Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Charles Coburn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Douville Coburn (b. June 19, 1877, Macon, Georgia – d. August 30, 1961, New York, New York) was an American film and theater actor. He was grandfather of also Oscar-winning character actor James Coburn.
Coburn was a theater manager by the age of 17. He later moved on to acting and made his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with his wife, Ivah Wills Coburn (c. 1882-1937), an American actress and theatrical producer, in 1906. In addition to managing the company, the couple performed frequently on Broadway. After his wife's death in 1937, Coburn relocated to Los Angeles, California and began acting in films.
He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The More the Merrier in 1943. He was also nominated for his roles in The Devil and Miss Jones in 1941 and The Green Years in 1946. His other film credits include Of Human Hearts (1938), The Lady Eve (1941), Kings Row (1942), The Constant Nymph (1943), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Wilson (1944), Impact (1949), The Paradine Case (1947), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and John Paul Jones (1959).
In the 1940s, Coburn served as vice-president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a right-wing group opposed to Communists in Hollywood.
He was a leader of the blacklist of Communists in Hollywood, supported by such luminaries as John Wayne, Hedda Hopper, Adolphe Menjou, Ward Bond, Robert Taylor, Ronald Reagan, Ginger Rogers, as well as others who perceived the threat.
In 1959, Coburn married Winifred Natzka, who was forty-one years his junior and the former wife of Oscar Natzka, an opera singer.
He died from a heart attack on August 30, 1961 in New York, New York, aged 83.
Charles Coburn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to motion pictures at 6240 Hollywood Boulevard.
| Preceded by Van Heflin for Johnny Eager |
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1943 for The More the Merrier |
Succeeded by Barry Fitzgerald for Going My Way |
- Charles Coburn at the Internet Movie Database
- Charles Coburn at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ivah Wills Coburn at the Internet Broadway Database
- New Georgia Encyclopedia article on Charles Coburn
- Find-A-Grave profile for Charles Coburn
- What-A-Character.com profile and filmography
- Charles Coburn Collection, Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia