- Born
- Died
- Birth nameCharles Douville Coburn
- Nickname
- The Monocle from Georgia
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- A cigar-smoking, monocled, swag-bellied character actor known for his Old South manners and charm. In 1918 he and his first wife formed the Coburn Players and appeared on Broadway in many plays. With her death in 1937, he accepted a Hollywood contract and began making films at the age of sixty.
- IMDb mini biography by: James L. Mason
- SpousesWinifred Jean Clements Natzka(October 18, 1959 - August 30, 1961) (his death, 1 child)Ivah Myrtle "Mae" Wills(January 20, 1906 - April 27, 1937) (her death, 6 children)
- Wearing a monocle
- When asked by a reporter why he did not wear his omnipresent monocle while eating, he replied, "I once lost one in a bowl of soup.".
- Although he was born in Macon, Georgia, he was often thought to be English.
- His famous monocle was no affectation, but actually corrected an eye deficiency. "No point having two window panes where one will do," was always his explanation.
- He always carried a stack of cards with his autograph already written on them to satisfy fan requests.
- According to Piper Laurie in her memoirs (Learning To Love Out Loud), Charles Coburn loved pinching women's bottoms. It was for him like a tic. Every female under one hundred and five had to move fast around. But no one ever considered reporting from sexual harassment.
- [a story he told fans each year at the Delaware County (OH) Fair Little Brown Jug Stakes for pacers, which as a devoted harness-racing fan he attended annually] I grew up in the city not far from a burlesque theater and my father cautioned me not to go there because I might see something I shouldn't see. So, of course, when I got old enough I went right in, and sure enough I saw something I shouldn't--my father!
- If it would sell tickets, I'd stand on my head in the middle of Times Square at noon.
- Since You Went Away (1944) - $10,000 for one day
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