James Coburn
A-List actor James Coburn died ten years ago today. Although not the biggest star of his day, he starred in over seventy films and picked up an Academy Award.
James Coburn
James Coburn was best known as a big screen actor, but he was no stranger to TV, making over a hundred appearances. This was quite a lot fewer than David Webb, but he was a big star rather than a jobbing actor. Although John Wayne was and will probably always remain America’s biggest cowboy star, Coburn was no stranger to the genre, and his film career began in low budget westerns.
He was born August 31, 1928 at Laurel, Nebraska, so was an authentic cowboy. His biggest role was arguably in the 1960 monster western The Magnificent Seven, which had an all-star cast, or as good as. Coburn won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the 1997 film Affliction, and a Lifetime Achievement Award the same year – 1999. He was married twice, siring a son and a daughter, and although he lived in the United States his whole life, he left one broken heart in London, the lovely and talented Lynsey de Paul, who turned down his offer of marriage and remains single to this day. Lynsey wrote a song about their relationship, Hollywood Romance. Their romance may have ended, but Coburn’s romance with Hollywood never did. Although in later life he suffered badly from rheumatoid arthritis, he continued to appear in both films and on TV up until his death from a heart attack at his Beverly Hills home 10 years ago today at the age of 74.
[The above was article was first published November 18, 2012; the original wasn’t archived.]
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