Dirk Bogarde

He was knighted in 1992 for his services to acting. A stepson, Jason McCallum Bronson, preceded him in death after succumbing to a drug overdose in 1989. His only serious relationship with a woman seems to have been with the actress, Capucine, though he had many female friends. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Kim, four children, two stepchildren and two grandchildren. For many years he shared a home with a male friend, but repeatedly denied that their relationship was anything other than platonic. Bronson died of pneumonia while suffering from Alzheimer's disease at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, California. Bogarde never married and, even during his lifetime, was reported to be homosexual. At the time, Bronson (who shared the screen with McCallum in The Great Escape) bluntly told McCallum: "I'm going to marry your wife." Two years later, he made good on his boast and married Jill.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Bogarde gradually abandoned his heart-throb image for more challenging parts, such as the ex-Nazi in The Night Porter (1974), a bored University professor in Accident (1967), and, most notably, as Gustav von Aschenbach in Death in Venice (1971). He met her when she was still married to actor David McCallum. He quickly became a matinee idol. She was his second wife. George Dixon in The Blue Lamp launched him as a lead player, but it was the comedy, Doctor in the House (1954), that made him a star. Bronson was married to actress Jill Ireland from 1968 until her death in 1990. His 1950 appearance as the criminal who shot P.C. After the famous 1983 case of Bernhard Goetz, the actor recommended that people not imitate his character.

He joined the army and served in World War II, after which his good looks helped him begin a career as a film actor. He became a crime-fighting vigilante by night, a highly controversial role, as his executions were cheered by crime-weary audiences. Bogarde was born in the London suburb of Hampstead, of mixed Dutch-British ancestry. He is also remembered for Death Wish (1974) which spawned several sequels, In Death Wish he played a Paul Kersey, a prosperous liberal New York architect until his wife was murdered and daughter raped. Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde (March 28, 1921 - May 8, 1999), better known by the stage name Dirk Bogarde, was an actor. In the westerns The Magnificent Seven (1960) and the epic Once Upon a Time in the West, (1968) he played heroic gunfighters, taking up the cause of the defenseless. Dirk Bogarde: The Complete Career Illustrated w/Robert Tanitch. Bronson's most famous films include The Great Escape, (1963) in which he played Danny Welinski, nicknamed "The Tunnel King", a Polish prisoner of war, The Dirty Dozen, (1967) in which he played an Army death row convict conscripted into a World War II suicide mission.

Dirk Bogarde: The Complete Autobiography. He became quite famous on that continent, and was known by two interesting nicknames: The Italians called him "Il Brutto" ("The Ugly") and to the French he was known as "le sacre monstre," the "sacred monster." Even though he was not yet a headliner in America, his overseas fame earned him a 1971 Golden Globe as the "Most Popular Actor in the World." That same year, he wondered if he was "too masculine" to ever become a star in the US. An Orderly Man. Although he began his career in America, Bronson first made a serious name for himself acting in European films. A Postilion Struck by Lightning. In 1961 Bronson made an appearance with Elizabeth Montgomery in The Twilight Zone, in the episode "Two". Victim (1961). One of his earliest screen appearances under his new name was as Vincent Price's henchman in 1953 horror classic House Of Wax.

Song Without End. Lithuanian was a name for people living in that regin of Poland). A Tale of Two Cities (1958). (Bronson is in fact half Polish). The Spanish Gardener (1956). 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 then Russian. The Blue Lamp (1950). After the war, he decided to pursue the profession of acting, not from any love of the subject, but rather because he was impressed with the amount of money that he could potentially make in the business.

In 1943, Bronson was drafted into the Air Force and served as a tail gunner onboard B29 bombers. His family was so poor that at one time he was forced to wear his sister's dress to school because he had no other clothes. He was born as Charles Dennis Buchinski in the notorious Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania neighborhood of Scooptown, the 11th of 15 children of Lithuanian and Polish immigrants. He was blunt, physically powerful, and had a look of danger that fit such roles.

In most of his roles he starred as a brutal police detective, a western gunfighter, or a mafia hitman. Charles Bronson (November 3, 1921 - August 30, 2003) was an American actor of "tough guy" roles.