Creator / James Coburn

Coburn in his '60s heyday.

"It was the desire to do the complete thing. I only took taking acting lessons because my whole thing, really, was to direct. But my first jobs were acting jobs."

James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American actor born in Laurel, Nebraska whose screen career lasted more than forty years.

A tall, lanky, gravel-voiced fellow frequently seen in "man of action" roles, Coburn began his career in television (predominantly on Western series) before becoming one of the preeminent movie stars of The '60s when he starred as superspy Derek Flint in In Like Flint and Our Man Flint. This Star-Making Role was just the hallmark of a long, distinguished career. However, this distinguished career was not without its challenges. Still in his prime, Coburn began to suffer from debilitating arthritis, especially in his hands, which limited his ability to use them (The effects of it in his hands are clearly visible in many of his later roles). Coburn eventually recovered enough to resume his busy career.

Coburn and fellow actor Robert Vaughn were longtime best friends. (although they only worked together once, much to their mutual regret, in The Magnificent Seven (1960)), which Vaughn had recommended Coburn to the director, as he knew how much Coburn had loved The Seven Samurai.

Coburn was married to Beverly Kelly, with whom he had two children, and then to Paula Murad. He died of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 74 while he was listening to music in his home.

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Filmography on TV Tropes:

Film roles

• Ride Lonesome (1959) as Whit
• The Magnificent Seven (1960) as Britt
• Hell Is for Heroes (1962) as Cpl. Frank Henshaw
• The Great Escape (1963) as Louis Sedgwick
• Charade (1963) as Tex Panthollow
• The Americanization of Emily (1964) as Lt. Cmdr. Paul "Bus" Cummings
• Major Dundee (1965) as Samuel Potts
• Our Man Flint (1966) as Derek Flint
• In Like Flint (1967) as Derek Flint
• The President's Analyst (1967) as Dr. Sidney Schaefer
• A Fistful of Dynamite (1971) as John Mallory
• A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die! (1972) as Col. Pembroke
• Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) as Pat Garrett
• The Last of Sheila (1973) as Clinton
• The Internecine Project (1974) as Prof. Robert Elliot
• Bite the Bullet (1975) as Luke Matthews
• Sky Riders (1976) as Jim McCabe
• Midway (1976) as Capt. Vinton Maddox
• The Last Hard Men (1976) as Zach Provo
• Cross of Iron (1977) as Sergeant Rolf Steiner
• California Suite (1978), cameo As Himself
• Goldengirl (1979) as Jack Dryden
• The Muppet Movie (1979) as owner of El Sleezo Café
• Looker (1981) as John Reston
• Draw! (1984) as Sam Starret
• Young Guns II (1990) as John Simpson Chisum
• Hudson Hawk (1991) as George Kaplan
• Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) as Mr. Crisp
• Maverick (1994) as The Commodore, who is hosting the big poker tournament Maverick is trying so hard to get into.
• Eraser (1996) as WITSEC Chief Arthur Beller
• The Nutty Professor (1996) as Harlan Hartley
• The Cherokee Kid as Bloomington
• Affliction (1998) as Glen Whitehouse; Something of a deconstruction of his tough guy image from earlier films, his performance as Nick Nolte's abusive elderly father netted him an Academy Award as best supporting actor.
• Payback (1999) as Fairfax, an Affably Evil man who happens to be one of the top leaders of The Syndicate.
• Monsters, Inc. (2001) as Henry J. Waternoose III (voice)
• Snow Dogs (2002) as James "Thunder Jack" Johnson

Television roles

• Wagon Train (1 episode, 1958) as Ike Daggett
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (2 episodes, 1958–59) as Andrews/Union Sergeant
• The Rifleman (2 episodes, 1958–61) as Cy Parker/Ambrose
• Black Saddle (1 episode, 1959) as Niles
• The Millionaire (1 episode, 1959) as Lew Bennett
• Bat Masterson (2 episodes, 1959–60) as Poke Otis/Leo Talley
• Have Gun – Will Travel (2 episodes, 1959–60) as Jack Harvey/Sledge
• Wanted: Dead or Alive (3 episodes, 1959–60) as Henry Turner/Jesse Holloway/Howard Catlett
• Laramie (2 episodes, 1959–61) as Finch/Gil Spanner
• Bonanza (3 episodes, 1959–62) as Pete Jessup/Ross Marquette/Elmer Trace
• Peter Gunn (1 episode, 1960) as Bud Bailey
• Lawman (2 episodes, 1960) as Blake Carr/Lank Bailey
• The Untouchables (1 episode, 1961) as Dennis Garrity
• Cheyenne (1 episode, 1961) as Kell
• Perry Mason (2 episodes, 1961–62) as Donald Fletcher/Gen. Addison Brand
• Rawhide (1 episode, 1962) as Col. Briscoe
• Combat! (1 episode, 1963) as Cpl. Arnold Kanger
• The Twilight Zone (1 episode, 1963) as Maj. French
• Route 66 (1 episode, 1964) as Hamar Neilsen
• The Defenders (1 episode, 1964) as Earl Chafee
• The Fall Guy (1 episode, 1981) as Himself
• Darkroom (1981–82) as Host
• Faerie Tale Theatre (1 episode, 1984) as The Gypsy
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990–92) as Looten Plunder (voice)
• Murder, She Wrote (1 episode, 1992) as Cyrus Ramsey
• Picket Fences (1 episode, 1995) as Walter Brock
• Profiler (2 episodes, 1997) as Charles Vanderhorn
• Vengeance Unlimited (1 episode, 1999) as Boone Paladin
• Arli$$ (1 episode, 2002) as Slaughterhouse Sid Perelli

Director

• The Rockford Files (1 episode, 1977)

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Tropes associated with James Coburn include:

• Cool Old Guy: He aged into an example of this and Silver Fox.
• Slasher Smile: His broad grin was well-suited to this when he played villainous or antiheroic roles.
• Speech Impediment: His deep, calm voice had a noticeable lisp.

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