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
Vivacious Lady (1938)
as Mr. Morgan
Monkey Business (1952)
as Oliver Oxley
Edison, the Man (1940)
as General Powell
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
as Hugo Van Cleve
The Paradine Case (1947)
as Sir Simon Flaquer
Made for Each Other (1939)
as Joseph Doolittle
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
as Gardner Hubbard
The More the Merrier (1943)
as Benjamin Dingle
The Lady Eve (1941)
as 'Colonel' Harrington
John Paul Jones (1959)
as Benjamin Franklin
The Story of Mankind (1957)
as Hippocrates
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
as General Michael O'Hara
Trouble Along the Way (1953)
as le Père Matthew William Burke
In This Our Life (1942)
as William Fitzroy
H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
as John Pulham
How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955)
as Dr. Tweed
Knickerbocker Holiday (1944)
as Peter Stuyvesant
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
as Samuel Fulton / John Smith
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as John P. Merrick/Thomas Higgins
Idiot's Delight (1939)
as Dr. Hugo Waldersee
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)
as Self (archive footage)
Shady Lady (1945)
as Col. John Appleby
George Washington Slept Here (1942)
as Stanley Menninger
The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
as Dr. John Corday
In Name Only (1939)
as Richard Walker
B.F.'s Daughter (1948)
as Burton F. 'B.F.' Fulton
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
as Self
A Stranger in My Arms (1959)
as Vance Beasley
A Royal Scandal (1945)
as Nicolai Iiyitch
Of Human Hearts (1938)
as Dr. Charles Shingle
Bachelor Mother (1939)
as J. B. Merlin
Yes Sir, That's My Baby (1949)
as Jason Hartley
Lured (1947)
as Harley Temple
Pepe (1960)
as Charles Coburn
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959)
as Grampa Pennypacker
The Long Wait (1954)
as Gardiner
Road to Singapore (1940)
as Joshua Mallon IV
Our Wife (1941)
as Professor Drake
Green Grass of Wyoming (1948)
as Beaver Greenway
Mr. Music (1950)
as Alex Conway
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
as Max Dreyfus
The Constant Nymph (1943)
as Charles Creighton
The Power and the Prize (1956)
as Guy Eliot
It's Showtime (1976)
as Self (archive footage)
Impact (1949)
as Lieutenant Quincy
How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957)
as Uncle George Clitterbern
The Captain is a Lady (1940)
as Captain Abe Peabody
The Green Years (1946)
as Alexander Gow
Together Again (1944)
as Jonathan Crandall Sr
My Kingdom for a Cook (1943)
as Rudyard Morley
Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
as Lord Tyce
Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)
as Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
Wilson (1944)
as Professor Henry Holmes
Kings Row (1942)
as Henry Gordon
Over 21 (1945)
as Robert Drexel Gow
Princess O'Rourke (1943)
as Uncle Holman
Three Faces West (1940)
as Dr. Karl Braun
Everybody Does It (1949)
as Major Blair
Peggy (1950)
as Professor Brookfield
Florian (1940)
as Dr. Johannes Hofer
The Highwayman (1951)
as Lord Walters
The People's Enemy (1935)
as Judge
The Impatient Years (1944)
as William Smith
Unexpected Uncle (1941)
as Seton Mansley
The Rocket Man (1954)
as Mayor Ed Johnson
Lord Jeff (1938)
as Captain Briggs
Louisa (1950)
as Mr. Burnside
Town on Trial (1957)
as Dr. John Fenner
Yellow Jack (1938)
as Dr. Finlay