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James Coburn

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For other people named James Coburn, see James Coburn (disambiguation).

James Coburn
Coburn as Anthony Wayne in The Californians (1959)
Born
James Harrison Coburn III

(1928-08-31)August 31, 1928
Laurel, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedNovember 18, 2002(2002-11-18) (aged 74)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Westwood, California, U.S.
Alma materLos Angeles City College
OccupationActor
Years active1953–2002
Spouses
Beverly Kelly
​
​
(m. 1959; div. 1979)​
Paula Murad
​
(m. 1993)​
Children2
AwardsAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor – Affliction (1997)

James Harrison Coburn III[1] (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.[2]

Coburn was a capable, rough-hewn leading man, whose toothy grin and lanky physique made him a perfect tough guy in numerous roles in Westerns and action films.[3] He played supporting roles in The Magnificent Seven, Hell Is for Heroes, The Great Escape, Charade and Hard Times as well as the lead role in Our Man Flint and its sequel In Like Flint, The President's Analyst, Duck, You Sucker!, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and Cross of Iron. In 1998, Coburn won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction. In 2002, he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries nomination for producing The Mists of Avalon.[4]

During the New Hollywood era, he cultivated an image synonymous with "cool".[5]

Early life

[edit]

James Harrison Coburn III was born in Laurel, Nebraska, on August 31, 1928, the son of James Harrison Coburn II and Mylet S. Coburn (née Johnson). His father and namesake was of Scots-Irish ancestry and his mother was an immigrant from Sweden. His father had a garage business in Laurel that was destroyed by the Great Depression.[6] Coburn was raised in Compton, California, where he attended Compton Junior College.

In 1950, Coburn was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as a truck driver and occasionally a disc jockey on an Army radio station in Texas. He also narrated Army training films in Mainz, West Germany.[7]

He attended Los Angeles City College,[8] where he studied acting with fellow actor Jeff Corey under Stella Adler’s tutelage, and later made his stage debut at the La Jolla Playhouse in Herman Melville's Billy Budd.[9]

Career

[edit]

Early television work

[edit]

Coburn's first television appearance was in 1953 on Four Star Playhouse.

He was selected for a Remington Products razor commercial, where he was able to shave off 11 days of beard growth in less than 60 seconds[10] while joking that he had more teeth to show on camera than the other 12 candidates for the part.[11]

Coburn's film debut came in 1959 as the sidekick of Pernell Roberts in the Randolph Scott Western Ride Lonesome.[12] He soon got a job in another Western, Face of a Fugitive (1959).

He also appeared in dozens of television roles, including, with Roberts, several episodes of NBC's Bonanza. He appeared twice each on three other NBC Westerns: Laramie with Robert Fuller,Tales of Wells Fargo with Dale Robertson, one episode in the role of Butch Cassidy; and The Restless Gun with John Payne in "The Pawn" and "The Way Back", the latter segment alongside Bonanza's Dan Blocker.[13] "Butch Cassidy" aired in 1958. He played a rustler in The Rifleman - Season 1, Episode 13 - The Young Englishman.

Coburn's third film was a major breakthrough for him, as the knife-wielding Britt in The Magnificent Seven (1960), directed by John Sturges for the Mirisch Company. Coburn was hired on the recommendation of his friend Robert Vaughn.

During the 1960–61 season, Coburn co-starred with Ralph Taeger and Joi Lansing in the NBC adventure/drama series Klondike, set in the Alaskan gold rush town of Skagway.

When Klondike was cancelled, Taeger and Coburn were regrouped as detectives in Mexico in NBC's equally short-lived Acapulco.

Coburn also made two guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason, both times as the murder victim, in "The Case of the Envious Editor" and "The Case of the Angry Astronaut". In 1962, he portrayed Col. Briscoe in the "Hostage Child" of CBS's Rawhide.

Supporting actor in films

[edit]
Coburn in Charade (1963)

Coburn had a good role in Hell Is for Heroes (1962), a war film with Steve McQueen. He followed it with another war film with McQueen, The Great Escape (1963), directed by Sturges for the Mirisches, where Coburn played an Australian POW. For the Mirisches, Coburn narrated Kings of the Sun (1963).

Coburn was one of the villains in Charade (1963), starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. He followed that role playing a glib naval officer in Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily, replacing James Garner, who had moved up to the lead role when William Holden withdrew from the production. As a result, Coburn was signed to a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. [14]

Coburn had another excellent supporting role as a one-armed Indian tracker in Major Dundee (1965), directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Charlton Heston.

At Fox, he was second-billed in the pirate film A High Wind in Jamaica (1965), supporting Anthony Quinn in the lead role. He had a cameo in the black comedy The Loved One (1965).

Stardom

[edit]

In December 1964 it was announced Coburn would star in Fox's James Bond parody film Our Man Flint (1966), playing super agent Derek Flint.[15] Producer Saul David commented, Coburn "is undoubtedly one of the most interesting looking actors in the business today. I would describe him as a cross between Humphrey Bogart and Jean Paul Belmondo - a true descendant of that bygone generation of character actors who became leading men by accident... Coburn has a fantastic effect on women filmgoers and I think it's because ladies go more for masculinity and charm than prettiness in a male star.""[16] The movie was a big success at the box office on its release in 1966 and established Coburn as a star.

Coburn followed it with What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), a wartime comedy from Blake Edwards, which was made for the Mirisches; Coburn was top billed although the lead was Dick Shaw. It was a commercial disappointment. Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) was a crime movie made at Columbia.

Back at Fox, Coburn made a second Flint film, In Like Flint (1967), which was popular, but Coburn did not wish to make any more movies in that series. He went over to Paramount for a Western comedy made through Edwards' company, Waterhole No. 3 (1967) and the political satire The President's Analyst (1967). Neither performed particularly well commercially, but over the years, The President's Analyst has become a cult film. In 1967, Coburn was voted the 12th-biggest star in Hollywood.[17]

Over at Columbia, Coburn was in a Swinging '60s heist film, Duffy (1968), which flopped. He was one of several stars who had cameos in Candy (1968), then played a hitman in Hard Contract (1969) for Fox, another flop.

Coburn tried a change of pace, an adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play, Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970) directed by Sidney Lumet, but the film was not popular. In July 1970, Richard F Zanuck of Fox dropped the $300,000 option it had with Coburn.[18]

In 1971, Coburn starred in the Zapata Western Duck, You Sucker!, with Rod Steiger and directed by Sergio Leone, as an Irish explosives expert and revolutionary who has fled to Mexico during the time of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. In 1964, Coburn had said he would do A Fistful of Dollars if they paid him $25,000, which was too expensive for the production's tiny budget.[19] Duck You Sucker, also called A Fistful of Dynamite, was not as highly regarded as Leone's four previous Westerns, but was hugely popular in Europe, especially France.

Back in the US, Coburn made another film with Blake Edwards, the thriller The Carey Treatment (1972). It was badly cut by MGM and was commercially unsuccessful. So, too, was The Honkers (1972), where Coburn played a rodeo rider.

Coburn went back to Italy to make another Western, A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1973), or Massacre at Fort Holman. He then reteamed with director Sam Peckinpah for the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, playing Pat Garrett. In 1973, he was voted the 23rd-most popular star in Hollywood.[20]

In 1973, Coburn was among the featured celebrities dressed in prison gear on the cover of the album Band on the Run made by Paul McCartney and his band Wings.[21]

Coburn was one of the pallbearers at the funeral of Bruce Lee along with Steve McQueen, Bruce's brother, Robert Lee, Peter Chin, Danny Inosanto, and Taky Kimura. Coburn gave a speech: "Farewell, Brother. It has been an honor to share this space in time with you. As a friend and a teacher, you have given to me, have brought my physical, spiritual, and psychological selves together. Thank you. May peace be with you."[22]

Coburn was one of several stars in the popular The Last of Sheila (1973). He then starred in a series of thrillers: Harry in Your Pocket (1974), the debut feature from Mission Impossible creator Bruce Geller, and The Internecine Project (1975). Neither was widely seen.

Mid-career

[edit]

Coburn began to drop back down the credit list: he was third billed in writer-director Richard Brooks' film Bite the Bullet (1975) behind Gene Hackman and Candice Bergen. He co-starred with Charles Bronson in Hard Times (1975), the directorial debut of Walter Hill, but it was very much Bronson's film. The movie was popular.

Coburn played the lead in the action film Sky Riders (1976), then played Charlton Heston's antagonist in The Last Hard Men (1976). He narrated the official documentary film of the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics, White Rock. He was one of the many stars in Midway (1976), then had the star role in Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (1977) playing a German soldier. He finished directing the film because of Peckinpah's constant drunkenness. This critically acclaimed war epic performed poorly in the United States, but was a huge hit in Europe. Peckinpah and Coburn remained close friends until Peckinpah's death in 1984.

Coburn returned to television in 1978 to star in a three-part miniseries version of a Dashiell Hammett detective novel, The Dain Curse, tailoring his character to bear a physical resemblance to the author. During that same year as a spokesman for the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, he was paid $500,000 to promote its new product in television advertisements by saying only two words: "Schlitz. Light."[23] In Japan, his masculine appearance was so appealing, he became an icon for its leading cigarette brand. He also supported himself in later years by exporting rare automobiles to Japan.[24] He was deeply interested in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, and collected sacred Buddhist artwork.[25] He narrated a film about the 16th Karmapa called The Lion's Roar.[26]

Coburn starred in Firepower (1979) with Sophia Loren, replacing Charles Bronson when the latter pulled out. He had a cameo in The Muppet Movie (1979) and had leading roles in Goldengirl (1980) and The Baltimore Bullet (1980). He was Shirley MacLaine's husband in Loving Couples (1980) and had the lead in a Canadian film, Crossover (1980).

Later years

[edit]

In 1981, Coburn moved almost entirely into supporting roles, such as those of the villains in both High Risk (1981) and Looker (1981). He hosted a TV series of the horror-anthology type, Darkroom, in 1981 and 1982. According to Mr. T, Coburn was slated to play the Hannibal character on the hit television series The A-Team, but NBC changed their mind and went with George Peppard. He supported Walter Mondale's campaign in the 1984 presidential election.[27] Coburn also portrayed Dwight Owen Barnes in the PC video game C.E.O., developed by Artdink as a spin-off of its A-Train series.[28]

Because of his severe rheumatoid arthritis, Coburn appeared in very few films during the 1980s, despite continuing to work during his final years. This disease had left Coburn's body deformed and in pain. He told ABC News in a 1999 interview: "You start to turn to stone. See, my hand is twisted now because tendons have shortened." For 20 years, Coburn tried a host of both conventional and unconventional treatments, but none of them worked. "There was so much pain that...every time I stood up, I would break into a sweat," he recalled. Then, in 1996, Coburn tried methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), a sulfur compound available at most health food stores. The result, he said, was nothing short of miraculous. "You take this stuff and it starts right away," said Coburn. "Everyone I've given it to has had a positive response." Though the MSM did not cure Coburn's arthritis, it did relieve his pain, allowing him to move more freely and resume his career.[29][30]

Coburn was in a four-year relationship with British singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul from the late 1970s. They co-wrote her songs "Losin' the Blues for You" and "Melancholy Melon" that appeared on her album Tigers and Fireflies.[31] Coburn resumed his film career in the 1990s, where he appeared in supporting roles in Young Guns II, Hudson Hawk, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Maverick, Eraser, The Nutty Professor, Affliction, and Payback. His performance as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[32] He also provided the voice of Henry J. Waternoose III in the Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc..

Cars

[edit]
Bob Bondurant teaching Coburn in 1972

Coburn's interest in fast cars began with his father's garage business and continued throughout his life, as he exported rare cars to Japan.[8] Coburn was credited with having introduced Steve McQueen to Ferraris, and in the early 1960s, owned a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso and a Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California SWB. His Spyder was the 13th of just 56x built. Coburn imported the used car in 1964, shortly after completing The Great Escape.[33]

Cal Spyder #2377 was repainted several times during Coburn's ownership; it has been black, silver, and possibly red. He kept the car at his Beverly Hills-area home, where it was often serviced by Max Balchowsky, who also worked on the suspension and frame modifications on the Mustang GTs used in the filming of McQueen's Bullitt. Coburn sold the Spyder in 1987 after 24 years of ownership. The car was restored, had several owners, and was sold in 2008 for $10,894,400 to English broadcaster Chris Evans. At that time, it set a new world record for the highest price ever paid for an automobile at auction.[34]

Over time, he also owned a Ferrari Daytona, at least one Ferrari 308, and a 1967 Ferrari 412P sports racer.[35] From 1998 until his death, Coburn did the voiceovers for Chevrolet's Like a Rock commercials.

Personal life

[edit]
Coburn's grave marker at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles.

Coburn was married twice. His first marriage was to Beverly Kelly, in 1959; they had two children together.[36] The couple divorced in 1979 after 20 years of marriage.[36]

He later married actress Paula Murad Coburn, on October 22, 1993, in Versailles, France; they remained married until Coburn's death in 2002.[36] The couple set up a charitable organization, the James and Paula Coburn Foundation.[37]

In spite of his severe rheumatoid arthritis, Coburn was a martial arts student and a friend of fellow actor Bruce Lee. Upon Lee's early death, Coburn was one of his pallbearers at the funeral on July 25, 1973.[38]

Death

[edit]

Coburn died from a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills on November 18, 2002, at the age of 74. His wife, Paula, said that he died in her arms when they were listening to music together.[36][39][40] Paula Coburn died from cancer less than two years later, on July 30, 2004, at the age of 48.[41]

Critical analysis

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In The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, critic David Thomson states that "Coburn is a modern rarity: an actor who projects lazy, humorous sexuality. He has made a variety of flawed, pleasurable films, the merits of which invariably depend on his laconic presence. Increasingly, he was the best thing in his movies, smiling privately, seeming to suggest that he was in contact with some profound source of amusement".[42] Film critic Pauline Kael remarked on Coburn's unusual characteristics, stating that "he looked like the child of the liaison between Lt. Pinkerton and Madame Butterfly".[43] George Hickenlooper, who directed Coburn in The Man from Elysian Fields called him "the masculine male".[44] Andy García called him "the personification of class, the hippest of the hip", and Paul Schrader noted "he was of that 50s generation. He had that part hipster, part cool-cat aura about him. He was one of those kind of men who were formed by the Rat Pack kind of style."[45]

Filmography

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Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1959 Ride Lonesome Whit
Face of a Fugitive Purdy
1960 The Magnificent Seven Britt
1962 Hell Is for Heroes Corporal Frank Henshaw
1963 The Great Escape Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick, "The Manufacturer"
Charade Tex Panthollow
Kings of the Sun Narrator Uncredited
The Man from Galveston Boyd Palmer Television pilot of Temple Houston
1964 The Americanization of Emily Lieutenant Commander Paul "Bus" Cummings
1965 Major Dundee Samuel Potts
A High Wind in Jamaica Zac
The Loved One Immigration Officer
1966 Our Man Flint Derek Flint
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? Lieutenant Christian
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round Eli Kotch
1967 In Like Flint Derek Flint
Waterhole No. 3 Lewton Cole
The President's Analyst Dr. Sidney Schaefer Also producer
1968 Duffy Duffy
Candy Dr. A.B. Krankheit
1969 Hard Contract John Cunningham
1970 Last of the Mobile Hot Shots Jeb Thornton
1971 Duck, You Sucker! John H. Mallory Renamed A Fistful of Dynamite for U.S. release
1972 The Carey Treatment Dr. Peter Carey
The Honkers Lew Lathrop
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die Colonel Pembroke Renamed Massacre at Fort Holman for U.S. release
1973 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Pat Garrett
The Last of Sheila Clinton Green
Harry in Your Pocket Harry
1974 The Internecine Project Robert Elliot
1975 Bite the Bullet Luke Matthews
Hard Times Speed
Jackpot Unfinished film
1976 Sky Riders Jim McCabe
The Last Hard Men Zach Provo
Midway Captain Vinton Maddox
1977 White Rock Narrator
Cross of Iron Sergeant Rolf Steiner
1978 California Suite Pilot in Diana Barrie's Film on Airplane Uncredited
1979 Firepower Fanon
The Muppet Movie El Sleezo Cafe Owner Cameo
Goldengirl Jack Dryden
1980 The Baltimore Bullet Nick Casey
Loving Couples Dr. Walter Kirby
Mr. Patman Patman
1981 High Risk Serrano
Looker John Reston
1985 Martin's Day Lieutenant Lardner
1986 Death of a Soldier Major Patrick Dannenberg
1989 Train to Heaven Gregorius
Call from Space Short
1990 Young Guns II John Simpson Chisum
1991 Hudson Hawk George Kaplan
1993 The Hit List Peter Mayhew
Deadfall Mike / Lou Donan
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Mr. Crisp
1994 Maverick Commodore Duvall
1995 The Set-Up Jeremiah Cole
The Avenging Angel Porter Rockwell Television film
Ray Alexander: A Menu for Murder Jeffery Winslow Television film
Christmas Reunion Santa Television film
1996 The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson Himself
Eraser WitSec Chief Arthur Beller
The Nutty Professor Harlan Hartley
1997 Keys to Tulsa Harmon Shaw
Affliction Glen Whitehouse Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
1999 Payback Justin Fairfax
2000 Intrepid Captain Hal Josephson
The Good Doctor Dr. Samuel Roberts Short
2001 Texas Rangers Narrator
Proximity Jim Corcoran
The Yellow Bird Reverend Increase Tutwiler Short
The Man from Elysian Fields Alcott
Monsters, Inc. Henry J. Waternoose III Voice
2002 Snow Dogs James "Thunder Jack" Johnson
American Gun Martin Tillman Final film role

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1953 Four Star Playhouse Sailor Episode: "The Last Voyage"
1957 Studio One in Hollywood Sam Episode: "The Night America Trembled"
1958 Suspicion Carson Episode: "The Voice in the Night"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Andrews Season 4 Episode 3: "The Jokester"
General Electric Theater Claude Firman Episode: "Ah There, Beau Brummel"
Wagon Train Ike Daggett "The Millie Davis Story"
1958–1959 The Restless Gun Vestry / Tom Quinn 2 episodes
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Jack, Outlaw Leader / Mexican Police Captain Uncredited
3 episodes
1958–1961 The Rifleman Ambrose / Cy Parker 2 episodes
1958–1962 Tales of Wells Fargo Ben Crider / Idaho 2 episodes
1959 Trackdown Joker Wells Episode: "Hard Lines"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Union Sergeant Season 5 Episode 13: "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
State Trooper Dobie Episode: "Hard Money, Soft Touch"
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Jess Episode: "A Thread of Respect"
Black Saddle Niles Episode: "Client: Steele"
M Squad Harry Blacker Episode: "The Fire Makers"
The Rough Riders Judson Episode: "Deadfall"
The Californians Deputy Anthony Wayne 2 episodes
Johnny Ringo Moss Taylor Episode: "The Arrival"
Whirlybirds Steve Alexander Episode: "Mr. Jinx"
Tombstone Territory Chuck Ashley Episode: "The Gunfighter"
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Buckskin Frank Leslie Episode: "The Noble Outlaws"
The DuPont Show with June Allyson Floyd Episode: "The Girl"
The Millionaire Lew Bennett Episode: "Millionaire Timothy Mackail"
Dead or Alive Henry Turner Episode: "Reunion for Revenge"
Bat Masterson Pole Otis Episode: "The Black Pearls"
1959–1960 Bronco Jesse James / Adam Coverly 2 episodes
Wichita Town Wally / Fletcher 2 episodes
Bat Masterson Leo Talley Episode: "Six Feet of Gold”
Have Gun – Will Travel Bill Sledge / Jack 2 episodes
Wanted: Dead or Alive Howard Catlett / Jesse Holloway / Henry Turner 3 episodes
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Doyle / Jess Newton 2 episodes
1959–1961 Laramie Finch / Gil Spanner 2 episodes
1959–1966 Bonanza Pete Jessup / Ross Marquette / Elmer Trace / Heckler 4 episodes
1960 The Texan Cal Gruder Episode: "Friend of the Family"
Sugarfoot Rome Morgan "Blackwater Swamp"
Men into Space Dr. Narry Episode: "Contraband"
Bourbon Street Beat Buzz Griffin "Target of Hate"
Peter Gunn Bud Bailey Episode: "The Murder Clause"
The Deputy Coffer Episode: "The Truly Yours"
Tate Jory Episode: "Home Town"
Richard Diamond, Private Detective Episode: "Coat of Arms"
Death Valley Days "Pamela's Oxen"
Lawman Lank Bailey / Blake Carr 2 episodes
1960–1961 Klondike Jeff Durain / Jefferson Durain 10 episodes
1961 Cheyenne Kell Episode: "Trouble Street"
The Untouchables Dennis Garrity Episode: "The Jamaica Ginger Story"
The Tall Man John Miller Episode: "The Best Policy"
Stagecoach West Sam Murdock Episode: "Come Home Again"
The Detectives Duke Hawkins Episode: "The Frightened Ones"
The Murder Men Arthur Troy Television film
The Aquanauts Joe Casey Episode: "River Gold"
1961–1962 Perry Mason General Addison Brand / Donald Fletcher 2 episodes
1962 Naked City Harry Brind Episode: "Goodbye Mama, Hello Auntie Maud"
The Dick Powell Show Charlie Allnut Episode: "The Safari" (television pilot for a series based on The African Queen)
Checkmate Gresch Episode: "A Chant of Silence"
Rawhide Colonel Briscoe Episode: "Hostage Child"
Cain's Hundred Arthur Troy Episode: "Blues for a Junkman: Arthur Troy"
1963 Stoney Burke Jamison Episode: "The Test"
Combat! Corporal Arnold Kanger Episode: "Masquerade"
The Greatest Show on Earth Kelly Episode: "Uncaged"
The Eleventh Hour Steve Kowlowski Episode: "Oh, You Shouldn't Have Done It"
The Twilight Zone Major French Episode: "The Old Man in the Cave"
1964 Route 66 Hamar Neilsen Episode: "Kiss the Monster - Make Him Sleep"
The Defenders Earl Chafee Episode: "The Man Who Saved His Country"
1977 The Rockford Files Director Episode: "Irving the Explainer"
1978 The Dain Curse Hamilton Nash Mini-series
1980 The Muppet Show Himself Guest appearance
Superstunt Television film
1981 Darkroom Host Series
The Fall Guy Himself Episode: "Pilot"
Valley of the Dolls Henry Bellamy Mini-series
1982 Saturday Night Live Himself Episode: "James Coburn/Lindsey Buckingham"
1983 Digital Dreams Television film
Malibu Tom Wharton Television film
1984 Faerie Tale Theatre The Gypsy Episode: "Pinocchio"
Draw! Sam Starret Television film
1985 Sins of the Father Frank Murchison Television film
1986 The Wildest West Show of the Stars Grand Marshall Television film
1990–1992 Captain Planet and the Planeteers Looten Plunder (voice) 15 episodes
1992 The Fifth Corner Dr. Grandwell 2 episodes
Silverfox Robert Fox Television film
True Facts Television film
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 Jim Hathaway Television film
Mastergate Major Manley Battle Television film
Murder, She Wrote Cyrus Ramsey Episode: "Day of the Dead"
1994 Ray Alexander: A Taste for Justice Jeffrey Winslow Television film
Greyhounds John Television film
1995 Picket Fences Walter Brock Episode: "Upbringings"
1996 Football America Narrator Television film
Okavango: Africa's Savage Oasis Narrator Television film
The Cherokee Kid Cyrus B. Bloomington Television film
1997 Profiler Charles Vanderhorn 2 episodes
Skeletons Frank Jove Television film
The Second Civil War Jack Buchan Television film
1998 Mr. Murder Drew Oslett, Sr. Television mini-series
Stories from My Childhood The Archbishop (voice) Episode: "The Wild Swans"
1999 Vengeance Unlimited Boone Paladin (voice) Uncredited
Episode: "Judgment"
Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story Morris Gunn Television film
Noah's Ark The Peddler Television film
2000 Scene by Scene Himself
Missing Pieces Atticus Cody Television film
2001 Walter and Henry Charlie Television film
2002 Arliss Slaughterhouse Sid Perelli Episode: "The Immortal" (final appearance)

Video games

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1995 C.E.O Dwight Owen Barnes [46][47]
2001 Monsters, Inc. Henry J. Waternoose III
Monsters, Inc. Scream Team

Biography

[edit]
  • Coburn, Robyn L (April 5, 2022). Dervish Dust: The Life and Words of James Coburn. Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 978-1640124059 (Hardcover), ASIN B08ZJ8YS2D (Kindle)

References

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  1. ^ "New England Historic Genealogical Society". Archived from the original on October 24, 2007.
  2. ^ Allmovie Biography Archived May 26, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "James Coburn Profile". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on June 19, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
  4. ^ "54th Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners: Outstanding Miniseries - 2002". Television Academy. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  5. ^ Coburn, James (April 9, 1999). "Quintessential Cool: A Conversation with James Coburn". MovieMaker (Interview). Interviewed by Timothy Rhys.
  6. ^ "James Coburn". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on November 7, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  7. ^ "Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on December 15, 2010. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  8. ^ a b Horwell, Veronica (November 20, 2002). "James Coburn". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  9. ^ "James Coburn Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  10. ^ "The Hollywood Interview blogsite". Thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com. February 28, 2008. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  11. ^ "Allbusiness.com". Allbusiness.com. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  12. ^ Miller, Ron (January 22, 1995). "Coburn's Comfort Zone at Home in Western with Heston and Berenger Supporting". San Jose Mercury News. p. 6. JAMES COBURN began his movie career in a saddle 36 years ago, playing the gangly and not-too-bright sidekick to bad guy Pernell Roberts in the 1959 Randolph Scott western "Ride Lonesome."
  13. ^ The Restless Gun, DVD, Timeless Media Group
  14. ^ "Entertainment: Coburn Wins Pact, Role in 'High Wind' He'll Star with Anthony Quinn; Mrs. Ames Pens Kidnaping Tale" Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times June 4, 1964: A10.
  15. ^ "Best of hollywood". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 30, 1964. p. 23.
  16. ^ "Coburn just right for 'Our Man Flint'". The Los Angeles Times. February 5, 1965. p. 9 Part 4.
  17. ^ "Star Glitter Is Catching" by Richard L. Coe. The Washington Post and Times-Herald [Washington, D.C.] January 7, 1968: H1.
  18. ^ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away: the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 223. ISBN 9780818404856.
  19. ^ Pevere, Geoff (September 19, 2013). "How Italy saved the western with A Fistful of Dollars". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  20. ^ "EASTWOOD SELECTED BOX-OFFICE CHAMPION" Los Angeles Times January 2, 1974: d17.
  21. ^ McCormick, Neil (May 21, 2020). "Michael Parkinson and James Coburn? The story behind Wings' baffling cover for Band on the Run". The Telegraph. London, England: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  22. ^ Burrows, Alyssa (October 21, 2002). "Lee, Bruce (1940-1973), Martial Arts Master and Film Maker". History Link.org. Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  23. ^ "Trivia on What It Costs by Barry Tarshis - Trivia Library". Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  24. ^ Horwell, Veronica (November 20, 2002). "Obituary: James Coburn". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  25. ^ Macaulay, Sean (September 3, 2015). "Get to know James Coburn, the ultimate Sixties tough guy". British GQ. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  26. ^ "The Lion's Roar". Amazon. September 19, 2006. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
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  28. ^ "C.E.O. for DOS (1995)". MobyGames. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
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