James Coburn

James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who had a 45-year career and was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances. He was a rough-hewn leading man, known for his toothy grin and lanky physique. He was a perfect tough guy in roles in Westerns and action films, supporting roles in The Magnificent Seven, Hell Is for Heroes, The Great Escape, Charade, and Hard Times. He also had lead roles in films like Our Man Flint and its sequel In Like Flint. Coburn won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction. In 2002, he received a nomination for an Outstanding Miniseries Primetime Emmy Award for producing The Mists of Avalon. Coburn was born in Laurel, Nebraska, on August 31, 1928, the son of James Harrison Coburn II and Mylet S. Coburn. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950, where he served as a truck driver and occasionally a disc jockey on an Army radio station in Texas. He studied acting at Los Angeles City College and made his television debut in 1953.