Coburn was hired through the intervention of his friend, Robert Vaughn.ĭuring the 1960 to 1961 season, Coburn co-starred with Ralph Taeger and Joi Lansing in the NBC adventure/drama series, Klondike, set in the Alaskan gold rush town of Skagway. Ĭoburn's third film was a major breakthrough for him - as the knife-wielding Britt in The Magnificent Seven (1960), directed by John Sturges for the Mirisch Company. Coburn appeared twice each on two other NBC westerns Tales of Wells Fargo with Dale Robertson, one episode in the role of Butch Cassidy, and The Restless Gun with John Payne in "The Pawn" and "The Way Back", the latter segment alongside Bonanza's Dan Blocker. He soon got a job in another Western Face of a Fugitive (1959).Ĭoburn also appeared in dozens of television roles including, with Roberts, several episodes of NBC's Bonanza. Ĭoburn's film debut came in 1959 as the sidekick of Pernell Roberts in the Randolph Scott western Ride Lonesome.
He was selected for a Remington Products razor commercial in which he was able to shave off 11 days of beard growth in less than 60 seconds, while joking that he had more teeth to show on camera than the other 12 candidates for the part.
#James coburn professional#
Early work Ĭoburn's first professional job as a live television play for Sidney Lumet. Career Ĭoburn attended Los Angeles City College, where he studied acting alongside Jeff Corey and Stella Adler, and later made his stage debut at the La Jolla Playhouse in Herman Melville's Billy Budd. Coburn also narrated Army training films in Mainz, Germany.
#James coburn driver#
In 1950, he enlisted in the United States Army, in which he served as a truck driver and occasionally a disc jockey on an Army radio station in Texas.
Coburn himself was raised in Compton, California, where he attended Compton Junior College.
The elder Coburn had a garage business that was destroyed by the Great Depression. His father was of Scottish-Irish ancestry and his mother was an immigrant from Sweden. ĭuring the late 1960s and early 1970s, Coburn cultivated an image synonymous with "cool", and along with such contemporaries as Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, and Charles Bronson became one of the prominent "tough-guy" actors of his day.Ĭoburn was born on Augin Laurel, Nebraska, the son of James Harrison Coburn II and Mylet Coburn. Coburn provided the voice of Henry Waternoose in the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. Ī capable, rough-hewn leading man, his toothy grin and lanky physique made him a perfect tough guy in numerous leading and supporting roles in westerns and action films, such as The Magnificent Seven, Hell Is for Heroes, The Great Escape, Charade, Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, Duck, You Sucker!, and Cross of Iron. He featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career, ultimately winning an Academy Award in 1998 for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction. James Harrison Coburn III ( / dʒ eɪ m z ˈ k oʊ b ɜr r n ˌ ˈ k oʊ b ər n / August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American actor.