Charles Bronson's died... Monday, September 01, 2003 The fact that I'm upset enough about this to blog on it might surprise you, but it's true, I am a little sad. You see, I was raised on a certain type of movie...John Wayne, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Sean Connery were practically distant uncles to my rather young, over imaginative and solitary mind. Living out in the country as I did -- do -- the nearest girl neighbor who seemed like a blessing at first but who was actually discovered to be a viper later, when I wasn't at school, all I had was my mind. And the movies...these people...all seemed very important. I looked for their faces on video store shelves, I looked forward to seeing them on TV. So, weirdly, this does seem important to me. I can't link directly to the AP wire feed, but this was rather nifty.... LOS ANGELES (Sept. 1) - Charles Bronson, the grim-faced tough guy who built a European following before making his mark in the United States with action films including the ''Death Wish'' series, died Saturday of pneumonia. He was 81. His early life gave no indication of his later fame. He was born Charles Buchinsky on Nov. 3, 1921 - not 1922, as studio biographies claimed - in Ehrenfeld, Pa. He was the 11th of 15 children of a coal miner and his wife, both Lithuanian immigrants. Young Charles learned the art of survival in the tough district of Scooptown, ''where you had nothing to lose because you lost it already.'' The Buchinskys lived crowded in a shack, the children wearing hand-me-downs from older siblings. At the age of 6, Charles was embarrassed to attend school in his sister's dress. Charles' father died when he was 10, and at 16 Charles followed his brothers into the mines. He was paid $1 per ton of coal and volunteered for perilous jobs because the pay was better. Like other toughs in Scooptown, he made trouble and landed in jail for assault and robbery. He might have stayed in the mines for the rest of his life except for World War II. Drafted in 1943, he served with the Air Force in the Pacific, reportedly as a tail gunner on a B29. Having seen the outside world, he vowed not to return to the squalor of Scooptown. He was attracted to acting not, he claimed, because of any artistic urge; he was impressed by the money movie stars could earn. He joined the Philadelphia Play and Players Troupe, painting scenery and acting in a few minor roles. At the Pasadena Playhouse school, Bronson improved his diction, supporting himself by selling Christmas cards and toys on street corners. Studio scouts saw him at the Playhouse and he was cast as a sailor in the 1951 service comedy ''You're in the Navy Now'' starring Gary Cooper. ............................................. After that they discuss his career, including the fact that he once one the 1971 Golden Globe for being the most popular actor in the world. So maybe you won't think I'm mad, after all. Permalink Cindy scribed this at 12:30 PM 0 comments

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