James Coburn

James Harrison Coburn III was born in Laurel, Nebraska, on August 31, 1928, the son of James Harrison Coburn II and Mylet S. Coburn (née Johnson). His father and namesake was of Scots-Irish ancestry and his mother was an immigrant from Sweden. His father had a garage business in Laurel that was destroyed by the Great Depression.{{cite web|work=Turner Classic Movies|title=James Coburn|url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=36024|access-date=September 26, 2010|archive-date=November 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091107140457/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=36024|url-status=dead}} Coburn was raised in Compton, California, where he attended Compton Junior College.

In 1950, Coburn was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as a truck driver and occasionally a disc jockey on an Army radio station in Texas. He also narrated Army training films in Mainz, West Germany.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1413677/James-Coburn.html |title=Obituary |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=March 14, 2010 |location=London |archive-date=December 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215164507/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1413677/James-Coburn.html |url-status=live }}

He attended Los Angeles City College, where he studied acting with fellow actor Jeff Corey under Stella Adler's tutelage, and later made his stage debut at the La Jolla Playhouse in Herman Melville's Billy Budd.{{cite web |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800017369/bio |title=James Coburn Biography - Yahoo! Movies |publisher=Yahoo! Movies |access-date=March 14, 2010 |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604010700/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800017369/bio |url-status=live }}

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{{cite web |url=http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/02/james-coburn-hollywood-interview.html |title=The Hollywood Interview blogsite |publisher=Thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com |date=February 28, 2008 |access-date=March 14, 2010 |archive-date=June 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617000126/http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/02/james-coburn-hollywood-interview.html |url-status=live }} while joking that he had more teeth to show on camera than the other 12 candidates for the part.{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4857490-1.html |title=Allbusiness.com |publisher=Allbusiness.com |access-date=March 14, 2010}}

Coburn's film debut came in 1959 as the sidekick of Pernell Roberts in the Randolph Scott Western Ride Lonesome.{{cite news |work=San Jose Mercury News|title=Coburn's Comfort Zone at Home in Western with Heston and Berenger Supporting|page=6|date=January 22, 1995|first=Ron|last=Miller|quote=JAMES COBURN began his movie career in a saddle 36 years ago, playing the gangly and not-too-bright sidekick to bad guy Pernell Roberts in the 1959 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."

"coburn">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|date=14 February 2025|access-date=14 February 2025|title=Movie Star Cold Streaks: James Coburn|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/movie-star-cold-streaks-james-coburn/}} 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.The Restless Gun, DVD, Timeless Media Group "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.

File:James Coburn in Charade.jpg (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."Entertainment: Coburn Wins Pact, Role in 'High Wind' He'll Star with Anthony Quinn; Mrs. Ames Pens Kidnaping Tale" Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times June 4, 1964: A10.

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).

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.{{cite news |title=Best of hollywood |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=30 December 1964 |page=23}} 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.""{{cite news |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=5 February 1965 |title=Coburn just right for 'Our Man Flint' |page=9 Part 4}} 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. He went over to Paramount for a Western comedy made through Edwards' company, Waterhole No. 3 (1967) and the political satire The President's Analyst (1967). Neither performed particularly well commercially, but over the years, The President's Analyst has become a cult film. In 1967, Coburn was voted the 12th-biggest star in Hollywood."Star Glitter Is Catching" by Richard L. Coe. The Washington Post and Times-Herald [Washington, D.C.] January 7, 1968: H1.

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.{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv/page/223 223]|title=The Fox that got away: the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox|url=https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv|url-access=registration|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M|year=1988|publisher=L. Stuart|isbn=9780818404856}}

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/how-italy-saved-the-western-with-a-fistful-of-dollars/article14396628/|title=How Italy saved the western with A Fistful of Dollars|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=September 19, 2013|access-date=January 31, 2019|archive-date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802003537/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/how-italy-saved-the-western-with-a-fistful-of-dollars/article14396628/|url-status=live|last1=Pevere|first1=Geoff}} 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."EASTWOOD SELECTED BOX-OFFICE CHAMPION" Los Angeles Times January 2, 1974: d17.

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/michael-parkinson-james-coburn-story-behind-wings-baffling-cover/ |title=Michael Parkinson and James Coburn? The story behind Wings' baffling cover for Band on the Run|first=Neil|last=McCormick|work=The Telegraph |location=London, England|publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited |access-date=July 2, 2023 |date=May 21, 2020 }}

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."{{cite web|url=http://www.historylink.org/File/3999//|last=Burrows|first=Alyssa|title=Lee, Bruce (1940-1973), Martial Arts Master and Film Maker|publisher=History Link.org|access-date=April 15, 2017|date=October 21, 2002|archive-date=July 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709222216/http://www.historylink.org/File/3999|url-status=live}}

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.

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, but it was very much Bronson's film. 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."[https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/27/archives/advertising-a-tough-gay-to-sell-light-beer.html Dougherty, Philip H. "Advertising: A Tough Guy to Sell Light Beer," The New York Times, Friday, May 27, 1977.] Retrieved February 15, 2025.{{cite web|url=http://www.trivia-library.com/b/what-it-costs-by-barry-tarshis.htm|title=Trivia on What It Costs by Barry Tarshis - Trivia Library|access-date=October 31, 2013|archive-date=November 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102194529/http://www.trivia-library.com/b/what-it-costs-by-barry-tarshis.htm|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/20/guardianobituaries.filmnews|title=Obituary: James Coburn|first=Veronica|last=Horwell|date=November 20, 2002|work=The Guardian|access-date=December 14, 2016|archive-date=May 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526202605/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/20/guardianobituaries.filmnews|url-status=live}} He was deeply interested in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, and collected sacred Buddhist artwork.{{cite web | url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/james-coburn-the-ultimate-sixties-tough-guy | title=Get to know James Coburn, the ultimate Sixties tough guy | first=Sean | last=Macaulay | date=September 3, 2015 | website=British GQ | access-date=July 3, 2019 | archive-date=November 28, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128172414/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/james-coburn-the-ultimate-sixties-tough-guy | url-status=live }} He narrated a film about the 16th Karmapa called The Lion's Roar.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Roar-Narrator-James-Coburn/dp/B000HOMSS6|title=The Lion's Roar|website=Amazon|date=September 19, 2006|access-date=September 1, 2017|archive-date=May 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526202606/https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Roar-Narrator-James-Coburn/dp/B000HOMSS6|url-status=live}}

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).

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/04/Mixing-politics-with-show-business-makes-for-star-wars-in-Hollywood/5322468392400/ | title=Mixing politics with show business makes for star wars in Hollywood | first=Iris | last=Krasnow | date=November 4, 1984 | website=UPI | access-date=February 15, 2021 | archive-date=February 4, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204090527/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/04/Mixing-politics-with-show-business-makes-for-star-wars-in-Hollywood/5322468392400/ | url-status=live }} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/ceo|title=C.E.O. for DOS (1995)|website=MobyGames|access-date=January 16, 2019|archive-date=January 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117070045/https://www.mobygames.com/game/ceo|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web | title=Holistic Treatment Relieved Coburn's Pain | first=John | last=McKenzie | date=November 19, 2002 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130005&page=1 | publisher=ABC News | access-date=February 15, 2021 | archive-date=January 25, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125145750/https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130005&page=1 | url-status=live }}{{cite news | title=Coburn beats back tough disease | first=Ann | last=Oldenburg | work=USA Today | date=December 29, 1998 | page=02.D}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11137014/Lynsey-de-Paul-obituary.html | title=Lynsey de Paul - obituary | date=October 2, 2014 | work=The Telegraph | access-date=July 21, 2019 | archive-date=July 21, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721085831/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11137014/Lynsey-de-Paul-obituary.html | url-status=live }} 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.{{cite news | title=James Coburn, 74; Actor Won an Oscar Late in His Career | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-19-me-coburn19-story.html | first=Louis | last=Sahagun | date=November 19, 2002 | access-date=November 3, 2020 | work=Los Angeles Times | language=en-US | archive-date=January 22, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122001255/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-19-me-coburn19-story.html | url-status=live }} One of his final roles was in the Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc. as the voice of Henry J. Waternoose III.

File:Bob Bondurant James Coburn 1972.JPG teaching Coburn in 1972]]

Coburn's interest in fast cars began with his father's garage business and continued throughout his life, as he exported rare cars to Japan.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/20/guardianobituaries.filmnews | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Veronica | last=Horwell | title=James Coburn | date=November 20, 2002 | access-date=December 14, 2016 | archive-date=April 6, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406202149/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/20/guardianobituaries.filmnews | url-status=live }} Coburn was credited with having introduced Steve McQueen to Ferraris, and in the early 1960s, owned a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso and a Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California SWB. His Spyder was the 13th of just 56x built. Coburn imported the used car in 1964, shortly after completing The Great Escape.{{cite news | url=https://money.cnn.com/2008/05/19/autos/record_ferrari_sale/index.htm?section=money_latest | work=CNN | first=Peter | last=Valdes-Dapena | title=$11 million: Ferrari nets record price | date=May 19, 2008 | access-date=August 3, 2020 | archive-date=October 29, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029173602/https://money.cnn.com/2008/05/19/autos/record_ferrari_sale/index.htm?section=money_latest | url-status=live }}

Cal Spyder #2377 was repainted several times during Coburn's ownership; it has been black, silver, and possibly red. He kept the car at his Beverly Hills-area home, where it was often serviced by Max Balchowsky, who also worked on the suspension and frame modifications on the Mustang GTs used in the filming of McQueen's Bullitt. Coburn sold the Spyder in 1987 after 24 years of ownership. The car was restored, had several owners, and was sold in 2008 for $10,894,400 to English broadcaster Chris Evans. At that time, it set a new world record for the highest price ever paid for an automobile at auction.{{cite web|url=http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/classic/112_0901_1961_ferrari_250_gt_spyder_california/test_drive.html|title=1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California drive - Behind the wheel of the 11 million dollar Ferrari formerly owned by James Coburn|page=3|date=January 1, 2009|work=Motor Trend magazine|access-date=September 26, 2010|archive-date=August 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824184320/http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/classic/112_0901_1961_ferrari_250_gt_spyder_california/test_drive.html|url-status=live}}

Over time, he also owned a Ferrari Daytona, at least one Ferrari 308, and a 1967 Ferrari 412P sports racer.{{cite web|url=http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/classic/112_0901_1961_ferrari_250_gt_spyder_california/viewall.html|title=1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California drive - Behind the wheel of the 11 million dollar Ferrari formerly owned by James Coburn|date=January 1, 2009|work=Motor Trend magazine|access-date=July 27, 2011|archive-date=January 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131084636/http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/classic/112_0901_1961_ferrari_250_gt_spyder_california/viewall.html|url-status=live}} From 1998 until his death, Coburn did the voiceovers for Chevrolet's Like a Rock commercials.

File:James Coburn grave at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Brentwood, California.JPG in Westwood, Los Angeles.]]

Coburn was married twice. His first marriage was to Beverly Kelly, in 1959; they had two children together.{{cite news |author=Robert F. Worth |url=https://nytimes.com/2002/11/19/us/james-coburn-74-is-dead-a-sly-presence-in-80-films.html |title=James Coburn, 74, Is Dead; A Sly Presence in 80 Films - NYTimes.com |newspaper=nytimes.com |date=November 19, 2002 |access-date=January 28, 2017 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202070330/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/19/us/james-coburn-74-is-dead-a-sly-presence-in-80-films.html |url-status=live }} The couple divorced in 1979 after 20 years of marriage.

He later married actress Paula Murad on October 22, 1993, in Versailles, France; they remained married until Coburn's death in 2002. The couple set up a charitable organization, the James and Paula Coburn Foundation.{{cite web|date=November 3, 2020|title=The James and Paula Coburn Foundation 123 G Street San Diego, CA 92101|url=https://jamesandpaulacoburnfoundation.org|url-status=live|archive-date=May 19, 2021|access-date=November 3, 2020|website=The James and Paula Coburn Foundation 123 G Street San Diego, CA 92101|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519195418/https://jamesandpaulacoburnfoundation.org/}}

In spite of his severe rheumatoid arthritis, Coburn was a martial arts student and a friend of fellow actor Bruce Lee. Upon Lee's early death, Coburn was one of his pallbearers at the funeral on July 25, 1973.{{cite web|url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3999|title=Lee, Bruce (1940–1973), Martial Arts Master and Film Maker|website=www.historylink.org|access-date=November 3, 2019|archive-date=August 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825221754/http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3999|url-status=live}}

Coburn died from a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills on November 18, 2002, at the age of 74. His wife, Paula, said that he died in her arms when they were listening to music together. He was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.{{cite web | url=https://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2002/11/20/oscarwinning-actor-j/ | title=Oscar-winning actor James Coburn dead at 74 }}{{cite news|url = https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-james-coburn-20021119-story.html|title = From the Archives: James Coburn, 74; Actor Won an Oscar Late in His Career|work = Los Angeles Times|date = November 19, 2002|last = Sagahún|first = Louis|accessdate = January 20, 2022|archive-date = January 21, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220121031129/https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-james-coburn-20021119-story.html|url-status = live}}{{Cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=2002-11-20 |title=James Coburn, Hollywood tough guy, dies at 74 |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/20/filmnews.film |access-date=2023-12-05 |issn=0261-3077}} Paula Coburn died from cancer less than two years later, on July 30, 2004, at the age of 48.{{cite news|title=Paula Coburn|date=August 7, 2004|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-aug-07-me-passings7.2-story.html|access-date=February 20, 2016|archive-date=April 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429112636/http://articles.latimes.com/2004/aug/07/local/me-passings7.2|url-status=live}}

In The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, critic David Thomson states that "Coburn is a modern rarity: an actor who projects lazy, humorous sexuality. He has made a variety of flawed, pleasurable films, the merits of which invariably depend on his laconic presence. Increasingly, he was the best thing in his movies, smiling privately, seeming to suggest that he was in contact with some profound source of amusement".Thomson, David. "The New Biographical Dictionary Of Film". Knopf 2004 Film critic Pauline Kael remarked on Coburn's unusual characteristics, stating that "he looked like the child of the liaison between Lt. Pinkerton and Madame Butterfly".Rule, Vera. "James Coburn". The Guardian, Friday 3/6/99 George Hickenlooper, who directed Coburn in The Man from Elysian Fields called him "the masculine male"."Tough Guise". People Magazine. August 3, 2001 Andy García called him "the personification of class, the hippest of the hip", and Paul Schrader noted "he was of that 50s generation. He had that part hipster, part cool-cat aura about him. He was one of those kind of men who were formed by the Rat Pack kind of style."Breznican, Anthony. "Actor James Coburn dead of heart attack at age 74". Today's News-Herald. July 23, 2001

• {{cite book |last1 = Coburn |first1=Robyn L |title=Dervish Dust: The Life and Words of James Coburn |publisher=Potomac Books, Inc. |date=April 5, 2022}} {{ISBN|978-1640124059}} (Hardcover), {{ASIN|B08ZJ8YS2D}} (Kindle)

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