Charles Bronson

A stepson, Jason McCallum Bronson, preceded him in death after succumbing to a drug overdose in 1989. Clift has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6104 Hollywood Blvd. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Kim, four children, two stepchildren and two grandchildren. He is interred in the Quaker Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. Bronson died of pneumonia while suffering from Alzheimer's disease at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, California. Montgomery Clift died at the age of 45 of heart problems brought on by his drug and alcohol addictions. At the time, Bronson (who shared the screen with McCallum in The Great Escape) bluntly told McCallum: "I'm going to marry your wife." Two years later, he made good on his boast and married Jill. He turned down the starring roles in East of Eden and Sunset Blvd..

He met her when she was still married to actor David McCallum. He needed reconstructive surgery on his face, but returned to acting and to stardom. She was his second wife. In 1956, while filming Raintree County, he smashed his car into a tree, and only quick thinking by co-star Elizabeth Taylor, who pulled two teeth out of his throat to keep him from choking, saved his life. Bronson was married to actress Jill Ireland from 1968 until her death in 1990. But the public never knew until after his death that he was a bisexual, and his guilt over this led to his continuing alcoholism and drug use. After the famous 1983 case of Bernhard Goetz, the actor recommended that people not imitate his character. Amazingly, Clift was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Judgement At Nuremberg in a role that only took up seven minutes of screen time.

He became a crime-fighting vigilante by night, a highly controversial role, as his executions were cheered by crime-weary audiences. He had a highly successful film career, performing in many Oscar-nominated roles and becoming a matinee idol for his good looks. He is also remembered for Death Wish (1974) which spawned several sequels, In Death Wish he played a Paul Kersey, a prosperous liberal New York architect until his wife was murdered and daughter raped. Clift was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor that same year for The Search. In the westerns The Magnificent Seven (1960) and the epic Once Upon a Time in the West, (1968) he played heroic gunfighters, taking up the cause of the defenseless. He achieved success on the stage and starred there for ten years before moving to Hollywood, debuting in 1948's Red River opposite John Wayne. Bronson's most famous films include The Great Escape, (1963) in which he played Danny Welinski, nicknamed "The Tunnel King", a Polish prisoner of war, The Dirty Dozen, (1967) in which he played an Army death row convict conscripted into a World War II suicide mission. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift appeared on Broadway at the age of thirteen.

He became quite famous on that continent, and was known by two interesting nicknames: The Italians called him "Il Brutto" ("The Ugly") and to the French he was known as "le sacre monstre," the "sacred monster." Even though he was not yet a headliner in America, his overseas fame earned him a 1971 Golden Globe as the "Most Popular Actor in the World." That same year, he wondered if he was "too masculine" to ever become a star in the US. Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American actor. Although he began his career in America, Bronson first made a serious name for himself acting in European films. The Defector. In 1961 Bronson made an appearance with Elizabeth Montgomery in The Twilight Zone, in the episode "Two". Freud. One of his earliest screen appearances under his new name was as Vincent Price's henchman in 1953 horror classic House Of Wax. Judgment at Nuremberg.

Lithuanian was a name for people living in that regin of Poland). The Misfits. (Bronson is in fact half Polish). Wild River. During the McCarthy hearings he changed his last name to Bronson as Russian-sounding names were suspect even though Buchinski is really spelled Buchinski and is more Polish then Russian. Suddenly, Last Summer. After the war, he decided to pursue the profession of acting, not from any love of the subject, but rather because he was impressed with the amount of money that he could potentially make in the business. Lonelyhearts.

In 1943, Bronson was drafted into the Air Force and served as a tail gunner onboard B29 bombers. The Young Lions. His family was so poor that at one time he was forced to wear his sister's dress to school because he had no other clothes. Raintree County. He was born as Charles Dennis Buchinski in the notorious Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania neighborhood of Scooptown, the 11th of 15 children of Lithuanian and Polish immigrants. From Here to Eternity. He was blunt, physically powerful, and had a look of danger that fit such roles. Indescretion of an American Wife.

In most of his roles he starred as a brutal police detective, a western gunfighter, or a mafia hitman. I Confess. Charles Bronson (November 3, 1921 - August 30, 2003) was an American actor of "tough guy" roles. A Place in the Sun. The Big Lift. The Heiress.

Red River. The Search. 1949 - Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Search. 1952 - Best Actor in a Leading Role - A Place in the Sun.

1954 - Best Actor in a Leading Role - From Here to Eternity. 1962 - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Judgment at Nuremberg.