Charles Bronson (Actor) Biography, Wife, Children and Net Worth
Charles Bronson was an American-born film actor whose Hollywood career spanned almost 5 decades. He gained a reputation for playing “difficult roles” in western drama/crime films, as a policeman, vigilante, or gunman. The iconic actor also had a 4-year stint outside the United States during which he starred in several European films. Upon his return to the United States in 1972, Bronson’s profile soared even higher and he became one of the highest paid Hollywood actors of his generation.
Biography of Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on November 2, 1921, in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania. He changed his surname from Buchinsky to Bronson during the early years of his acting career in an effort to make himself more marketable. His parents Mary (née Valinsky) and Valteris P. Bučinskis were both from Lithuania, and he was the 11th child of 15 children in the family. As a child, his first languages were Lithuanian and Russian, but he eventually learned to speak English during his teenage years.
Charles Bronson was the first member of his family to graduate from high school and he started working in the coal mine at the age of 16. He served in the US Army during World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart at the end of the war. Subsequently, he joined a theatrical group based in Philadelphia while working several odd jobs to support himself. He moved to Hollywood in 1950 where he enrolled in acting classes.
Bronson scored his acting debut as an uncredited extra in the 1951 wartime comedy film You’re in the Navy Now. He landed several other minor roles in quick succession as he featured in The Mafia (1951), The People Against O’Hara (1951), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) Battle Zone (1952) Pat and Mike (1952 ) Diplomatic Mail (1952) My Six Convicts (1952) The Marrying Kind (1952) and Montana’s Red Skies (1952). He had his first notable role in the Western film Drum Beat (1954) in which he gave an impressive portrayal of the villainous Captain Jack.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Charles Bronson appeared in several detective and western films and also recorded appearances in television series of these genres. He played lead character Mike Kovac in the long-running 2-season crime drama series Man with a Camera (1958-60) and scored more starring roles in low-budget films like Machine Gun Kelly (1958), Gang War ( 1958), When Hell Broke (1958) and Showdown at Boot Hill (1959).
He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1961 for his guest role in an episode of the CBS series General Electric Theater hosted by Ronald Reagan. Other notable film credits include The Great Escape (1963), Guns of Diablo (1965), and The Sandpiper (1966).
Bronson’s first film outside of Hollywood was the 1968 French film Adieu l’ami which made him a star in Europe. He appeared in several other European films between 1968 and 1972, including Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Rider in the Rain (1970) which won a Hollywood Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Having achieved international fame in Europe, Charles Bronson became a much sought-after leading man upon his return to the United States in 1972.
He had the most notable role of his entire career as the lead actor in the action film Death Wish (1974) which was a huge hit and eventually spawned 4 sequels starring Bronson in all. The iconic actor became a serial box office star and commanded very high salaries from the mid-1970s through the 1990s. He recorded the final acting credits of his career in the three-part series of TV movie Family of cops (1995-99) in which he played the main role of police commissioner Paul Fein.
Net value
Charles Bronson ended his nearly five-decade acting career in August 1998 after undergoing hip replacement surgery. When he died in August 2003, the iconic actor left behind an estate valued at $48 million, including a home in Malibu, California, a beach house and a ranch in Vermont.
wife and children
Charles Bronson was married to aspiring actress Kim Weeks. The duo married in December 1998 and remained together until his death in August 2003. Bronson had been married twice before his union with Kim Weeks. His first marriage was to Harriet Tendler whom he met in 1949 when they were both aspiring actors. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1967 after 18 years. His second marital union was with English actress Jill Ireland. Their marriage lasted from 1968 until 1990, when Ireland died of breast cancer.
Bronson had 4 children during his lifetime; 2 from his first marriage, a son named Tony Bronson and a daughter Suzanne Bronson. With his second wife Jill Ireland he had a daughter named Zuleika Bronson (born August 1971) and they also adopted another daughter Katrina Holden Bronson (born April 1968). He was also stepfather to 3 Irish children from a previous union.
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