Early television work Coburn's first television appearance was in 1953 on
Four Star Playhouse. He was selected for a
Remington Products razor commercial, where he was able to shave off 11 days of beard growth in less than 60 seconds while joking that he had more teeth to show on camera than the other 12 candidates for the part. Coburn's film debut came in 1959 as the sidekick of
Pernell Roberts in the
Randolph Scott Western
Ride Lonesome. He soon got a job in another Western,
Face of a Fugitive (1959).
Filmink argued "he made a terrific cowboy and was thus easily castable in the scores of Westerns being made for American TV at the time; indeed, Coburn guest starred in pretty much all of them." These included several episodes of
NBC's
Bonanza and appearing twice each on three other NBC Westerns:
Laramie with
Robert Fuller,
Tales of Wells Fargo with
Dale Robertson, one episode in the role of
Butch Cassidy; and
The Restless Gun with
John Payne in "The Pawn" and "The Way Back", the latter segment alongside
Bonanza's
Dan Blocker. "Butch Cassidy" aired in 1958. He played a rustler in
The Rifleman - Season 1, Episode 13 - The Young Englishman. Coburn's third film was a major breakthrough for him, as the knife-wielding Britt in
The Magnificent Seven (1960), directed by
John Sturges for the
Mirisch Company. Coburn was hired on the recommendation of his friend
Robert Vaughn. During the 1960–61 season, Coburn co-starred with
Ralph Taeger and
Joi Lansing in the NBC adventure/drama series
Klondike, set in the
Alaskan
gold rush town of
Skagway. When
Klondike was cancelled, Taeger and Coburn were regrouped as detectives in Mexico in NBC's equally short-lived
Acapulco. Coburn also made two guest appearances on
CBS's
Perry Mason, both times as the murder victim, in "The Case of the Envious Editor" and "The Case of the Angry Astronaut". In 1962, he portrayed Col. Briscoe in the "Hostage Child" of CBS's
Rawhide.
Supporting actor in films '' (1963) Coburn had a good role in
Hell Is for Heroes (1962), a war film with
Steve McQueen. He followed it with another war film with McQueen,
The Great Escape (1963), directed by Sturges for the Mirisches, where Coburn played an Australian POW. For the Mirisches, Coburn narrated
Kings of the Sun (1963). Coburn was one of the villains in
Charade (1963), starring
Cary Grant and
Audrey Hepburn. He followed that role playing a glib naval officer in
Paddy Chayefsky's
The Americanization of Emily, replacing
James Garner, who had moved up to the lead role when
William Holden withdrew from the production. As a result, Coburn was signed to a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. Coburn had another excellent supporting role as a one-armed Indian tracker in
Major Dundee (1965), directed by
Sam Peckinpah and starring
Charlton Heston. At Fox, he was second-billed in the pirate film
A High Wind in Jamaica (1965), supporting
Anthony Quinn in the lead role. He had a cameo in the
black comedy The Loved One (1965).
Stardom In December 1964 it was announced Coburn would star in Fox's
James Bond parody film Our Man Flint (1966), playing super agent
Derek Flint. Producer
Saul David commented, Coburn "is undoubtedly one of the most interesting looking actors in the business today. I would describe him as a cross between
Humphrey Bogart and
Jean Paul Belmondo - a true descendant of that bygone generation of character actors who became leading men by accident... Coburn has a fantastic effect on women filmgoers and I think it's because ladies go more for masculinity and charm than prettiness in a male star."" The movie was a big success at the box office on its release in 1966 and established Coburn as a star. Coburn followed it with
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), a wartime comedy from
Blake Edwards, which was made for the Mirisches; Coburn was top billed although the lead was Dick Shawn. It was a commercial disappointment.
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) was a crime movie made at Columbia. Back at Fox, Coburn made a second Flint film,
In Like Flint (1967), which was popular, but Coburn did not wish to make any more movies in that series. This has been called a "mistake" by Coburn as films in which he starred in where he did not play Flint were not as successful. Over at Columbia, Coburn was in a Swinging '60s heist film,
Duffy (1968), which flopped. He was one of several stars who had cameos in
Candy (1968), then played a hitman in
Hard Contract (1969) for Fox, another flop. Coburn tried a change of pace, an adaptation of a
Tennessee Williams play,
Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970) directed by
Sidney Lumet, but the film was not popular. In July 1970, Richard F Zanuck of Fox dropped the $300,000 option it had with Coburn. In 1971, Coburn starred in the
Zapata Western Duck, You Sucker!, with
Rod Steiger and directed by
Sergio Leone, as an Irish explosives expert and revolutionary who has fled to Mexico during the time of the
Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. In 1964, Coburn had said he would do
A Fistful of Dollars if they paid him $25,000, which was too expensive for the production's tiny budget.
Duck You Sucker, also called
A Fistful of Dynamite, was not as highly regarded as Leone's four previous Westerns, but was hugely popular in Europe, especially France. Back in the US, Coburn made another film with Blake Edwards, the thriller
The Carey Treatment (1972). It was badly cut by MGM and was commercially unsuccessful. So, too, was
The Honkers (1972), where Coburn played a rodeo rider. Coburn went back to Italy to make another Western,
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1973), or
Massacre at Fort Holman. He then reteamed with director Sam Peckinpah for the 1973 film
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, playing
Pat Garrett. In 1973, he was voted the 23rd-most popular star in Hollywood. In 1973, Coburn was among the featured celebrities dressed in prison gear on the cover of the album
Band on the Run made by
Paul McCartney and his band
Wings. Coburn was one of the
pallbearers at the funeral of
Bruce Lee along with Steve McQueen, Bruce's brother, Robert Lee, Peter Chin,
Danny Inosanto, and Taky Kimura. Coburn gave a speech: "Farewell, Brother. It has been an honor to share this space in time with you. As a friend and a teacher, you have given to me, have brought my physical, spiritual, and psychological selves together. Thank you. May peace be with you." Coburn was one of several stars in the popular
The Last of Sheila (1973). He then starred in a series of thrillers:
Harry in Your Pocket (1974), the debut feature from
Mission Impossible creator Bruce Geller, and
The Internecine Project (1975). Neither was widely seen.
Mid-career Coburn began to drop back down the credit list: he was third billed in writer-director
Richard Brooks' film
Bite the Bullet (1975) behind
Gene Hackman and
Candice Bergen. He co-starred with
Charles Bronson in
Hard Times (1975), the directorial debut of
Walter Hill. The movie was popular. Coburn played the lead in the action film
Sky Riders (1976), then played Charlton Heston's antagonist in
The Last Hard Men (1976). He narrated the official documentary film of the
1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics,
White Rock. He was one of the many stars in
Midway (1976), then had the star role in Sam Peckinpah's
Cross of Iron (1977) playing a German soldier. He finished directing the film because of Peckinpah's constant drunkenness. This critically acclaimed war epic performed poorly in the United States, but was a huge hit in Europe. Peckinpah and Coburn remained close friends until Peckinpah's death in 1984. Coburn returned to television in 1978 to star in a
three-part miniseries version of a
Dashiell Hammett detective novel,
The Dain Curse, tailoring his character to bear a physical resemblance to the author. During the previous year as a spokesman for the
Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, he was paid $500,000 to promote its new product in television advertisements by saying only two words: "Schlitz Light." In Japan, his masculine appearance was so appealing, he became an icon for its leading cigarette brand. He also supported himself in later years by exporting rare automobiles to Japan. He was deeply interested in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, and collected sacred Buddhist artwork. He narrated a film about the
16th Karmapa called ''The Lion's Roar''. Coburn starred in
Firepower (1979) with
Sophia Loren, replacing Charles Bronson when the latter pulled out. He had a cameo in
The Muppet Movie (1979) and had leading roles in
Goldengirl (1980) and
The Baltimore Bullet (1980). He was Shirley MacLaine's husband in
Loving Couples (1980) and had the lead in a Canadian film,
Crossover (1980).
Later years In 1981, Coburn moved almost entirely into supporting roles, such as those of the villains in both
High Risk (1981) and
Looker (1981). He hosted a TV series of the horror-anthology type,
Darkroom, in 1981 and 1982. According to
Mr. T, Coburn was slated to play the Hannibal character on the hit television series
The A-Team, but NBC changed their mind and went with
George Peppard. He supported
Walter Mondale's campaign in the
1984 presidential election. Coburn also portrayed Dwight Owen Barnes in the PC video game
C.E.O., developed by
Artdink as a spin-off of its
A-Train series. Because of his severe
rheumatoid arthritis, Coburn appeared in very few films during the 1980s, despite continuing to work during his final years. This disease had left Coburn's body deformed and in pain. He told
ABC News in a 1999 interview: "You start to turn to stone. See, my hand is twisted now because tendons have shortened." For 20 years, Coburn tried a host of both conventional and unconventional treatments, but none of them worked. "There was so much pain that...every time I stood up, I would break into a sweat," he recalled. Then, in 1996, Coburn tried
methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), a sulfur compound available at most health food stores. The result, he said, was nothing short of miraculous. "You take this stuff and it starts right away," said Coburn. "Everyone I've given it to has had a positive response." Though the MSM did not cure Coburn's arthritis, it did relieve his pain, allowing him to move more freely and resume his career. Coburn was in a four-year relationship with British singer-songwriter
Lynsey de Paul from the late 1970s. They co-wrote her songs "Losin' the Blues for You" and "Melancholy Melon" that appeared on her album
Tigers and Fireflies. Coburn resumed his film career in the 1990s, where he appeared in supporting roles in
Young Guns II,
Hudson Hawk,
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,
Maverick,
Eraser,
The Nutty Professor,
Affliction, and
Payback. His performance as Glen Whitehouse in
Affliction earned him an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. One of his final roles was in the
Pixar animated film
Monsters, Inc. as the voice of Henry J. Waternoose III. ==Cars==