Charles Bronson: Life Story (Jerry Skinner Documentary)

This is the

story

of actor Charles Bronson, a true rags to riches

story

. Born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on November 3, 1921 in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, Bronson was the eleventh of 15 children born to Lithuanian immigrants. His father was Valteris Bučinskis, who called himself Walter to sound more American. His mother was Maria Valinsky. Walter was a coal miner by trade and worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. The family was extremely poor. Charles said that when he started school, clothing in his family was scarce. Sometimes the other children would make fun of him and make fun of him. He sometimes had to take off his socks after school so his older brother could wear them in the mines.

Charles only spoke Lithuanian and Russian at home. He was a teenager before he could speak English well. At the age of 10, Charles's father, Walter, died and six years later, at the age of 16, Charles went to work in the mines with his older brother. At a young age, Charles showed a lot of talent in being able to draw. He was always the one the teachers called on to draw Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures for the class. He said his talents came naturally. Charlie Bronson was the first to finish high school. He graduated in 1939 from South Park High School in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania.

Charlie is on the far right of the second row. From 16 to 20 he worked in the mines where he developed claustrophobia and had to quit. He worked odd jobs helping his family and his mother make a living until 1943, when he was drafted into the army. He said it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He had plenty to eat and clean clothes to wear. He was assigned as a truck driver in a Mess Squadron, stationed in Kingman, Arizona. But in 1945 he had been assigned to the 61st Bombardment Squadron stationed in Guam. After training, he served as an aerial gunner on a Boeing B-29 Superfortress, flying missions over the Japanese islands and receiving a Purple Heart for wounds received during battle.

A Japanese fighter pilot shot him in the left arm, leaving him with permanent scars. After the war, Bronson worked odd jobs, from cook to bricklayer, even renting beach chairs in Atlantic City and there meeting vacationing actors from a company in Philadelphia. They were impressed with his artistic abilities and offered him a job painting, designing sets and doing some acting. When he found out how much money actors made, he said, "I can do that." He once claimed that he became an actor not for the job, but to earn a lot of money. In 1947, while still in Philadelphia, he met Harriet Tendler.

She was also trying her hand at acting. She was 18 and Charlie was 26. On her first date, she said, "I had four cents in my pocket." She knew it because he showed it to her. Two years later, on September 30, 1949, they were married at the City Hall Club in Atlantic City. That same year, with two hundred and fifty dollars and a one-way Greyhound bus ticket, the couple moved to California. Harriet worked and supported her and Charlie while he sought work as an actor. The agreement was that she would work and support him, and then, when Charlie made it big as an actor, he would help her.

He used the GI Bill and eventually signed up at the Pasadena Playhouse. While there, he had a break when his teacher introduced him to director Henry Hathaway. In 1951, Hathaway gave him his first uncredited role in You're In The Navy Now, starring Gary Cooper. It was also actor Lee Marvin's first film. That same year, Bronson played as a boxer and boxed with Cowboy Western Star, Roy Rogers, in The Knockout. In 1953, Bronson played the mute henchman, Igor, in House of Wax, starring Vincent Price. In 1953, Bronson gave a great performance as an Indian warrior in Drum Beat, starring Alan Ladd.

Also in 1954, the Chamber of Un-American Activities blacklisted actors who showed any sympathies with the Communist Party. Charlie's agent became concerned that Buchinsky sounded too Russian and suggested that he change his username. It has been said that he chose the name, Bronson, from a street sign near the studio to make him more American. That same year, while filming the western Vera Cruz in Mexico, Bronson and his fellow actor Ernest Borgnine decided to go to the city, dressed in costumes, weapons and all. They were detained and interrogated by the feds, thinking they were real outlaws. It took a lot of convincing before they let them go.

On February 27, 1955, the Bronsons had their first child, Suzanne. And during the '50s, Bronson would appear in numerous television shows such as Gunsmoke. He was the Apache boy from The Sheriff of Cochise. He played an outlaw in Colt 45. He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Bronson did five episodes of Have Gun Will Travel, with Richard Boone. In total throughout his career, Bronson made more than 80 television appearances. In 1958, Charles Bronson landed his first leading role in a film, Machine Gun Kelly, and was paid $5,000 for the role. His next role was also a lead role in a World War II film, When Hell Broke Loose.

In 1958, Bronson was asked to star in an ABC detective series, Man With A Camera. It lasted two years until 1960. He was paid $2,000 a week for the 29 episodes. Producer Warren Lewis, who had hired Bronson for the television series, loaned the actor $30,000 for a down payment on a house at 3053 Motor Drive in Cheviot Hills, California. In 1960, director John Sturges asked Bronson to be one of the Magnificent Seven, a group of gunmen determined to protect the city's defenseless peasants. Joining Bronson were Yul Brynner, James Coburn, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Horst Buchholz and Eli Wallach. Wallach stated that Bronson was a loner and that he was left alone during filming.

Bronson once said that he didn't need friends; He had thousands of acquaintances, but his family were his friends. Charles received $50,000 for his role in The Magnificent Seven. And, in 1961, Charles and Harriet had their second child, Tony. Charlie named Tony Anthony Charles Bronson, after his younger brother who had died of heart disease as a teenager. In 1962, again, John Sturges cast Bronson, along with his fellow actors Steve McQueen, James Garner, James Coburn and David McCallum, in The Great Escape. He played a Polish prisoner of war who suffered from claustrophobia. Perfect role for Bronson because he also suffered from claustrophobia from working in the mines at a young age.

While working on The Great Escape, Bronson will become friends with film actor David McCallum, known for his role in the television series Man From Uncle. Bronson, for the first time, will meet his second wife. Actress Jill Ireland, who was married to David McCallum at the time. It has been said that when McCallum introduced Bronson to his wife, Bronson told David, "Someday I will marry your wife." At that moment he took it as a joke. He married Ireland, but it was six years later. The same year as The Great Escape. Bronson was paired with the "King of Rock & Roll," Elvis Presley, in Kid Galahad.

Bronson liked Elvis and Elvis liked Bronson. They both came from extremely poor backgrounds and could relate to each other. In 1964, Charles starred alongside Kurt Russell and Susan Oliver in Guns Of Diablo. The following year, in 1965, Charles Bronson's wife, Harriet, filed for divorce after a private detective she had hired convinced her that Charles was seeing other women. They had been estranged for some time, although it would be three years after their divorce before Charles married Jill Ireland. In her book, Charlie and Me, she said that Charles tried to talk her out of divorcing her. She said: "I could stand her infidelity, but I couldn't fight the love," referring to Jill Ireland.

Harriet became depressed. Her

life

had just fallen apart. Years later, she claimed it was nothing more than a walking nervous breakdown. She was unable to take care of her two children. Charles was granted custody of Suzanne and Tony. Harriet stated in her book, Charlie and Me, about her

life

together, that she watched Jill Ireland in movies with Charlie and said to herself, "That was supposed to be me. He promised me that." ". As time went by, Harriet Bronson began to improve. She decided that she could do it herself. Charles would share her children with her again, but he would never relinquish custody of her.

Harriet became a very popular radio talk show host, a profession she loved very much and was evidently very good at. She spent 9 years at both KABC and kyiv in Los Angeles. Some said she was the best voice on late-night radio. She fought breast and lung cancer and, as far as I know, she lives in Los Angeles today. Harriet Bronson never remarried. In 1967, Bronson will star in The Dirty Dozen, with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland. 12 months after the Bronsons' divorce, David McCallum and Ireland divorced. David quickly married actress Katherine Carpenter that same year and they are still married.

On October 5, 1968, Charles Bronson and Jill Dorothy Ireland were married in a simple ceremony at Santa Monica City Hall, with all five children present. the two of Charles, Susanna and Tony, and the three of Jill, Paul, Jason and Valentine; Valentine, who was born nine months after Jill and David adopted Jason. Charles was 42 and Jill was 26 when they married. The Bronson family moved into their large Bel Air mansion in Los Angeles. The Bel Air house had seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The Bronsons will need them all. It started with five children, but will end with seven. Three years later, Jill and Charlie will have a daughter, Zuleika.

They will name their 18th-century home in West Windsor, Vermont, after her. In 1971, Charles Bronson would receive the Golden Globe Award for Most Popular Actor in the World, in part because he starred in foreign films such as 1968's Once Upon A Time In The West and the 1970 French film Rider On The Rain. In 1972, Bronson starred alongside his wife, Jill Ireland, in The Mechanic. Bronson will earn a million dollars for his role in Death Wish in 1974. He played a vigilante who takes revenge on the rapist who raped his wife. In 1975, it will be Breakheart Pass, also with Jill.

That same year was Breakout, with his wife, Jill, again. In 1976, Bronson will earn another million for starring in St Ives. In 1977, he was The White Buffalo, for United Artists. That same year the Raid On Entebbe took place. In 1981, Jill's close friend Hilary Holden, a British casting director and single mother, died suddenly of a heart attack. Hilary had no family. After her funeral, Hilary's 11-year-old daughter went home with the Bronsons. Katrina was quickly adopted by Charles and Jill. In 1982, he again starred opposite Jill Ireland in Death Wish II. Next was 1983's 10 To Midnight, which earned Bronson $2 million.

Over the years, Charles would star alongside his wife Jill Ireland in 14 films. Each time, they will pick up their children and go to filming locations. They believed in taking children with them wherever they went. Two things happened to the Bronson family in 1984: Jill wrote her autobiography, Life Wish, and in May 1984, she went to the doctor for a routine breast exam. The doctor ordered more tests. After 48 hours of tests, Ireland returned to the hospital room and asked Charlie, "Have you talked to the doctor?" And what did he say?" Bronson, surprised, responded with one word; "Evil." For the next six years there would be no movies.

Charles Bronson didn't work out. He devoted all his time and energy to taking care of Jill. Jill went on a massive program of cancer treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, beginning with a mastectomy. It was extremely difficult for everyone knowing that Jill's time was limited. She could perform at horse shows. Jill said it was the only place she really loved. However, after 3 years of relentless treatment, the family received the news that the cancer had spread to her lungs. , she was trying to make an audiobook about her life with cancer called Life Lines. She was helped by a 29-year-old actress, Kim Weeks.

She became indispensable to both Jill and Charlie. She began taking care of her financial affairs that Jill could no longer do. After Jill's death, Weeks will continue in that capacity. In November 1989, Jill and Charlie received more heartbreaking news when their son Paul called her home in Vermont to tell them that their adopted son Jason was found dead in their Laurel Canyon apartment, allegedly related to drug and alcohol use. . Jill was devastated and she couldn't believe it. She had spoken to Jason the day before. She seems fine. She said that she had quit drugs and that she was looking forward to the future.

Ireland stated that she believed her son was predisposed to drugs. She learned that Jason's maternal father was a drug addict. She yes, d; "Poor little Jason didn't stand a chance," and that he had been her biggest worry. Ireland's family, especially Bronson, was worried about Jill being able to attend Jason's funeral in Los Angeles, but she insisted; And Charles chartered a private plane. David McCallum, the legal father of Jason and Charles Bronson, who had helpedraising him during his 21-year marriage to Jill, they carried Jason's coffin up the hill to the burial site. Paul and Valentine sang a song dedicated to his brother.

Jason McCallum Bronson, is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California. Jason was 27 years old. Six months after Jason's death, on May 18, 1990, around 11:30 a.m. m., Jill Dorothy Ireland will pass away at her home in Malibu, her husband Charles Bronson, her mother Dorothy, her brother John, her sons Paul and Valentine and her daughter Zuleyka. At her request, she will be cremated and her remains given to her husband. Jill Ireland was 54 years old. Her star is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is located at 6751, Hollywood Boulevard. Bronson will tell reporters a few years after Jill's death: "I keep her room the way it was when she died.

I will never marry again." And in 1994, Charles Bronson will star in his last leading role in a film, Death Wish 5. However, he will star in some television movies such as Family Of Cops in 1995, Family Of Cops II, 1997, Family Of Cops III in 1999. Bronson will He gave roles to his assistant Kim Weeks in his last television movies. In 1998, Bronson underwent hip replacement surgery, which caused him to retire. Also in 1998, Kim Weeks allegedly told Bronson that she would leave if he didn't. I didn't marry her. They married on December 22, 1998. By 1999, Bronson was slowly showing signs of Alzheimer's disease.

His health was deteriorating and he was diagnosed with lung cancer. In 2002, his friends said that Charles's Alzheimer's had progressed to some extent. that he didn't know he was an actor, much less a global superstar. On August 30, 2003, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Charles Dennis Bronson will die from pneumonia, complications from lung cancer, and Alzheimer's. Bronson appeared in more than 90 films throughout his career. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located on the north side of the 6900 block, Hollywood Boulevard. Charles Bronson was buried in Brownsville Cemetery in West Windsor, Vermont. At his request, Jill Ireland's remains were buried with him.

Charles Bronson was 81 years old.