Charles Coburn
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1877-06-18
Day of Death
1961-08-30 (84 years old)
Place of Birth
Macon, Georgia, USA
Charles Coburn
Biography
Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American film and theatre actor. Best known for his work in comedies, Coburn received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1943's The More the Merrier.
Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scotch-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman (May 11, 1838 Springfield, Ohio – November 12, 1896 Savannah, Georgia) and Moses Douville Coburn (April 27, 1834 Savannah, Georgia – December 27, 1902 Savannah, Georgia). Growing up in Savannah, he started out at age 14 doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs, ushering, or being the doorman. By age 17 or 18, he was the theater manager. He later became an actor, making his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with actress Ivah Wills in 1905. They married 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 film work. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a retired millionaire playing Cupid in The More the Merrier in 1943. He was also nominated for The Devil and Miss Jones in 1941 and The Green Years in 1946. Other notable 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), Everybody Does It (1950), Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), Monkey Business (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and John Paul Jones (1959). He usually played comedic parts, but Kings Row and Wilson were dramatic parts, showing his versatility.
For his contributions to motion pictures, in 1960, Coburn was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6268 Hollywood Boulevard.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Charles Coburn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Acting
(1997)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
as Self (archive footage)
(1986)
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
as Self (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [1953]) (archive footage)
(1985)
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1976)
It's Showtime
as Self (archive footage)
(1963)
Marilyn
as Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1960)
Pepe
as Charles Coburn
(1959)
John Paul Jones
as Benjamin Franklin
(1959)
A Stranger in My Arms
as Vance Beasley
(1959)
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
as Grampa Pennypacker
(1957)
How to Murder a Rich Uncle
as Uncle George Clitterbern
(1957)
Town on Trial
as Dr. John Fenner
(1957)
The Story of Mankind
as Hippocrates
(1956)
Around the World in Eighty Days
as Steamship Company Clerk
(1956)
The Power and the Prize
as Guy Eliot
(1955)
How To Be Very, Very Popular
as Dr. Tweed
(1954)
The Long Wait
as Gardiner
(1954)
The Rocket Man
as Mayor Ed Johnson
(1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
as Sir Francis Beekman
(1953)
Trouble Along the Way
as le Père Matthew William Burke
(1952)
Monkey Business
as Oliver Oxley
(1952)
Has Anybody Seen My Gal?
as Samuel Fulton / John Smith
(1951)
The Highwayman
as Lord Walters
(1950)
Peggy
as Professor Brookfield
(1950)
Louisa
as Mr. Burnside
(1950)
Mr. Music
as Alex Conway
(1949)
Impact
as Lieutenant Quincy
(1949)
The Gal Who Took the West
as General Michael O'Hara
(1949)
The Doctor and the Girl
as Dr. John Corday
(1949)
Everybody Does It
as Major Blair
(1949)
Yes Sir, That's My Baby
as Professor Jason Hartley
(1948)
Green Grass of Wyoming
as Beaver Greenway
(1948)
B.F.'s Daughter
as Burton F. 'B.F.' Fulton
(1947)
The Paradine Case
as Sir Simon Flaquer
(1947)
Lured
as Harley Temple
(1946)
The Green Years
as Alexander Gow
(1946)
Colonel Effingham's Raid
as Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
(1945)
A Royal Scandal
as Nicolai Iiyitch
(1945)
Over 21
as Robert Drexel Gow
(1945)
Rhapsody in Blue
as Max Dreyfus
(1945)
Shady Lady
as Col. John Appleby
(1944)
Wilson
as Professor Henry Holmes
(1944)
The Impatient Years
as William Smith
(1944)
Together Again
as Jonathan Crandall Sr
(1944)
Knickerbocker Holiday
as Peter Stuyvesant
(1943)
Heaven Can Wait
as Hugo Van Cleve
(1943)
The More the Merrier
as Benjamin Dingle
(1943)
Princess O'Rourke
as Uncle Holman
(1943)
The Constant Nymph
as Charles Creighton
(1943)
My Kingdom for a Cook
as Rudyard Morley
(1942)
In This Our Life
as William Fitzroy
(1942)
Kings Row
as Henry Gordon
(1942)
Breakdowns of 1942
as Self
(1942)
George Washington Slept Here
as Stanley Menninger
(1941)
The Lady Eve
as 'Colonel' Harrington
(1941)
The Devil and Miss Jones
as John P. Merrick/Thomas Higgins
(1941)
Our Wife
as Professor Drake
(1941)
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
as John Pulham
(1941)
Unexpected Uncle
as Seton Mansley
(1940)
Road to Singapore
as Joshua Mallon IV
(1940)
Edison, the Man
as General Powell
(1940)
Three Faces West
as Dr. Karl Braun
(1940)
Florian
as Dr. Johannes Hofer
(1940)
The Captain Is a Lady
as Captain Abe Peabody
(1939)
In Name Only
as Richard Walker
(1939)
Idiot's Delight
as Dr. Hugo Waldersee
(1939)
Made for Each Other
as Judge Joseph M. Doolittle
(1939)
Bachelor Mother
as J. B. Merlin
(1939)
Stanley and Livingstone
as Lord Tyce
(1939)
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
as Gardner Hubbard
(1938)
Vivacious Lady
as Mr. Morgan
(1938)
Yellow Jack
as Dr. Finlay
(1938)
Of Human Hearts
as Dr. Charles Shingle
(1938)
Lord Jeff
as Captain Briggs
(1935)
The People's Enemy
as Judge