James Coburn dies at 74

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 8:46 am

The great actor James Coburn died of a heart attack, yesterday in his house in LA.
I've only seen him in 4 movies, so I can't say much about him- here's the BBC article and Here are Roger Ebert's comments.

Kayless · Post by **Kayless** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 8:51 am

Yeah, I just found out from Yahoo news. It's a shame, I really liked much of his work.

Rob-hin · Post by **Rob-hin** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 9:32 am

His name doesn't really ring a bell for me.
What movies did he make?

Never mind:
The Magnificent Seven, Our Man Flint and The Great Escape (BBC News)

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 3:00 pm

How to forget "Giù la testa" (don't know the american title, "Bow your head" maybe) by Sergio Leone???

Cobourn was a great and charismatic actor, almost a legend thanx to a couple of movies.
Too bad, really

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 3:43 pm

This sucks.

He was also rumored to be one of the leading candidates to replace Richard Harris as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies...well, guess he can't now.

Ambiorix · Post by **Ambiorix** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 6:16 pm

Originally posted by Rob-hin
His name doesn't really ring a bell for me.
What movies did he make?

I'm guessing you're young.

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 6:21 pm

I think his best films were Charade (1963) and The President's Analyst. (1967). He did a lot of truly awful scripts, and I never thought (just my opinion) that he was really that good as an actor. Great voice, though: deep, rich and resonant.

Maharlika · Post by **Maharlika** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 9:32 pm

You got to admire that voice...

Originally posted by fable
Great voice, though: deep, rich and resonant.

...I remember vividly that beer ad he did --- my brother and I would mimic him the way he said his lines in that commercial.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 9:45 pm

Originally posted by fable
He did a lot of truly awful scripts, and I never thought (just my opinion) that he was really that good as an actor.

Coburn was one of those actors whose body of work is greater than his talent might suggest. Other actors who fall into this category are Christopher Lee, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin.

I think people only later began to appreciate Coburn's contributions to film when he was way past his prime. In fact, I believe that his 1998 Oscar was more of a lifetime achievement award than recognition for his work in Affliction. I think of Coburn as more of a character actor than a great actor, but his longevity in the film business is something to be admired and appreciated.

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Thu Nov 21, 2002 2:21 am

I'll always remember him for "Cross of Iron".

And, tongue firmly in cheek, for the "Flint" movies and "Hudson Hawk".

Osiris · Post by **Osiris** » Thu Nov 21, 2002 4:55 am

Looks like the "Magnificent Seven" is down to the "Magnificent Two" - Charles Bronson and Brad Dexter are still alive, anyone know for sure about the others?

Sad to see James ride off into the sunset....

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Nov 21, 2002 7:12 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Coburn was one of those actors whose body of work is greater than his talent might suggest. Other actors who fall into this category are Christopher Lee, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin.

I think of Coburn as more of a character actor than a great actor, but his longevity in the film business is something to be admired and appreciated.

It's also possible that his acting skills improved significantly after he switched from being a lead man (typically the Our Man Flint series in the 1960s) to the character field. I admit to seeing very few of his films after those he made about 1975. Borgnine: I will always think of him as Marty; he was, IMO, a great actor who simply and constantly mismanaged his own career (and life, but let's not go there). Christopher Lee: great from the start, I think. His career got sidetracked by his endless series of horror films, but you can see the potential in his very first screen performance as a swish Osric in Olivier's classic Hamlet (1948).