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American Morning
Charles Bronson Dies at 81
Aired September 01, 2003 - 9:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Tough guy actor Charles Bronson has died at age 81. Here's Paul Vercammen with a look at his career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His crabby face looked like the monument valley locations of "Once upon a time in the West." Charles Bronson was typecast in action films and he knew it.
CHARLES BRONSON, ACTOR: I don't look like somebody who lean ons a mantelpiece with a cocktail in my hands, you know. I look like the kind of guy who has a bottle of beer in his hand. So...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "BREAKHEART PASS": That's known as playing it close to the chest.
VERCAMMEN: Playing it close to the chest was something Bronson did on screen. He played strong, silent types in most of his movies. He has relatively few lines in his starring role in "Chato's Land," for example, and kept his real personality close.
BRONSON: I have a whole different personality than anything I've ever played.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really?
BRONSON: Yes. And you're not getting it now either.
VERCAMMEN: The son of a Lithuanian coal miners, Bronson returned from service in World War II intending to work as a set designer. But while working in a Philadelphia theater company he switched to onstage.
BRONSON: Oh, I ran into a guy once. He said, "Hey, you ought to be an actor." I said, "OK." And that's why I'm an actor.
VERCAMMEN: Bronson moved into films in the 1950s and a memorable role as one of the "Magnificent Seven."
BRONSON, "MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" Squeeze! I'll tell you what, don't shoot the gun. Take the gun like this and you use it like a club.
VERCAMMEN: At the peak of his career, Bronson was one of the big box office stars in the world. As westerns went out of style, he moved to violent thrillers like "Murphy's Law" and five installments playing a vigilante in the "Death Wish" series. BRONSON, "DEATH WISH": And I must impress upon you, Mrs. Craig (ph), how important it is that you do everything I say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "DEATH WISH": It's very important, Mr. Killian (ph), that you do everything I say.
VERCAMMEN: Bronson shared the screen many times with his late wife, actress Jill Ireland. Bronson continued to work into his 70s but found challenging work difficult to find.
BRONSON: It depends on the script. They keep sending them and I keep turning them down.
VERCAMMEN: Charles Bronson was always a man who knew which role was right for him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 1, 2003 - 9:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Tough guy actor Charles Bronson has died at age 81. Here's Paul Vercammen with a look at his career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His crabby face looked like the monument valley locations of "Once upon a time in the West." Charles Bronson was typecast in action films and he knew it.
CHARLES BRONSON, ACTOR: I don't look like somebody who lean ons a mantelpiece with a cocktail in my hands, you know. I look like the kind of guy who has a bottle of beer in his hand. So...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "BREAKHEART PASS": That's known as playing it close to the chest.
VERCAMMEN: Playing it close to the chest was something Bronson did on screen. He played strong, silent types in most of his movies. He has relatively few lines in his starring role in "Chato's Land," for example, and kept his real personality close.
BRONSON: I have a whole different personality than anything I've ever played.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really?
BRONSON: Yes. And you're not getting it now either.
VERCAMMEN: The son of a Lithuanian coal miners, Bronson returned from service in World War II intending to work as a set designer. But while working in a Philadelphia theater company he switched to onstage.
BRONSON: Oh, I ran into a guy once. He said, "Hey, you ought to be an actor." I said, "OK." And that's why I'm an actor.
VERCAMMEN: Bronson moved into films in the 1950s and a memorable role as one of the "Magnificent Seven."
BRONSON, "MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" Squeeze! I'll tell you what, don't shoot the gun. Take the gun like this and you use it like a club.
VERCAMMEN: At the peak of his career, Bronson was one of the big box office stars in the world. As westerns went out of style, he moved to violent thrillers like "Murphy's Law" and five installments playing a vigilante in the "Death Wish" series. BRONSON, "DEATH WISH": And I must impress upon you, Mrs. Craig (ph), how important it is that you do everything I say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "DEATH WISH": It's very important, Mr. Killian (ph), that you do everything I say.
VERCAMMEN: Bronson shared the screen many times with his late wife, actress Jill Ireland. Bronson continued to work into his 70s but found challenging work difficult to find.
BRONSON: It depends on the script. They keep sending them and I keep turning them down.
VERCAMMEN: Charles Bronson was always a man who knew which role was right for him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
