contribute financially to a modest family budget by working in a mine. However, as the only sibling, he managed to finish high school, which he did not have pleasant memories of. He was the target of ridicule for the clothes he inherited from his older sisters.

For him, military service meant a pleasant change, because life in the barracks was much more comfortable than in a family circle. During World War II, he served in the Air Force and fought in the Pacific.

After leaving for civilian life, he changed several jobs, but he was attracted to the world of acting stars. In 1947, he began attending acting school in Philadelphia, where he also met his first wife, Harriet Tendler, with whom he had a daughter and a son.

He made his film debut in 1951 in a comedy by Henry Hathaway and Lewis Seiler You’re in the Navy Now. He gained a more prominent character as Charles Bronson in the thriller House of Wax (1953), directed by André de Toth.

In 1954, he appeared in the westerns Vera Cruz (dir. Robert Aldrich), Riding Shotgun (dir. André de Toth) and Apache (dir. Robert Aldrich). He edited his first main characters in the western showdown at Boot Hill (1958) by director Gen Fowler and in the thriller Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), which was signed by director Roger Corman.

The definitive turning point in Bronson’s career was the 1960 western, directed by John Sturges, in which he played the silent Irish-Mexican gunslinger Bernard O’Reilly. In western classics, he played alongside Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen and Horst Buchholz.

After the success of the Seven Brave, Bronson appeared in the war drama The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1963), the main character in the western Guns of Diablo (dir. Boris Sagal, 1964) or in another drama from the military environment, The Dirty Dozen (A Dozen Dirty, dir. Robert Aldrich, 1967).

In 1968, he appeared on the screen in one of the most famous westerns, Up Upon and Time in the West. He portrayed a gunslinger nicknamed the “Accordion”, who announced his revenge with a captivating melody of the harmonica. The legendary western was signed by Italian director Sergio Leone, who declared Bronson to be the best actor he had ever worked with. The captivating music was composed by the Italian composer Ennio Morricone and the film featured the famous actor Henry Fonda and the legend of cinematography Claudia Cardinale.

In Europe, he also shot the successful Italian-French crime film The Travelers in the Rain (L’uomo venuto dalla pioggia, 1970) by director René Clément, or the western Red Sun (Sole rosso, dir. Terence Young, 1971), in which he starred alongside Alain Delon. .

After returning from the US, he collaborated with director Michael Winner, which resulted in western Chato’s land (1972), the action film The Mechanic (1972) and a drama about an architect whose street gangsters raped his wife and daughter, Death Wish. Wish for Death, 1974), which received three more sequels from 1982, 1985 and 1986. The last episode was directed by J. Lee Thomson, with whom Bronson also made the thriller Messenger of Death (1988).

At the end of his career, Bronson became interested in television projects such as The Sea Wolf (1993), Donato and Daughter (1993) and in the criminal trilogy Family of Cops (1995, 1997, 1999). After divorcing his first wife, Harriet Tendler, he married actress Jill Ireland, with whom he had one daughter. After her death, he married his babysitter Kim Weeks for the third time.

Legendary actor Charles Bronson died on August 30, 2003 at the age of 81 of pneumonia. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in the last years of his life.