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IMDbPro

James Coburn(1928-2002)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000208
James Coburn in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Trailer
Play trailer1:30
American Gun (2002)
54 Videos
99+ Photos
Lanky, charismatic and versatile actor with an amazing grin that put everyone at ease, James Coburn studied acting at UCLA, and then moved to New York to study under noted acting coach Stella Adler. After being noticed in several stage productions, Coburn appeared in a handful of minor westerns before being cast as the knife-throwing, quick-shooting Britt in the John Sturges mega-hit The Magnificent Seven (1960). Sturges remembered Coburn's talents when he cast his next major film project, The Great Escape (1963), where Coburn played the Australian POW Sedgwick. Regular work now came thick and fast for Coburn, including appearing in Major Dundee (1965), the first of several films he appeared in directed by Hollywood enfant terrible Sam Peckinpah.

Coburn was then cast, and gave an especially fine performance as Lt. Commander Paul Cummings in Arthur Hiller's The Americanization of Emily, where he demonstrated a flair for writer Paddy Chayefsky's subtle, ironic comedy that would define his performances for the rest of his career.

The next two years were a key period for Coburn, with his performances in the wonderful 007 spy spoof Our Man Flint (1966) and the eerie Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). Coburn followed up in 1967 with a Flint sequel, In Like Flint (1967), and the much underrated political satire The President's Analyst (1967). The remainder of the 1960s was rather uneventful for Coburn. However, he became associated with martial arts legend Bruce Lee and the two trained together, traveled extensively and even visited India scouting locations for a proposed film project, but Lee's untimely death (Coburn, along with Steve McQueen, was a pallbearer at Lee's funeral) put an end to that.

The 1970s saw Coburn appearing again in several strong roles, starting off in Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), alongside Charles Bronson in the Depression-era Hard Times (1975) and as a disenchanted German soldier on the Russian front in Peckinpah's superb Cross of Iron (1977). Towards the end of the decade, however, Coburn was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which severely hampered his health and work output for many years. After conventional treatments failed, Coburn turned to a holistic therapist, and through a restructured diet program, made a definite improvement. By the 1990s he was once again appearing regularly in both film and TV productions.

No one was probably more surprised than Coburn himself when he was both nominated for, and then won, the Best Supporting Actor Award in 1997 for playing Nick Nolte's abusive and alcoholic father in Affliction (1997). At 70 years of age, Coburn's career received another shot in the arm, and he appeared in another 14 films, including Snow Dogs (2002) and The Man from Elysian Fields (2001), before his death from a heart attack in November of 2002. Coburn's passions in life included martial arts, card-playing and enjoying Cuban cigars (which may have contributed to his fatal heart attack).
BornAugust 31, 1928
DiedNovember 18, 2002(74)
BornAugust 31, 1928
DiedNovember 18, 2002(74)
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000208
  • Won 1 Oscar

Photos254

James Coburn in The Loved One (1965)
Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Yul Brynner, Robert Vaughn, Horst Buchholz, and Brad Dexter in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
James Coburn
James Coburn
James Coburn and Beverly Kelly
James Coburn and James H. Coburn IV
James Coburn and Beverly Kelly
James Coburn in Midway (1976)
Henry Fonda and James Coburn in Midway (1976)
James Coburn, Leonard P. Geer, Frank Watkins, and Don Wilbanks in The Twilight Zone (1959)
James Coburn, John Anderson, John Craven, Leonard P. Geer, John Marley, and Don Wilbanks in The Twilight Zone (1959)
James Coburn and John Marley in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Known for

Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in Charade (1963)
Charade
7.9
  • Tex Panthollow
  • 1963
Richard Attenborough, Steve McQueen, and James Garner in The Great Escape (1963)
The Great Escape
8.2
  • Sedgwick 'Manufacturer'
  • 1963
Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, and Eli Wallach in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Magnificent Seven
7.7
  • Britt
  • 1960
James Coburn and Nick Nolte in Affliction (1997)
Affliction
6.9
  • Glen Whitehouse
  • 1997

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Michael Boatman, Sandra Oh, Jim Turner, and Robert Wuhl in Arli$$ (1996)
    Arli$$
  • American Gun (2002)
    American Gun
  • Cuba Gooding Jr. in Snow Dogs (2002)
    Snow Dogs
  • Monsters, Inc. Scream Team (2001)
    Monsters, Inc. Scream Team
    • (voice)
  • Billy Crystal and John Goodman in Monsters, Inc. (2001)
    Monsters, Inc.
    • (voice)
  • James Coburn, Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Mick Jagger, and Olivia Williams in The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
    The Man from Elysian Fields
  • James Coburn, John Larroquette, Kate Nelligan, and Nicholas Braun in Walter and Henry (2001)
    Walter and Henry
  • The Yellow Bird (2001)
    The Yellow Bird
  • Texas Rangers (2001)
    Texas Rangers
    • (voice, uncredited)
  • Proximity (2001)
    Proximity
  • The Good Doctor
  • Intrepid (2000)
    Intrepid
  • Missing Pieces (2000)
    Missing Pieces
  • Brad Hawkins and Bonnie Sommerville as Tyler and Lyne.
    Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story
  • Noah's Ark (1999)
    Noah's Ark

Producer

  • The Mists of Avalon (2001)
    The Mists of Avalon

Director

  • The Rockford Files (1974)
    The Rockford Files

Videos54

The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
Clip 1:05
The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
Clip 1:14
The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
Clip 1:21
The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
Clip 1:33
The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Clip 1:10
Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Clip 1:42
Sister Act 2 Movie Collection: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
Monsters, Inc.
Clip 2:01
Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.
Clip 1:56
Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc.
Clip 1:35
Monsters, Inc.
Official Trailer
Trailer 3:21
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:01
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:48
Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Official Site
    • The James and Paula Coburn Foundation
    • August 31, 1928
    • Laurel, Nebraska, USA
    • November 18, 2002
    • Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA(heart attack)
    • Paula O'HaraOctober 22, 1993 - November 18, 2002 (his death)
    • James H. Coburn IV
  • Other works
    (1998-99) TV commercials (voice): Chevrolet trucks
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Portrayal
    • 3 Interviews
    • 12 Articles
    • 2 Pictorials
    • 2 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    At the time of his death, he was at home listening to music and playing his flute.
  • Quotes
    Actors are boring when they are not working. It's a natural condition, because they don't have anything to do. They just lay around, and that's why so many of them get drunk. They really get to be boring people. My wife will attest to that.
    • Deeply calm yet authoritative voice
    • Candy
      (1968)
      $50,000 plus points

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