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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 18, 1877
Died
August 30, 1961
Place of Birth
Macon, Georgia, USA
Also Known As
- Charles Douville Coburn
Charles Coburn
1.3 Popularity
Biography
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.
Known For
7.5
Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
1997
7.0
Self (archive footage)
It's Showtime
1976
6.0
Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman (archive footage) (uncredited)
Marilyn
1963
6.3
Charles Coburn
Pepe
1960
5.9
Benjamin Franklin
John Paul Jones
1959
3.2
Vance Beasley
A Stranger in My Arms
1959
6.0
Grampa Pennypacker
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
1959
4.3
Hippocrates
The Story of Mankind
1957
6.7
Uncle George Clitterbern
How to Murder a Rich Uncle
1957
6.5
Dr. John Fenner
Town on Trial
1957
Credits
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
as Self (archive footage)
1997
7.5
It's Showtime
as Self (archive footage)
1976
7.0
Marilyn
as Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman (archive footage) (uncredited)
1963
6.0
Pepe
as Charles Coburn
1960
6.3
John Paul Jones
as Benjamin Franklin
1959
5.9
A Stranger in My Arms
as Vance Beasley
1959
3.2
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
as Grampa Pennypacker
1959
6.0
The Story of Mankind
as Hippocrates
1957
4.3
How to Murder a Rich Uncle
as Uncle George Clitterbern
1957
6.7
Town on Trial
as Dr. John Fenner
1957
6.5
Around the World in 80 Days
as Steamship Company Clerk
1956
6.6
The Power and the Prize
as Guy Eliot
1956
5.5
🎬
The Rosemary Clooney Show
as Self
1956
0.0
How To Be Very, Very Popular
as Dr. Tweed
1955
4.1
December Bride
1954
5.5
🎬
The George Gobel Show
as Self
1954
7.3
Studio 57
1954
0.0
The Long Wait
as Gardiner
1954
5.8
The Rocket Man
as Mayor Ed Johnson
1954
6.3
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
as Sir Francis Beekman
1953
7.3
Trouble Along the Way
as le Père Matthew William Burke
1953
5.9
This Is Your Life
as Self
1952
6.4
Monkey Business
as Oliver Oxley
1952
6.7
Has Anybody Seen My Gal?
as Samuel Fulton / John Smith
1952
6.7
The Highwayman
as Lord Walters
1951
0.0
Mr. Music
as Alex Conway
1950
4.0
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Pa Harrington
1950
6.3
The Colgate Comedy Hour
as Self
1950
6.8
Peggy
as Professor Brookfield
1950
4.7
Louisa
as Mr. Burnside
1950
6.1
What's My Line?
as Self
1950
6.9
Everybody Does It
as Major Blair
1949
8.1
The Doctor and the Girl
as Dr. John Corday
1949
5.7
Yes Sir, That's My Baby
as Professor Jason Hartley
1949
4.0
The Gal Who Took the West
as General Michael O'Hara
1949
5.6
Impact
as Lieutenant Quincy
1949
6.0
Studio One
as Louis Hurst
1948
5.0
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
6.8
Green Grass of Wyoming
as Beaver Greenway
1948
6.8
B.F.'s Daughter
as Burton F. 'B.F.' Fulton
1948
6.3
The Paradine Case
as Sir Simon Flaquer
1947
6.2
Lured
as Harley Temple
1947
6.3
The Green Years
as Alexander Gow
1946
6.3
Colonel Effingham's Raid
as Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
1946
5.7
Shady Lady
as Col. John Appleby
1945
5.8
Over 21
as Robert Drexel Gow
1945
5.2
Rhapsody in Blue
as Max Dreyfus
1945
6.4
A Royal Scandal
as Nicolai Iiyitch
1945
6.9
Together Again
as Jonathan Crandall Sr
1944
5.3
The Impatient Years
as William Smith
1944
6.3
Wilson
as Professor Henry Holmes
1944
5.5
Knickerbocker Holiday
as Peter Stuyvesant
1944
5.0
My Kingdom for a Cook
as Rudyard Morley
1943
0.0
Princess O'Rourke
as Uncle Holman
1943
6.3
Heaven Can Wait
as Hugo Van Cleve
1943
6.9
The Constant Nymph
as Charles Creighton
1943
6.1
The More the Merrier
as Benjamin Dingle
1943
6.9
Breakdowns of 1942
as Self
1942
6.0
George Washington Slept Here
as Stanley Menninger
1942
6.3
In This Our Life
as William Fitzroy
1942
6.8
Kings Row
as Henry Gordon
1942
7.2
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
as John Pulham
1941
7.1
Unexpected Uncle
as Seton Mansley
1941
6.5
Our Wife
as Professor Drake
1941
5.7
The Devil and Miss Jones
as John P. Merrick/Thomas Higgins
1941
7.7
The Lady Eve
as 'Colonel' Harrington
1941
7.2
Three Faces West
as Dr. Karl Braun
1940
5.4
The Captain Is a Lady
as Captain Abe Peabody
1940
6.0
Florian
as Dr. Johannes Hofer
1940
1.0
Edison, the Man
as General Powell
1940
6.8
Road to Singapore
as Joshua Mallon IV
1940
6.5
Stanley and Livingstone
as Lord Tyce
1939
6.3
In Name Only
as Richard Walker
1939
7.0
Bachelor Mother
as J. B. Merlin
1939
7.1
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
as Gardner Hubbard
1939
6.0
Made for Each Other
as Judge Joseph M. Doolittle
1939
6.1
Idiot's Delight
as Dr. Hugo Waldersee
1939
6.1
Lord Jeff
as Captain Briggs
1938
6.9
Yellow Jack
as Dr. Finlay
1938
5.6
Vivacious Lady
as Mr. Morgan
1938
7.0
Of Human Hearts
as Dr. Charles Shingle
1938
5.8
The People's Enemy
as Judge
1935
6.0