Charles Coburn
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Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American film and theatre actor. Best known for his work in comedies, Coburn received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1943's The More the Merrier. Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scotch-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman (May 11, 1838 Springfield, Ohio – November 12, 1896 Savannah, Georgia) and Moses Douville Coburn (April 27, 1834 Savannah, Georgia – December 27, 1902 Savannah, Georgia). Growing up in Savannah, he started out at age 14 doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs, ushering, or being the doorman. By age 17 or 18, he was the theater manager. He later became an actor, making his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with actress Ivah Wills in 1905. They married in 1906. In addition to managing the company, the couple performed frequently on Broadway. After his wife's death in 1937, Coburn relocated to Los Angeles, California and began film work. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a retired millionaire playing Cupid in The More the Merrier in 1943. He was also nominated for The Devil and Miss Jones in 1941 and The Green Years in 1946. Other notable film credits include Of Human Hearts (1938), The Lady Eve (1941), Kings Row (1942), The Constant Nymph (1943), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Wilson (1944), Impact (1949), The Paradine Case (1947), Everybody Does It (1950), Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), Monkey Business (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and John Paul Jones (1959). He usually played comedic parts, but Kings Row and Wilson were dramatic parts, showing his versatility. For his contributions to motion pictures, in 1960, Coburn was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6268 Hollywood Boulevard.
Known for
Credits
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
as Steamship Company Clerk
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
as Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman
Shady Lady (1945)
as Col. John Appleby
Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
as Lord Tyce
Our Wife (1941)
as Professor Drake
Monkey Business (1952)
as Oliver Oxley
Vivacious Lady (1938)
as Mr. Morgan
The Paradine Case (1947)
as Sir Simon Flaquer
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
as Hugo Van Cleve
John Paul Jones (1959)
as Benjamin Franklin
Mr. Music (1950)
as Alex Conway
The More the Merrier (1943)
as Benjamin Dingle
The Green Years (1946)
as Alexander Gow
In Name Only (1939)
as Richard Walker
Princess O'Rourke (1943)
as Uncle Holman
B.F.'s Daughter (1948)
as Burton F. 'B.F.' Fulton
Impact (1949)
as Lieutenant Quincy
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
as Gardner Hubbard
It's Showtime (1976)
as Self (archive footage)
Of Human Hearts (1938)
as Dr. Charles Shingle
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
as Self
Trouble Along the Way (1953)
as le Père Matthew William Burke
Kings Row (1942)
as Henry Gordon
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
as Samuel Fulton / John Smith
The Constant Nymph (1943)
as Charles Creighton
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
as General Michael O'Hara
Lured (1947)
as Harley Temple
How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957)
as Uncle George Clitterbern
Pepe (1960)
as Charles Coburn
Made for Each Other (1939)
as Joseph Doolittle
The Lady Eve (1941)
as 'Colonel' Harrington
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959)
as Grampa Pennypacker
Town on Trial (1957)
as Dr. John Fenner
George Washington Slept Here (1942)
as Stanley Menninger
Louisa (1950)
as Mr. Burnside
Idiot's Delight (1939)
as Dr. Hugo Waldersee
Three Faces West (1940)
as Dr. Karl Braun
A Stranger in My Arms (1959)
as Vance Beasley
The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
as Dr. John Corday
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
as Max Dreyfus
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)
as Self (archive footage)
The Rocket Man (1954)
as Mayor Ed Johnson
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as John P. Merrick/Thomas Higgins
The Long Wait (1954)
as Gardiner
H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
as John Pulham
How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955)
as Dr. Tweed
The Impatient Years (1944)
as William Smith
Over 21 (1945)
as Robert Drexel Gow
A Royal Scandal (1945)
as Nicolai Iiyitch
Green Grass of Wyoming (1948)
as Beaver Greenway
Wilson (1944)
as Professor Henry Holmes
In This Our Life (1942)
as William Fitzroy
Bachelor Mother (1939)
as J. B. Merlin
Together Again (1944)
as Jonathan Crandall Sr
Road to Singapore (1940)
as Joshua Mallon IV
Yellow Jack (1938)
as Dr. Finlay
Edison, the Man (1940)
as General Powell
Lord Jeff (1938)
as Captain Briggs
The Highwayman (1951)
as Lord Walters
The Power and the Prize (1956)
as Guy Eliot
Peggy (1950)
as Professor Brookfield
Florian (1940)
as Dr. Johannes Hofer
My Kingdom for a Cook (1943)
as Rudyard Morley
The People's Enemy (1935)
as Judge
Yes Sir, That's My Baby (1949)
as Jason Hartley
Knickerbocker Holiday (1944)
as Peter Stuyvesant
The Captain is a Lady (1940)
as Captain Abe Peabody
Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)
as Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
The Story of Mankind (1957)
as Hippocrates
Everybody Does It (1949)
as Major Blair
Unexpected Uncle (1941)
as Seton Mansley