Charles Coburn
Acting
Awards
Won 1 Academy Award
Academy Awards 1 won
- 1944 Best Supporting Actor Won The More the Merrier
Award data from Wikidata (CC0). Coverage may be incomplete.
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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.
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Filmography
— top 60 of 82
Acting
58 credits
What's My Line?
Studio One
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Ed Sullivan Show
This Is Your Life
Startime
Around the World in 80 Days
Lux Video Theatre
The George Gobel Show
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Monkey Business
Vivacious Lady
The Paradine Case
Lured
John Paul Jones
The Lady Eve
Our Wife
In This Our Life
The Rosemary Clooney Show
Heaven Can Wait
In Name Only
Road to Singapore
Edison, the Man
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Trouble Along the Way
Made for Each Other
The Story of Mankind
The More the Merrier
Bachelor Mother
Pepe
The Constant Nymph
It's Showtime
Idiot's Delight
The Gal Who Took the West
Kings Row
Impact
A Royal Scandal
Mr. Music
Princess O'Rourke
Breakdowns of 1942
Together Again
Lord Jeff
The Green Years
The Devil and Miss Jones
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Wilson
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Stanley and Livingstone
George Washington Slept Here
Colonel Effingham's Raid
B.F.'s Daughter
Of Human Hearts
Shady Lady
Green Grass of Wyoming
Has Anybody Seen My Gal?
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
The Impatient Years
Florian
Other credits
2 credits
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