[Deathwatch] James Coburn, Actor, 74

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Oscar-winning actor James Coburn dies at 74
Tuesday, November 19, 2002 Posted: 12:28 AM EST (0528 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/18/obit.coburn.ap/index.html

BEVERLY HILLS, California (AP) -- Actor James Coburn, who took on the
role of the tough guy in such films as "Our Man Flint" and "The
Magnificent Seven" but whose anguished portrayal of an abusive father
in "Affliction" finally earned him an Oscar, died Monday. He was 74. 

Coburn died of a heart attack at home while listening to music with his
wife, said his manager, Hillard Elkins. 

Coburn won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for the 1998
film after overcoming a 10-year struggle with arthritis that left one
hand crippled. 

Despite those earlier physical problems he had been upbeat and working
regularly, Elkins said Monday night. Most recently, he appeared in the
new film "The Man From Elysian Fields" and finished another called
"American Gun." 

"And I have five or six scripts I've got to get out of my office
because he can't shoot them now," said Elkins, his voice breaking. 

Born in Laurel, Nebraska, on August 31, 1928, Coburn studied acting in
Los Angeles and with Stella Adler in New York. 

He appeared on stage in New York and in such dramatic television series
as "Studio One" and "General Electric Theatre" in the 1950s. 

He made his movie debut in "Ride Lonesome" in 1959 and gained the
public's notice a year later when he played the knife-throwing Britt in
"The Magnificent Seven." 

Although he had few lines compared with his other macho co-stars, who
included Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen, film historian
Leonard Maltin noted Coburn's mere screen presence grabbed the public's
attention. 

"He was a guy who looked like he was casual, but he studied and he
worked and he understood character," Elkins said of Coburn's success. 

"He was a hell of an actor, he had a great sense of humor, and those
performances will be remembered for a very long time," he added. 

In 1963, Coburn was in the all-star cast -- including McQueen and James
Garner -- of the World War II POW epic "The Great Escape." 

In 1966, Coburn cashed in on the James Bond mania -- and became a
leading man -- with the humorous spy spoofs "Our Man Flint" and "In
Like Flint." 

Such films as "The President's Analyst," which he also produced, and
"Golden Girl" followed. 

In the 1980s he all but disappeared from the screen with the onset of
arthritis. 

He said he "healed himself" with pills that had a sulfur base. His
knuckles remained gnarled, but he said in a 1999 interview with The
Associated Press that the pain was gone. 

He said at that time, when the film roles weren't coming, "I've been
reading a lot of stuff. I want to go to work. It's what I do best; it's
the only thing I can really do. 

"Actors are boring when they're not working, it's a natural condition,
because they don't have anything to do, they just lay around and that's
why so many of them get drunk. They really get to be boring people. My
wife will attest to that," he said with a hearty laugh. 

Finally able to work again, he capped his career with an Oscar for a
supporting role in "Affliction." He portrayed Glen Whitehouse, the
abusive father to Nick Nolte's cop character. 

It was his only Oscar nomination, and it came after about 80 films. 

"I've been working and doing this work for, like, over half my life,
and I finally got one right, I guess," he said in his acceptance
speech. 

"Some of them you do for money, some of them you do for love," he
added. "This is a love child." 



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