Name
Charles Coburn
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1877-06-18
Deathday
1961-08-30 (84 years old)
Place of Birth
Macon, Georgia, USA
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.
Known For
7.333
Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much ...
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College town life gets turned upside down after a button-down botany professor secretly we...
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In London, barrister Anthony Keane takes the case of Maddalena Paradine, a beautiful woman...
7.258
It's no accident when wealthy Charles falls for Jean. Jean is a con artist with her sights...
7
A wealthy man falls for a widow but is locked into a loveless marriage with a woman who ha...
6.682
Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. ...
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When American newspaperman and adventurer Henry M. Stanley comes back from the western Ind...
- 1953 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman
- 1941 The Lady Eve as 'Colonel' Harrington
- 1947 Lured as Harley Temple
- 1952 Monkey Business as Oliver Oxley
- 1947 The Paradine Case as Sir Simon Flaquer
- 1944 Together Again as Jonathan Crandall Sr
- 1949 Impact as Lieutenant Quincy
- 1939 In Name Only as Richard Walker
- 1943 Princess O'Rourke as Uncle Holman
- 1938 Vivacious Lady as Mr. Morgan
- 1942 George Washington Slept Here as Stanley Menninger
- 1953 Trouble Along the Way as le Père Matthew William Burke
- 1940 Three Faces West as Dr. Karl Braun
- 1939 Bachelor Mother as J. B. Merlin
- 1957 The Story of Mankind as Hippocrates
- 1949 The Gal Who Took the West as General Michael O'Hara
- 1954 The Long Wait as Gardiner
- 1945 Rhapsody in Blue as Max Dreyfus
- 1942 In This Our Life as William Fitzroy
- 1941 The Devil and Miss Jones as John P. Merrick/Thomas Higgins
- 1940 Edison, the Man as General Powell
- 1939 Idiot's Delight as Dr. Hugo Waldersee
- 1939 Made for Each Other as Joseph Doolittle
- 1939 The Story of Alexander Graham Bell as Gardner Hubbard
- 1943 Heaven Can Wait as Hugo Van Cleve
- 1948 Green Grass of Wyoming as Beaver Greenway
- 1943 The More the Merrier as Benjamin Dingle
- 1960 Pepe as Charles Coburn
- 1942 Kings Row as Henry Gordon
- 1952 Has Anybody Seen My Gal? as Samuel Fulton / John Smith
- 1959 John Paul Jones as Benjamin Franklin
- 1948 B.F.'s Daughter as Burton F. 'B.F.' Fulton
- 1944 Wilson as Professor Henry Holmes
- 1935 The People's Enemy as Judge
- 1943 The Constant Nymph as Charles Creighton
- 1945 A Royal Scandal as Nicolai Iiyitch
- 1941 Our Wife as Professor Drake
- 1941 H.M. Pulham, Esq. as John Pulham
- 1945 Over 21 as Robert Drexel Gow
- 1949 The Doctor and the Girl as Dr. John Corday
- 1939 Stanley and Livingstone as Lord Tyce
- 1946 The Green Years as Alexander Gow
- 1957 Town on Trial as Dr. John Fenner
- 1938 Lord Jeff as Captain Briggs
- 1950 Mr. Music as Alex Conway
- 1938 Of Human Hearts as Dr. Charles Shingle
- 1957 How to Murder a Rich Uncle as Uncle George Clitterbern
- 1945 Shady Lady as Col. John Appleby
- 1955 How to Be Very, Very Popular as Dr. Tweed
- 1954 The Rocket Man as Mayor Ed Johnson
- 1938 Yellow Jack as Dr. Finlay
- 1944 The Impatient Years as William Smith
- 1951 The Highwayman as Lord Walters
- 1956 The Power and the Prize as Guy Eliot
- 1941 Unexpected Uncle as Seton Mansley
- 1940 Florian as Dr. Johannes Hofer
- 1959 A Stranger in My Arms as Vance Beasley
- 1944 Knickerbocker Holiday as Peter Stuyvesant
- 1949 Everybody Does It as Major Blair
- 1940 Road to Singapore as Joshua Mallon IV
- 1959 The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker as Grampa Pennypacker
- 1997 Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line as Self (archive footage)
- 1949 Yes Sir, That's My Baby as Jason Hartley
- 1943 My Kingdom for a Cook as Rudyard Morley
- 1956 Around the World in 80 Days as Steamship Company Clerk
- 1950 Peggy as Professor Brookfield
- 1950 Louisa as Mr. Burnside
- 1940 The Captain is a Lady as Captain Abe Peabody
- 1946 Colonel Effingham's Raid as Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
- 1976 It's Showtime as Self (archive footage)
- 1942 Breakdowns of 1942 as Self
- 1954 December Bride ( 1 episode )
- 1950 The Colgate Comedy Hour ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1948 Studio One ( 1 episode ) as Louis Hurst
- 1950 Lux Video Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Pa Harrington
- 1952 This Is Your Life ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1954 Studio 57 ( 1 episode )
- 1954 The George Gobel Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1948 The Ed Sullivan Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1956 The Rosemary Clooney Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1950 What's My Line? ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1959 Startime ( 1 episode ) as Colonel Sykes
