Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson
Publicity photo, 1966
Born	Charles Dennis Buchinsky (1921-11-03)November 3, 1921 Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	August 30, 2003(2003-08-30) (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Respiratory Failure Metastatic Lung Cancer Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Congestive Cardiomyopathy
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1950–1999
Spouse(s)	Harriett Tendler (1949–1965; divorced) Jill Ireland (1968–1990; her death) Kim Weeks (1998–2003; his death)
Children	3
Military career
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	U.S. Army Air Forces
Years of service	1943–1946
Rank	Corporal
Unit	61st Bombardment Squadron
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Purple Heart

Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; Lithuanian: Karolis Dionyzas Bučinskis; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was a Lithuanian–American film and television actor.

He starred in films such as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the Death Wish series. He was often cast in the role of a police officer, gunfighter, or vigilante in revenge-oriented plot lines. He had long collaborations with film directors Michael Winner and J. Lee Thompson. In 1965, he was featured as Major Wolenski in Battle of the Bulge.

Bronson was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky, the 11th of 15 children, in a Roman Catholic family of Lithuanian descent in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania in the coal region of the Allegheny Mountains north of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His father was a Lithuanian immigrant and his mother was an American of Lithuanian descent.

His father, Valteris P. Bučinskis (who later adjusted his name to Walter Buchinsky to sound more "American"), hailed from the town of Druskininkai. Bronson's mother, Mary Valinsky, whose parents were from Lithuania, was born in the coal mining town of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. He learned to speak English when he was a teenager; before that, he spoke Lithuanian and Russian.