James Coburn

November 19, 2002 2:37 AM

James Coburn passes on...
RIP James...
posted by tomcosgrave (19 comments total)

He was so tongue-and-cheek, tough and playful - broke the mold and all that. Makes you think that particular brand of hedonistic, self-parodying and seemingly carefree leading men (Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum, Sinatra) is sadly now extinct. But then all deaths do that - they provoke an "end of an era" feeling which then turns out not to be true. Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro, Christian Slater or even George Clooney are probably contemporary Coburns. Anyway, here's an appropriate reaction from a Japanese website.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 2:50 AM on November 19, 2002

James Coburn in a Fistful of Dynamite - the dogs bollocks!
posted by niceness at 4:08 AM on November 19, 2002

Something tells me that even at his funeral, people will be saying "Oh, I thought he was Lee Marvin."
posted by machaus at 4:39 AM on November 19, 2002

God Bless, rest in peace. The knife throwing duel in The Magnificent Seven was great.
posted by 111 at 5:14 AM on November 19, 2002

That really is a shame. It's really hard to imagine anyone else having played Flint so well...
posted by ph00dz at 6:09 AM on November 19, 2002

The saving grace of Payback was Coburn's five minutes. "That's just mean!"

I was just thinking that..."shoot a mans luggage."

Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro, Christian Slater or even George Clooney are probably contemporary...

yeah probably.... How can you lump these guys into Coburns' caliber...well del Toro perhaps. Money, looks?

'Our Man Flint' was a classic.
posted by clavdivs at 7:01 AM on November 19, 2002

Yeah, but his performance in "Affliction" was hella good. He was a great actor that shall be greatly missed.
posted by tommyspoon at 7:51 AM on November 19, 2002

Waterhole #3: The gunfight outside the bar is an all-time classic; as for that "assault with a friendly weapon" thing.....
posted by Mack Twain at 8:14 AM on November 19, 2002

"Nobody throws me my own guns and says run. Nobody."
posted by Ty Webb at 8:36 AM on November 19, 2002

The Flint movies are my favorite. I got both of them, and shall watch them tonight in memorial. He could definitely kick James Bond's ass. The man could talk to dolphins, for chrissakes.
posted by adampsyche at 9:19 AM on November 19, 2002

Most surreal Coburn movie that you never heard of? "The President's Analyst". A wonderfully date piece of 60s memorabilia that gets stranger by the minute. Rest in Peace.

Not to mention his fine work in "The Muppet Movie"!
posted by sixfoot6 at 9:25 AM on November 19, 2002

This is very sad. I love "The President's Analyst". The Phone Company remains a continuing threat. RIP, Mr. Coburn.
posted by interrobang at 9:35 AM on November 19, 2002

Duck You Sucker!
posted by devon at 9:36 AM on November 19, 2002

Of all the things I remember about Coburn, it was that grin. That immense, rougish, self-satisfied, self-mocking, shit-eating grin. You had the sense he was laughing at the world and was inviting you to laugh along with him.

And as long as we remember him, death won't have the last laugh.
posted by dragonmage at 10:01 AM on November 19, 2002

TyWebb? See Coburn WAV'ing at you? "... Nobody."
posted by allaboutgeorge at 10:09 AM on November 19, 2002

Sweeeeet. Thanks, allaboutgeorge.
posted by Ty Webb at 10:16 AM on November 19, 2002

This is a shame....reminds me of a movie I saw him in when I was a kid on Circle of Fear theater. Coburn played a landlord I believe who was killed by being shoved into a well. He later returned to haunt the family thereafter. I was just a kid when I saw this but Coburn's performance in it caused me nightmares...something about that voice I believe. Anyone know what the name of this film was?
posted by SweetIceT at 1:42 PM on November 19, 2002

I thought his performance in Affliction was great, but the Flint films hold a place of honor in my DVD collection. I want to go to Fabulous Face and become brainwashed, just so Flint can come and kick our butts, and then make sweet, sweet love to us. Sexist, hilarious, absurd...I love "Operation Smooch." I love Flint. Farewell, dear friend. Lemme know how that dolphin language dictionary is coming...
posted by readymade at 2:05 PM on November 19, 2002

after his victory over arthritis and return to film it is sad to see him succumb to a heart attack.
posted by infowar at 6:44 PM on November 19, 2002