Charles Bronson

He married thrice in his lifetime. The first was to Harriet Tendler in Philadelphia in 1949. The couple was blessed with two children. They separated in 1965.

He then married actress Jill Ireland on October 5, 1968. They were blessed with two children.

The relationship continued until Jill Ireland’s death in 1990. Eight years later, he married Kim Weeks, a former employee of Dove Audio. The couple remained married for five years until his death in 2003.

Charles Brons was born as Charles Dennis Buchinsky to Walter Buchinsky and May. His father was a Lithuanian immigrant while his mother belonged to the Lithuanian American society. He had fourteen siblings.

Raised in a brimming family, he spoke Russian and Lithuanian as a child. It was only when he turned into teenage that he learned speaking English. After the death of his father, he took up a job at the coal mine, earning a dollar for a ton of coal that he mined.

It was during World War II that he gave up working in the mine and instead enrolled himself for military service. By 1943, he was drafted in the United States Army Air Force. He received a Purple Heart for enduring wounds during his service in the war.

After his service in World War II, he took up various odd jobs to earn a living before joining a theatrical group. After his short stay in New York, he moved to Hollywood in 1950 wherein he enrolled in acting classes.

His first ever recorded screen presence was an uncredited one of a sailor for the 1951 released film, ‘You’re In the Navy Now’. Thereafter, he played minor role in a couple of films including, ‘Pat and Mike’, ‘Miss Sadie Thompson’ and ‘House of Wax’.

In 1952, he made his television appearance for the Roger’s show, ‘Knockout’ and in an episode of ‘The Red Skelton Show’. It was his performance as Modoc warrior Captain Jack in ‘Drum Beat’ that brought his acting abilities in limelight.

In 1954, he changed his surname from Buchinsky to Bronson to sound more ‘English’. The change of surname was primarily acted upon to curb any hindrance in career due to his eastern European last name.

Throughout the 1950s and the 60s, he made several appearance in various television shows including ‘Biff Baker, USA’, ‘Sheriff of Cochise’, ‘U.S. Marshal’, ‘Hey, Jeannie!’, ‘And So Died Riabouchinska’, ‘There Was an Old Woman’ and so on.

The film ‘Death Wish’ released in 1974 was a breakthrough movie in the career of this talented Catholic-Lithuanian born actor. The movie was a massive hit critically and commercially, earning $22 million at the box office. The overwhelming response by fans and critics led to the release of four more sequels of the film, thus turning it into a film franchise. Each of the films was well received by the audience.