Billy Crystal anecdote on Bronson

[bronson fan germany]

Billy Crystal wrote his autobiography and that came out a couple of days ago.

In the book is a hilarious Bronson Story that I didn´t know.

Crystal offered Bronson the Jack Palance part(won an Oscar for the role) of "City Slickers".

He sent the screenplay to Bronson. Crystal got cussed out by Bronson because his character died on page 64.

Bronson said: Fuck you, I´m dead at page 64.

Crystal wanted to say: But you also died in "The magnificient seven" but before he could say that Bronson said: Fuck you, I´m dead at page 64. How can you dare to offer me such a part.

Hilarious....

[harmonica]

Great info man, that was really interesting, I had never heard of that before...Another example of Bronson's bad career choices. The weird thing is that the same year Bronson appeared in "The Indian Runner" in an even shorter role...

[Mean Little Ass-Kicker]

I laughed out loud at reading this, such a funny story! And yes, Harmonica, that is true. How the hell could he say yes to one part where he dies early on and has very little screen-time and say no to another one, which is a bigger part and him dying? His death in City Slickers would not create the problem he felt about his character killing himself in The Indian Runner, either. Maybe he felt that The Indian Runner spoke to him on another level since he had lost his wife, Jill, the year before?

Wow, just WOW! And Palance got an OSCAR for his portrayal! Can you imagine if Bronson would have taken the part and may have gotten a nomination or win? He wouldn't have been doing a lot of TV-work after that, unless he really wanted to, that's for sure! But then again, would they have given him an Oscar, with his violent movie past, when his Cannon years had just ended a couple of years earlier? I think that's something to consider.

I love City Slickers, I watch it once every year. I love Jack Palance generally and definitely in this part. I think his character is one of the most bad-ass characters I've ever seen on film, he plays the stereotype of a no-nonsense, macho tough guy, and to find out that it could have went to Bronson makes my head spin!

Oh, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie...

Edit: Found this on Wikipedia:

In his 2013 memoir, Still Foolin' Em, Billy Crystal writes of how the casting of City Slickers came about. Palance, he says, was the first choice from the beginning, but had a commitment to make another film. Crystal writes that he contacted Charles Bronson about the part, only to be rudely rebuffed because the character dies. Palance got out of his other obligation to join the cast. Rick Moranis, however, originally cast as Phil, had to leave the production due to his wife's illness. Daniel Stern was a late replacement in the role.

On the night Palance won the Academy Award, according to Crystal, the 73-year-old actor placed the Oscar on the comedian's shoulder and said, "Billy Crystal ... who thought it would be you?" Crystal added in his book: "We had a glass of champagne together, and I could only imagine what Charles Bronson was thinking as he went to sleep that night."

Bronson was never one who cared much for awards and stuff, when he got his Walk of Fame plaque he said he'd rather be having lunch somewhere else. So who knows how he felt about it? I'm sure Bronson didn't even watch the Oscar ceremony that year.

Here's a bit more on the story, with the full conversation from Billy Crystal's book, it starts about Jack Palance not being able to play the part:

He was very well read, smart, and, in a word, classy. He loved the script and wanted to do it, but he had a scheduling conflict with another film and wasn't sure it was going to work out. We were crushed, and since shooting was to begin shortly, we needed a backup. With a 24-hour window facing us, we secretly reached out to another icon, Charles Bronson. His agent assured us that he would read the script right away. The thought of Bronson in this role was in its own way very appealing. He was an intense actor—scary, of course—and would make a tough and hilarious Curly. The next day I was told to be at my office at a certain time as Mr. Bronson would be calling me. I sat by the phone, nervous about talking to him. The phone rang.

"Hello," I said cheerfully.

"F--- you," he replied. I waited for the punch line. There wasn't one.

"F--- you. I'm dead on page sixty-four! How dare you send this to me."

I wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"You have a lot of nerve," he went on. "I don't die in my films." I was about to remind him that he died in The Magnificent Seven, but before I could, he said it again: "F--- you."

"Mr. Bronson, I'm sorry you feel this way. It's a great part."

"No, it's not—I'm dead on page sixty-f---ing-four." And he hung up.

I sat there, stunned, and then the phone rang and it was Jack's agent saying he'd blown off the other film because he wanted to do this one, and we were home safe.

About Crystal pointing out that he died in The Magnificent Seven, he forgets that Bronson wasn't a big star back then. In fact it was his first major part in a really big Hollywood movie, if I'm not mistaken. So at that point in his career he wouldn't be foolish enough to turn it down. He felt different now, but I guess ended up dying in another movie the same year for whatever reason. Odd. Bronson was tired of action movies in the 80's and wished to do something different. He got his wish in 1991, twice, but only opted one of them. He may have been able to shoot both movies due to his limited screen time in both movies. Maybe he didn't want to play another tough guy in City Slickers, even though it's a different role than the usual tough guy he played.

People feel that he perhaps deserved an Oscar nomination for his role in The Indian Runner, the same may have been said if he played Curly. Think of the possibility of both him and Palance being nominated for an Oscar that same year...

[harmonica]

It's really sad. Bronson was possibly the most wasted talent in movie history. Acting-wise he was on the same level as other actors of his time who got academy awards but his choices didn't allow him to be nominated for an academy award. His performance as harmonica was top-notch, actually one of the greatest performances in movie history but unfortunately Once Upon A Time In The West was ahead of its time and it wasn't considered as a first-class movie by the time it was released. It's really sad how some superb performances in Sergio Leone's films were unnoticed like the ones from Bronson, De Niro, Henry Fonda etc...Due to his acting ability Bronson definitely deserved a place among the academy award winners and movies like "City Slicker" could have been a great chance for him to finally get his merit and be remembered as an academy award winner...