Talk:Charles Bronson

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I have changed his real surname from Bunchinsky to Buchinsky. Even though several newspapers list his original surname as Bunchinsky I believe this is a mistake.

IMDB say Buchinsky. The only record of the name Bunchinsky seems to be with Bronson while Buchinsky is relatively more common. US 1930 census lists no one with the name Bunchinsky, but several Buchinskys. -- Popsracer 08:37, 3 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I changed the following:

During the McCarthy hearings he changed his last name to Bronson as Russian-sounding names were suspect even though Buchinski is really spelled Buchinski and is more Polish than Russian. (Bronson is in fact half Polish). Lithuanian was a name for people living in that regin of Poland).

First, Poland and Lithuania were part of the Soviet block, so the distinction between Polish and Russian (and Lithuanian) is irrelevant; so I changed it to the more general "Slavic". Also, "Buchinski is really spelled Buchinski" makes no sense, and is the result of an earlier ill-made edit; originally, it said, "Buchinsky is really spelled Buchinski". I am not sure which is on his birth cert, and sources differ, so I let that go. Then there is the obvious spelling error (regin for region) and extra parenthesis, not to mention the fact that Lithuanian means more than just people living in a certain region of Poland. -- Nike 23:40, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Surviving Cast from Magnificent Seven

I believe Eli Wallach is still alive. --Pozole 04:59, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Copyvio

Much of the article is ripped off from this site. I'm too lazy to do anything about it, but it's a problem anyway. (I'm assuming we ripped them off, not the other way around, mostly because ours has a minor change or two. I could be wrong.) Deltabeignet 23:50, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

As it says at the bottom of the page you linked to, it is a legal mirror of Wikipedia, not the other way around. biography.ms is actually quite a well known mirror of Wikipedia. 12.164.240.33 22:09, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lithuanian and Polish

There is a big difference between Lithuanian names ending with s, vrs Polish names that end with ski. So find some references as to whether Bronson's birth name ends with sky or ski, because it makes a big difference, sky (Russian or Ukrainian), ski (Polish).

Lithuanians are Balts, not Slavs. Informationguy

I know Poles and Lithuanians are not the same, but they once were both part of Poland before it was divided up by the Russians, Prussians, et al. Bronson's parents were Lithuanian, not Polish!! 67.101.192.188 00:16, 25 January 2006 (UTC) (rms125a@hotmail.com)

Not Poland but Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. another fact - IMDB mentions, that he spoke fluent Russian, Lithuanian and Greek but does not mention Polish.--Lokyz 13:51, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

We know him for years as Algimantas Bruczynski - lithuanian given name, and polish surname. --88.204.251.204 (talk) 23:44, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Descent from what exactly?

Charles Bronson is being said as being Slavic, yet his parents are only either listed as Polish or Lithuanian in the history section of this article, many Lithuanian names end with "is" or "as", so I'm asking whether he is Lithuanian-Ukrainian/Russian-Polish, to be precise because a Russian/Ukrainian suffix in his surname along with claims to being either Lithuanian or Polish seems to be not giving credit to his possible Ukrainian or Russian origins. Since "Slavic" is too weak a description, almost like "Citizen of the World", there are many different Slavs: South Slavs, South-West Slavs (Serbs), South-East Slavs, East Slavs (Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians), West-Slavs (Poles, Slovaks, Czechs) Informationguy

In Lithuanian language most mans has nemes ending "-as" or "-is". In XX century in different years Lithuania or parts of Lithuania was ocupated by Russia, Germany, Poland, Soviet Union. Some more time ago Lithuania have had common kingdom with Poland. Lithuania was newer been isolated from other culture and many Lithuanians are having names from neighbour cultures. Because of Lithuanian gramathics some times the name of the same person is spellt different in Lithunian language and in other language. On example, original name of Charles Bronson in Lithuanian is Karolis Bučinskis. Mykolas OK

Please stop posting he was Polish or Slavic. Bronson was born Charles Buchinsky in 1921 in the southwestern Pennsylvania town of Ehrenfeld, the 11th of 15 children of Lithuanian immigrant parents. Source: [1]/ --Vytis1 22:56, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

Please stop posting he was Lithuanian or Baltic. Bronson was born Charles Buchinsky in 1921 in the southwestern Pennsylvania town of Ehrenfeld, the 11th of 15 children of Polish immigrant parents. Source: http://imdb.com/name/nm0000314/. He was Polsh. Jurand.

Yes, he would made a proud Polish citizen :) The same site you suggested says that Bronson spoke fluent Russian, Lithuanian and Greek. If he was Polish how come he never learned the polish language from his mother. There is no need to discuss on that page where he was born... Can you trust this IMDB site? Ask any American in Chicago and they'll say that he had Lithuanian roots. By the way from what Polish city his parents came? Also pay attention to the category - it clearly states Lithuanian-Americans. Read the CNN source, or would you rely on a contradictory IMDB source? Same source: [2]--Vytis1 23:16, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

By the way, his face looks like so Asiatic - Does he have any Tatar ancestors? --1523 08:38, 6 February 2006 (UTC)


Yes, from what I've read Bronson is a descendant of Lipka Tatars. I can find a source if needed. radek 05:49, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Everyone, you gotta remember that Bronson's parents left Eastern Europe shortly after World War I. There was no Lithuania or Poland before this so you can't determine his ethnicity based on what city they came from. It's like saying Hanna Schygulla was a Polish actress because she was born in Katowice which is present-day Poland. No, she is German, her name is German. Buchinsky is not a Lithuanian name. I think we should list Bronson's parents as Polish-Lithuanian. WACGuy 07:54, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

  • I've included a link that said his first language was Lithuanian. Ethnic Poles spoke Polish. Some sites list Bronson as part Russian. I think these are all mistakes. So we should keep it as "Lithuanian" until anyone can find a source as reliable as USA Today or CNN, which say just "Lithuanian". Also, I've removed the Catholic category, I couldn't find anything to confirm it. Please restore if you do. Oh, and for the record, the IMDB is a crap source responsible for mistake after mistake. It's a Wiki, too, only one that's not as easy to correct. JackO'Lantern 04:41, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

His father Walter Buchinsky was indeed Lithuanian, his mother Mary Valinsky was American born Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. Walter & Mary were married in 1907 in Cambria, Pennsylvania.

You have to remeber, Eastern Europe has been overrun by Asians, this is why the vast majority have these Asian features. It is not something that just appeared, his looks are there from mixture. Nationalities are just that. Races are different from nationalities.--71.235.81.32 23:37, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Some source quotes

According to "Charles Bronson" by David Downing, copyright 1983, published by W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. (in the UK) and St. Martin's Press (New York) (in the US); ISBN 0312 130104

Father was "Walter Bunchinsky"; mother was "Mary Valinsky"; Bronson was fifth son, born Nov 3 1921: "Their fifth son, Charles Dennis Bunchinsky, was one of these; he was born on 3 November 1921."


[edit] Religion?

was charles a muslim or a jew? anyone know? it would be a relevent addition to his life.

Bronson was Lithuanian.
Lithuanians can often be Muslim or Jewish - or any other known religion.
What the heck? I'm Lithuanian and the majority of them are Roman-Catholic. Please don't say things you have no idea about.--12.72.29.30 21:47, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
Lipka Tatars are Muslim. They can't speak mother language: Kipchak language. Only character that connects them to ancestry is religion, Islam. His daughter's name is Züleyha, this may be a tip. --Тимур (talk) 15:15, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What was his extraction?

Lithuanian extraction of Bronson seems very doubtful. I have checked a few hundred web sites and I have found no evidence of such. All mentions about his Lithuanian extraction seem to derive from the same source. The same about his language - this mention comes from one article in a popular newspaper that not neceserily has to be correct. On the contrary I have found a few sites stating his Polish extraction, including IMD. The only things I have found on official sites were:

1. His father was from Lithuania (what does not make him ethnic Lithuanian - at the time of emigration of his father Lithuania did not exist in the modern sense). 2. English was not his first language.

And further - his surname does not sound Lithuanian but rather Polish (anglicized version of Buczyński surname). 2. The same about his mother's surname. If there were ethnic Lithuanians anglicized versions of their surnames would keep final -s, as it is not problem for English speakers and it would look like Bucinskis.

So who was he: Karolis Bučinskis or Karol Buczyński. Or mayby just Charles Buchinski?

I have removed mentions about his ethnic extraction. Could someone find some sound sources, for example biography, instead of nationalistic agenda?Yeti 00:26, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] dubious book about Bronson

I removed the following section:

In the Bronson biography, Charles Bronson: From West To Best, written by Eric Preston, the claim is made that "he was drafted into the military, and then signed up for the Army Air Corps." Military records, however, indicate differently.

After searching google and amazon.com, I was not able to find any evidence that such a book exists or an author named Eric Preston --rogerd 03:00, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] About The Deleted Pictures

Pleases try to upload them again and tag them as promotion material. And if some one still has that cool promotion picture from Death Wish III where Charels is aming his lovely .475 Wildey Magnum. Please put it back up because I used it in my article too......thanxxxx FreddyFred 01:10, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Anybody remember him in Chato's Land?

Maybe the greatest Vietnam era parable I ever saw. Anybody remember?

Chato's Land was ok but how about "Machine-Gun Kelly" directed by Corman in 1958. That was definitely his first great role on big screen. the thing is it seems to be lost or something, it's still not on DVD.

Marty Rockatansky

[edit] Film: "Assassination"

The pointer points to the wrong "Assassination" film. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.32.119.35 (talk) 06:12, 16 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Not listed: "Someone Behind the Door (1971)"

Isn't the above one of Charlse Bronson's film? See http://www.amazon.com/Someone-Behind-Door-Charles-Bronson/dp/B00023BLZ8 See http://amazon.imdb.com/name/nm0000314/ Also known as Quelqu'un derrière la porte (1971) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.48.54.155 (talk) 15:20, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Why are the Family of Cops films that he did not listed?...i believe they were the last thing he did in the mis to late 90's....


[edit] Reference checked

[edit] Corrected obituary

October 6, 2003, Monday An article in The Times Magazine on Sept. 22, 1974, about the movie actor Charles Bronson, who died on Aug. 30 this year, misstated his military record. Publicity material asserting that Mr. Bronson had been a B-29 gunner in World War II, called into doubt by the article, was indeed correct. (The magazine error came to light after it was repeated in an obituary on Sept. 2 and in some late editions on Sept. 1. The more recent error was corrected in this space on Sept. 18.)

[edit] Original Obituary

An obituary of the movie actor Charles Bronson on Sept. 2 and in some late editions on Sept. 1 misstated his military record. Mr. Bronson had indeed been an aircraft gunner during World War II, as his publicity materials said. (His initial assignment, in Kingman, Ariz., involved maintenance and operations of the base messes.) He was a member of the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron, not the 760th Mess Squadron. In 1945 Mr. Bronson was attached to a B-29 squadron of the 39th Bombardment Group, based in Guam, which conducted combat missions against the Japanese home islands.

[edit] Corrected obituary (redundant)

October 6, 2003, Monday An article in The Times Magazine on Sept. 22, 1974, about the movie actor Charles Bronson, who died on Aug. 30 this year, misstated his military record. Publicity material asserting that Mr. Bronson had been a B-29 gunner in World War II, called into doubt by the article, was indeed correct. (The magazine error came to light after it was repeated in an obituary on Sept. 2 and in some late editions on Sept. 1. The more recent error was corrected in this space on Sept. 18.)


read carefully. the corrected obituary states charles bronson was a mess attendant, not even a cook, let alone a B-29 gunner.

The article states that his publicity material was in fact correct. The correction begins: Correction: September 18, 2003, Thursday An obituary of the movie actor Charles Bronson on Sept. 2 and in some late editions on Sept. 1 misstated his military record. Mr. Bronson had indeed been an aircraft gunner during World War II, as his publicity materials said.