James Coburn was a charismatic actor of the Western era, who created the classic screen image of a tough guy. He starred in 70 feature films. The number of roles played by Kobern in television productions exceeds one hundred. A significant part of the projects in which he took part belonged to a genre such as western. Despite dozens of successful acting, James Coburn was awarded the Academy Award only at the end of his life.
Childhood and youth
The future hero of westerns and action movies was born in the USA in 1928. His maternal ancestors moved to America from Sweden, and his father had Scottish-Irish roots. Elder Coburn owned a car repair shop, but during the Great Depression the family business fell into disrepair. The future actor grew up and graduated from high school in California. At the age of 22, he enlisted in the US Army. James Coburn served at an American military base in Germany.
After returning to California, he entered college, where he studied acting. Coburn's debut in the professional theater scene took place in the play "Billy Budd", based on the novel by Herman Melville. Over the next few years, he played cameo roles in television films and starred in commercials. Thanks to the wide white-toothed smile of the young actor, the directors chose Coburn from a large number of candidates.
Westerns and action movies
For a long time, the future star got only small supporting roles. But gradually, Hollywood producers and directors saw the potential of James Coburn. He made his debut in big cinema in the Western "Lone Horseman". In this picture, Coburn successfully coped with the role of a villain. Subsequently, the negative characters for a long time became his role.
A real breakthrough in his career was the cult film "The Magnificent Seven" directed by John Sturges. Coburn's partners on the set in this film were such Hollywood celebrities as Charles Bronson and Yul Brynner. The plot of this western is based on the philosophical drama directed by Akira Kurosawa, “Seven Samurai”. The story of the brave warriors who defended the peasants from the robbers was transferred from medieval Japan to the Mexican village of the Wild West.
Coburn played a minor role as a criminal and villain in the commercially successful romantic detective "Charade." The images of the main characters were embodied on the screen by the legendary actors Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant. The film not only made a profit at the box office, but also received quite positive reviews from critics. The picture "Charade" was awarded the prestigious prize of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
On top of fame
For a long time, the actor was not able to gain great popularity, despite the roles played by him in many notable and successful films. James Coburn became a real Hollywood star thanks to the sparkling comedy "Our Man Flint". This picture is a witty parody of James Bond spy stories. After a long series of supporting roles, Kobern had a chance to play the main character. Bringing to the point of absurdity the traditional cinematic image of a secret agent was so liked by the audience that the film "Our Man Flint" spawned a new genre - spy comedy.
After the overwhelming success of the parody of the story of the adventures of James Bond, the producers and directors decided not to stop there. The continuation of the picture was shot, in which James Coburn also played the main role. The biography of the actor entered a phase of creative recovery. The sequel entitled "Flint's Double" was no less popular than the first film. According to audience surveys, Coburn took the twelfth line in the list of the largest stars in Hollywood.
Academy Award"
The main cinema award of the USA was brought to the actor by his work in the dramatic film "Sorrow" directed by Paul Schroeder in 1999. This was one of the last roles that James Coburn played in his life. A photo of a film industry veteran with an Oscar in his hands, appearing on the pages of newspapers and magazines, was a worthy end to his long career.
James Coburn died of a heart attack in 2002. Together with him, an entire era in the history of cinema has gone.