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Post by chaney on Jan 8, 2011 9:35:20 GMT -5
First I've seen of it, but definitely looks like a book of interest to us all. Will have to check it out.
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Post by chaney on Jan 4, 2011 22:25:44 GMT -5
Former casting director turned producer John G. Stephens wrote a book called FROM MY THREE SONS TO MAJOR DAD. He mentions Charlie a few times in the book, having known him back when he was still Charlie Buchinski. Stephens relates a humorous casting session with producer Richard Lewis for a filmed parlor game show called QUICK AS A FLASH. He describes Charlie as having a "very, very unusual presence; people were a little bit frightened of him." Here's how Stephens remembers Charlie's casting interview with Lewis.
Charlie - Hullo. Lewis - So, Charlie ... Charlie - Yeah. Lewis - Nice to meet you. Charlie - Yeah. Lewis - Charlie? Charlie - Yeah. Lewis - Would you like to read for this part? Charlie - You want me to read?! Lewis - Well, you don't have to if you don't want to, Charlie." Charlie - I don't really want to read. Lewis - That's okay, Charlie, that's okay. Charlie - Good. That it? Good-bye, thanks, Johnny.
Stephens describes Lewis as shocked, but then he he said, "Well, he's got a great face, Johnny. So let's go with him."
Stephens also cast BIG HOUSE USA and describes everyone on the film as drunk throughout filming with the exception of Charlie, Ralph Meeker, and himself. He says Lon Chaney, Jr., was a 24 hr a day drunk, Bill Tallman a mean drunk, and Broderick Crawford a happy drunk. He further mentions Meeker was usually mad and Charlie was always mad. When the cast walked through maximum security at Canon City the prisoners were scared of them according to Stephens.
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Post by chaney on Jan 3, 2011 17:54:11 GMT -5
That was great.
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Post by chaney on Dec 23, 2010 18:14:07 GMT -5
Thanks, Ass-Kicker. Once again I'm amazed at how friendly we all are to one another on this site. That's great and pretty ironic since we're celebrating someone whose popularity was based in large part on how mean and violent his on-screen persona was.
There are plenty of forums I won't bother with on any number of subjects because of how inflammatory members behave toward one another. This Bronson site has been great. Congratulations all, and Merry Christmas.
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Post by chaney on Dec 9, 2010 21:28:50 GMT -5
Charlie is the special guest in this 1962 episode of the classic crime series. He plays gangster Janos Colescuo, who revives an old tradition of posting someone's name on a local tree who is about to die. Thus begins a reign of terror for a local gypsy family. By the end of the episode Elliot Ness has posted Charlie's name on the tree.
The role is a departure for Charlie as he plays a fancy-dressing, refined hood. He's still plenty violent though as the episode's climax attests to. A nice character part.
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Post by chaney on Nov 27, 2010 17:26:22 GMT -5
There's a politician in Florida who is a potential candidate for governor named Charles Bronson. Googling Bronson and politics brings him up.
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Post by chaney on Nov 25, 2010 18:32:29 GMT -5
That was great. Thank you.
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Post by chaney on Nov 7, 2010 23:11:21 GMT -5
Interesting. I've theorized before that as tough as Charlie came across and as tough as his background was, some of his own tough guy aura was based on his intimidating presence and mystique. I've heard tale of a lot of people who were scared of him but I've never heard of him actually coming to fisticuffs with anyone. When encountering guys with tough guy reputations of their own (William Smith, Richard Egan, and now Bob Mitchum), Charlie backed down when put on the spot.
Part of this might be the realization that not only were these men not going to back down from Charlie's tough talk, but that physically they were all larger and knew how to fight. I think Charlie picked his spots and picked them well. To lose a fight to any of these men would seriously have undermined his own tough guy reputation.
I'm a fan of both Charlie and Bob Mitchum and it's always interesting to hear about what goes on or went on behind the scenes. Would be interested to hear tale of other Mitchum tough guy stories if you have them.
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Post by chaney on Oct 31, 2010 10:37:06 GMT -5
There were a lot of actors who were much bigger stars than Charlie in the 50's and 60's who ended up going the guest star route on TV in the 1970's and 1980's. Somebody like Stuart Whitman, who once had an Oscar nomination, comes to immediate mind.
Can anyone picture Charlie still playing heavies in episodes of BJ AND THE BEAR, THE FALL GUY, DUKES OF HAZZARD, KNIGHT RIDER, or THE A-TEAM?
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Post by chaney on Oct 28, 2010 9:50:03 GMT -5
I believe one of Charlie's older brothers was a boxer and taught him how to box in the style of Jack Dempsey. Think I remember reading that Charlie boxed in the Army, which was pretty common back then as recreation and sport. Some bios say that Charlie may have picked up some actual real bouts perhaps fighting under a psuedonym in the time after he got out of the Army.
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Post by chaney on Oct 28, 2010 9:44:31 GMT -5
Yeah, Tony Epper beat up 4 or 5 guys in a Nogales bar while making ULZANA'S RAID and one of the men died. Epper was up for manslaughter charges but was found to be acting in self defense.
There's a story from the 1960's that Robert Conrad of WILD WILD WEST got into a fight and beat up a guy who turned out to be a relative of Tony Epper. Conrad fashioned himself a real tough guy, but he begged stuntman Whitey Hughes to go talk to Tony Epper for him to make sure Tony didn't want to kick his ass in retaliation. Conrad wanted no part of a fight with Tony Epper.
And then here's Charlie calling Tony Epper a fat ass within his earshot ... Wow.
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Post by chaney on Oct 28, 2010 9:38:26 GMT -5
I've never heard of Charlie training in Kenpo before or having a belt. I agree it would be hard to keep that a secret. I've seen lists of the celebrities that Ed Parker, the main kenpo man in Hollywood trained, and I've never seen Charlie included.
I do have the "Black Belt" mag in question and there's little mention of Charlie in the actual article. It's mostly about Tak Kubota and Hank Hamilton, the actual martial artists involved with making THE MECHANIC. Charlie on the cover is just a teaser.
I do recall a "People Magazine" though from the time of DEATH WISH that had photos of Charlie kicking a karate bag in his backyard. I've seen that photo on line, so it's out there somewhere. Will try to track it down.
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Post by chaney on Oct 24, 2010 22:47:22 GMT -5
History shows that Charlie was a well-respected character actor in Hollywood who went to Europe in the late 1960's and became a superstar. He took that new worldwide popularity back home and eventually cracked the U.S. market as well with the huge success of DEATH WISH in 1974.
My question is ... What if Charlie had never gone to Europe and achieved that success? What if he had stayed in the U.S. as a working character actor who likely would not have been given leads in the 1970's given his age and past roles? What kind of films and parts would he have played in the 1970's?
I could see him being a regular on a TV series, if not a lead then a solid support. Maybe something along the lines of the police lt. that Anthony Zerbe played in the David Janssen series HARRY O. Maybe his career would have turned out something along the lines of that of a Richard Jaeckel. There would probably have been more TV guest shots, hopefully not along the lines of FANTASY ISLAND or CHARLIE'S ANGELS, but maybe POLICE STORY or something like that. I could see him in filler secondary parts in some of the all-star disaster films that were popular for the era.
What are some other roles he could have done had he not gone to Europe?
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Post by chaney on Oct 24, 2010 22:31:45 GMT -5
I know we're basing movie fighting against real fighting here, but Charlie sure did bring down Bob Tessier (arguably the biggest, baddest guy of his era) believably enough in HARD TIMES. Charlie was incredibly fast, threw with bad intentions, and gave the impression he knew how to fight for real and end things quickly. He'd be undersized in UFC, but I wouldn't bet against him in a back alley fight against very many people.
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Post by chaney on Oct 24, 2010 22:25:09 GMT -5
Cool covers. Keep 'em coming.
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