Charles Coburn
Acting
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.
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Self (archive footage)
It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)
Pepe
Charles Coburn
John Paul Jones
Benjamin Franklin
A Stranger in My Arms
Vance Beasley
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
Grampa Pennypacker
The Story of Mankind
Hippocrates
How to Murder a Rich Uncle
Uncle George Clitterbern
Town on Trial
Dr. John Fenner
Around the World in 80 Days
Steamship Company Clerk
The Power and the Prize
Guy Eliot
How to Be Very, Very Popular
Dr. Tweed
The Long Wait
Gardiner
The Rocket Man
Mayor Ed Johnson
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Sir Francis Beekman
Trouble Along the Way
le Père Matthew William Burke
Monkey Business
Oliver Oxley
Has Anybody Seen My Gal?
Samuel Fulton / John Smith
The Highwayman
Lord Walters
Mr. Music
Alex Conway
Peggy
Professor Brookfield
Louisa
Mr. Burnside
Everybody Does It
Major Blair
The Doctor and the Girl
Dr. John Corday
Yes Sir, That's My Baby
Professor Jason Hartley
The Gal Who Took the West
General Michael O'Hara
Impact
Lieutenant Quincy
Green Grass of Wyoming
Beaver Greenway
B.F.'s Daughter
Burton F. 'B.F.' Fulton
The Paradine Case
Sir Simon Flaquer
Lured
Harley Temple
The Green Years
Alexander Gow
Colonel Effingham's Raid
Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
Shady Lady
Col. John Appleby
Over 21
Robert Drexel Gow
Rhapsody in Blue
Max Dreyfus
A Royal Scandal
Nicolai Iiyitch
Together Again
Jonathan Crandall Sr
The Impatient Years
William Smith
Wilson
Professor Henry Holmes
Knickerbocker Holiday
Peter Stuyvesant
My Kingdom for a Cook
Rudyard Morley
Princess O'Rourke
Uncle Holman
Heaven Can Wait
Hugo Van Cleve
The Constant Nymph
Charles Creighton
The More the Merrier
Benjamin Dingle
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
George Washington Slept Here
Stanley Menninger
In This Our Life
William Fitzroy
Kings Row
Henry Gordon
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
John Pulham
Unexpected Uncle
Seton Mansley
Our Wife
Professor Drake
The Devil and Miss Jones
John P. Merrick/Thomas Higgins
The Lady Eve
'Colonel' Harrington
Three Faces West
Dr. Karl Braun
The Captain is a Lady
Captain Abe Peabody
Florian
Dr. Johannes Hofer
Edison, the Man
General Powell
Road to Singapore
Joshua Mallon IV
Stanley and Livingstone
Lord Tyce
In Name Only
Richard Walker
Bachelor Mother
J. B. Merlin
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Gardner Hubbard
Made for Each Other
Judge Joseph M. Doolittle
Idiot's Delight
Dr. Hugo Waldersee
Lord Jeff
Captain Briggs
Yellow Jack
Dr. Finlay
Vivacious Lady
Mr. Morgan
Of Human Hearts
Dr. Charles Shingle
The People's Enemy
Judge