Charles Coburn

Advertise Here

Purchase Charles Coburn Products Here

June 19, 1877

August 30, 1961

Charles Douville Coburn

Ivah Wills (1906-37; her death)

Winifred Natzka (1959-61; his death)

Actor

General Electric Theater (TV series) (1 episode, 1962)

The Best of the Post (TV series) (1 episode, 1961)

Startime (TV series) (1 episode, 1959)

John Paul Jones (1959)

Make Room for Daddy (TV series) (1 episode, 1959)

A Stranger in My Arms (1959)

The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959)

The Bob Cummings Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1958)

The Betty White Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1958)

The Story of Mankind (1957)

How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957)

Town on Trial (1957)

Ethel Barrymore Theater (TV series) (1 episode, 1956)

Strange Stories (TV series) (1 episode, 1956)

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

The Power and the Prize (1956)

The Ford Television Theatre (TV series) (2 episodes, 1953-1956)

Kraft Television Theatre (TV series) (1 episode, 1956)

Damon Runyon Theater (TV series) (1 episode, 1956)

The Red Skelton Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1956)

Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre (TV series) (1 episode, 1956)

The Star and the Story (TV series) (2 episodes, 1955-1956)

Chevron Hall of Stars (TV series) (1956)

December Bride (TV series) (1955)

The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater (TV series) (1 episode, 1955)

How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955)

Justice (TV series) (1955)

Studio 57 (TV series) (1 episode, 1955)

Studio One (TV series) (1 episode, 1954)

The United States Steel Hour (TV series) (1 episode, 1954)

The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (TV series) (1954)

The Best of Broadway (TV series) (1 episode, 1954)

Center Stage (TV series) (1 episode, 1954)

The Long Wait (1954)

The Rocket Man (1954)

Lux Video Theatre (TV series) (1 episode, 1953)

Willys Theatre Presenting Ben Hecht's Tales of the City (TV series) (1 episode, 1953)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Trouble Along the Way (1953)

Monkey Business (1952)

Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1953)

The Highwayman (1951)

Mr. Music (1950)

Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (TV series) (1 episode, 1950)

Peggy (1950)

Louisa (1950)

Everybody Does It (1949)

The Gal Who Took the West (1949)

The Doctor and the Girl (1949)

Yes Sir, That's My Baby (1949)

Impact (1949)

Green Grass of Wyoming (1948)

B.F.'s Daughter (1948)

The Paradine Case (1947)

Lured (1947)

The Green Years (1946)

Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)

Shady Lady (1945)

Over 21 (1945)

Rhapsody in Blue (1945)

A Royal Scandal (1945)

Together Again (1944)

The Impatient Years (1944)

Wilson (1944)

Knickerbocker Holiday (1944)

My Kingdom for a Cook (1943)

Princess O'Rourke (1943)

Heaven Can Wait (1943)

The Constant Nymph (1943)

The More the Merrier (1943)

Forever and a Day (scenes deleted) (1943)

George Washington Slept Here (1942)

In This Our Life (1942)

Kings Row (1942)

H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)

Unexpected Uncle (1941)

Our Wife (1941)

The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)

The Lady Eve (1941)

Three Faces West (1940)

The Captain Is a Lady (1940)

Florian (1940)

Edison, the Man (1940)

Road to Singapore (1940)

Stanley and Livingstone (1939)

In Name Only (1939)

Bachelor Mother (1939)

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)

Made for Each Other (1939)

Idiot's Delight (1939)

Lord Jeff (1938)

Yellow Jack (1938)

Vivacious Lady (1938)

Of Human Hearts (1938)

The People's Enemy (1935)

Boss Tweed (1933)

Appearances

Intimate Portrait (TV series documentary) (1 episode, 1996)

Pepe (1960)

This Is Your Life (TV series) (1 episode, 1960)

About Faces (TV series) (1 episode, 1960)

The Rosemary Clooney Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1957)

The Martha Raye Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1956)

The Red Skelton Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1955)

The George Gobel Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1954)

The Name's the Same (TV series) (2 episodes, 1953-1954)

The Colgate Comedy Hour (TV series) (1 episode, 1953)

Whats My Line? (TV series) (1 episode, 1953)

I've Got a Secret (TV series) (1 episode, 1953)

The Ed Sullivan Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1953)

The Arthur Murray Party (TV series) (1 episode, 1953)

The Milton Berle Show (TV series) (2 episodes, 1950-1953)

The 25th Annual Academy Awards (TV special) (1953)

The Ken Murray Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1951)

The 23th Annual Academy Awards (TV movie) (1951)

The Alan Young Show (TV series) (1 episode, 1951)

The Saturday Night Revue with Jack Carter (TV series) (1 episode, 1950)

The 17th Annual Academy Awards (TV special) (1945)

The 16th Annual Academy Awards (TV special) (1944)

Meet the Stars #1: Chinese Garden Festival (documentary short) (1940)

Academy Awards

1947 Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role for: The Green Years (1946)

1944 Won Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role for: The More the Merrier (1943)

1942 Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role for: The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)

Walk of Fame (Hollywood)

1960 Won Star on the Walk of Fame Motion Picture On 8 February 1960 at 6268 Hollywood Blvd.

???? Won Star on the Walk of Fame Motion Picture At 6240 Hollywood Blvd.

Submit Awards

[ View All Photos ]

I grew up in the city not far from a burlesque theater and my father cautioned me not to go there because I might see something I shouldn't see. So, of course, when I got old enough I went right in, and sure enough I saw something I shouldn't - my father!

Submit Quotes

Charles Coburn came to films at the age of sixty, after the death of his first wife, with whom he had forged a successful stage career as the Coburn Players.

He treated the cinema as a lucrative retirement occupation, but it was a job that also brought him recognition.

His most lasting image is as windily bogus gentleman on an ocean liner ("Colonel" Harrington), peering lecherously through his monocle and plotting swindles in partnership with Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1941).

His stuffy, jowly, pot-bellied looks and croaking tones suited him to play hidebound establishment figures such as judges, politicians and academics,.

A distinctive face, he often popped up in cameo roles in all-star efforts such as Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) and The Story of Mankind (1957).

One of the few Hollywood actors who actually lived on Hollywood Blvd.

His famous monocle was no affectation, but actually corrected an eye deficiency. "No point having two window panes where one will do," was always his explanation.

On February 28, 2012, Coburn's Oscar statuette was auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Memorabilia. It sold for $170,459.

He died from a heart attack in 1961.
Submit Interesting Facts