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Charles Bronson Born Charles Buchinski on November 3, 1921, in Ehrenfeld, Pa. Bronson, the only one of his 15 siblings to finish high school, worked alongside his brothers in the coal mines to help support the family. Born to Lithuanian parents, he served during WWII as a tailgunner, then used his GI Bill to study art in Philadelphia, and intrigued by acting, he enrolled at California's Pasadena Playhouse. An intructor there intorduced him to director Henry Hathaway, which resulted in his debut film role in You're In The Navy Now. Subsequent small and large roles earned him a reputation for rugged, tough-guy characters, making the most of his unconventional features Bronson was once quoted as saying, "I guess I look like a rock quarry that someone has dynomited." It wasn't until 1960 and the role of Bernardo, one of the "Magnificent Seven", that his career took off. Subsequent roles in "The Great Escape" in 1963, where he played claustrophobic tunnel-digger Danny Velinski, and "The Dirty Dozen" in 1967 that solidified his career.