Charles Bronson England. Actor Charles Bronson: biography, filmography, personal life and interesting facts

Charles Bronson (Michael Gordon Peterson)

Charles Bronson, born Michael Gordon Peterson, also known as Charles Salvador. Born on December 6, 1952 in Luton (UK). The most famous prisoner in Great Britain, famous for his cruelty. Visited more than 120 prisons.

Michael Gordon Peterson, later known as Charles Salvador and Charles Bronson, was born on December 6, 1952 in Luton.

Parents: Airey and Joe Peterson.

His uncle served as mayor of the city for two consecutive terms, from 1960 to 1970.

Michael's childhood was not violent or terrible tragedy which could influence his personality. He loved going to school, studied well, was polite to others and loved ones, and had many friends.

His aunt believed that it all started with the move of a young family, after which, she believes, he fell under the influence of bad company.

After changing his name to the more sonorous name of Hollywood actor Charles Bronson, he began to participate in fist fights. He also worked for about a year at the Mini-house escort service chain.

He took up sports and, having pumped up his muscles, began performing in the circus. Also fought in the ring.

At the age of 26 in 1974, he was jailed for the first time for an armed post office robbery in which he stole just over £26. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but could be released after four years for good behavior. However, due to a series of cruel and strange acts, he remains behind bars to this day.

Since 1974, he has visited more than 120 prisons across the UK, attacked more than 20 guards (and scores of prisoners), taken 11 hostages and caused more than half a million pounds in damage. He described himself in the book as follows: “I’m not afraid of anyone. Violence makes me crazier and stronger."

In 1978, Bronson was declared insane and sent to Broadmoor Hospital, a kind of British version of Arkham Asylum - the most secure facility for the criminally insane in the United Kingdom.

However, the tough Bronson did not consider himself crazy, and during this time he cemented himself as a problem prisoner. He claimed he was mistreated, forcefully given antipsychotic drugs that caused muscle spasms, and beaten by staff. As a sign of protest, he ran to the roof and remained there." the best part weeks,” until he was returned to the ward. After which he was beaten again for violations.

In one rooftop incident he is estimated to have caused an incredible £750,000 worth of damage. While he was in Broadmoor he escaped onto the roof twice more. He was released with a clean bill of health, but continued to protest on the rooftops of five different prisons. As he himself said, “I was on more roofs than Santa Claus."

Bronson was released in 1987. He was introduced to a friend of the Krays, who suggested he take up illegal fist fighting. During this time, Bronson began calling himself Charles Bronson, after the actor from the film Death Wish.

Charles Bronson boxing match

He also took part in at least one fight, where he fought a Rottweiler for £1000. After being free for only 69 days, he was arrested for attempted robbery.

In 1988 he was arrested for robbery, in 1992 he was released, and three weeks later he was arrested again for preparing a new robbery. In prison he became famous for fights with guards. One day he thickly smeared his body with oil, and then attacked the prison guards naked. Bronson inflicted several serious injuries on the guards before an alerted SWAT team was able to neutralize him.

During the time he was in prison, Bronson managed to become famous as an artist and poet. And he even received awards for his work, and donated part of the money from the sale of his work to charity.

In October 1996, he took his lawyer Robert Taylor hostage, but released him after 30 minutes. The lawyer did not press charges.

In 1998, he took several Iraqis hostage at Belmarsh prison. He ordered the hostages to call him General and threatened to eat one of them if his demands were not met. And later he ordered one of the hostages to beat himself. When he couldn’t, he injured himself, after which he demanded a helicopter that would take him to Cuba, a UZI submachine gun, 5 thousand rounds of ammunition and an axe. At the trial he stated that he was as guilty as Adolf Hitler.

While in prison, Charles Bronson met and became friends with Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the most brutal and dangerous gangsters in Great Britain. Bronson describes them as "the best guys I've ever met."

In February 1999, a special unit was created at Woodhill maximum security prison due to the presence of three dangerous prisoners: Charles Bronson, Reginald Wilson and Robert Maudsley, and in order to ensure the safety of other prisoners.

During his final sentence, Bronson captured prison teacher Phil Danielson, tied him up with rope, and held him for 44 hours. Danielson became a victim of Bronson because he criticized his drawings.

Tried to electrocute himself with washing machine filled with water.

In 2007, two Sutton prison guards broke Bronson's glasses while trying to prevent another hostage incident. He was then paid compensation in the amount of £200.

In 2007, Charles Bronson released a fitness book in which he described his usual prison workout called « Single fitness» . It tells how you can pump up without special equipment, expensive sportswear or healthy food. Having spent most of his life in solitary confinement, he became a mountain of muscle. These methods can produce amazing power, he says. He talks about a technique called the Single Cow Punch, which is so strong it can knock out a cow. The criminal claims his fitness regime will also allow him to break bulletproof glass, kick down a steel door, lift a grown man over his head and throw him 30 feet without getting hurt.

Charles Bronson demonstrated almost superhuman strength in prison. For example, he bent steel door bars with his bare hands and once set a world record for push-ups; he claims to do 2,000 of them every day. Among other things, his book describes another unusual technique, such as cleaning the nostrils with a string and cleaning the colon while sitting on a bowl of water by sucking up the water using the abdominal muscles. He also cleanses his stomach by swallowing strips of wet tissue and pulling them back out.

In 2009, the life story of Charles Bronson was filmed; Tom Hardy played the role of Bronson in the film “Bronson”. To better understand his character, Tom Hardy visited Bronson in prison several times, the actor describes him as "very articulate, kind, funny and smart person" Although Hardy condemns Bronson's actions, he emphasizes that as an actor it is his responsibility to understand his character's character, not to judge it. Bronson really liked Tom Hardy, and the actor himself hopes that the prisoners liked his performance, otherwise he might be “rolled up in a carpet and sent to the bottom of the Thames.” During filming, the actor asked him many questions to a close friend and spent time with his family. Bronson was so interested in the idea of ​​being immortalized in a film that he shaved off his famous mustache and sent it to Tom to wear on set.

There is a Bronson freedom movement in the UK. Bronson's supporters argue that he spent more time in prison than most murderers (despite the cruelty of Charles Bronson's actions, they never resulted in death), but now he has begun new life by giving up old habits.

Criminal Charles Bronson's height: 179 centimeters.

Personal life of criminal Charles Bronson:

At the age of 19, he married for the first time to a woman named Irene, with whom he had a son, Michael. They divorced when he went to prison at 26.

In 2001, Charles Bronson became close to a Muslim woman named Saira, who, after seeing his photograph in a newspaper, immediately fell in love with him. They began corresponding and soon got married. He was then 48, and she was 31. In the same year, he changed his name to Ali Charles Ahmed in honor of his father new wife and accepted Islam. According to Bronson's book Luniology, he was then visited by two men who he believes were government spies. According to prison officials, this never happened.

The marriage lasted four years, and when the couple divorced, Ali Charles Ahmed abandoned Islam and became Charles Bronson again.

Second wife Cyra with Bronson's mother

In the fall of 2017, it became known that (Paul Williamson). The wedding was scheduled for November 14, 2017. Bronson is 64 years old and the bride is 37 years old. The wedding was planned within the walls of the specially guarded prison in the city of Wakefield. In accordance with prison rules, Bronson will be handcuffed to a guard.

Third wife Paul Williamson

Bibliography of Charles Bronson:

2005 - Luniology
2007 - Single fitness

The image of Charles Bronson in the movies:

2009 - Bronson (actor Tom Hardy as Charles Bronson)

The real name of the criminal is Michael Gordon Peterson. He was born on December 6, 1952 in Luton. His childhood was no different. The boy went to a regular school and hung out with his peers. There was no one in his family tragic events, there was no violence. There wasn’t even a friend who could influence a person’s psyche like that. Michael did well at school and was respectful of his elders. The boy had a lot of friends with whom he got along well. But one day, after the family moved to a new place of residence, the boy lost all his old friends. Michael's aunt believes it all started when he fell in with the “wrong” company.

Michael Gordon Peterson // Photo: kino-teatr.ru

Youth years

New city and new company forced young man change the name to a more consonant one. So, Michael took the name of the famous Hollywood actor Charles Bronson. Over time, he began to take part in fist fights and engage in illegal activities. For some time he provided escort services.

When he was only 19 years old he got married. In marriage, he very quickly had a son. This event became a kind of shake-up for the man. For some time he became a law-abiding citizen and an exemplary family man. He started to build up muscle mass and got a job at the circus. Things were going pretty well in the family. The couple was very happy, and Michael also acquired a rather toned figure. However, the passion for adventure and free life After a while, it still got the better of reason. At age 22, Peterson committed an armed attack on a local post office. For the crime he is sent to prison for seven years. It is from this moment that his prison story begins.

Peterson committed an armed attack on a local post office // Photo: norcom.ru

The Prison Life of Charles Bronson

If the man, like most prisoners, behaved approximately, then at the end of 7 years he would be released. Moreover, she was expecting him there loving wife and son. However, in prison he “went off the rails.” From time to time he got up to various “pranks” as a result of which he has been in prison for 30 years in a row. He has become such a difficult prisoner that every now and then he is sent to a neighboring prison. In total, he has already visited 120 of them. At the same time, he was kept in solitary confinement for most of this time.

Despite all the releases he also had. After his first sentence, he was released almost 14 years later. But literally the next day he committed another robbery. This time he was imprisoned for 4 years. At the end of his sentence, he left and began preparing to carry out an armed attack.

Mental disorders

Bronson when he once again was arrested for the crime and declared insane. He was sent to psychiatric clinic. He himself did not consider himself mentally ill at all and argued that he, a healthy and balanced person, was sent to a hospital in vain. Michael claimed that he was treated very poorly at the clinic. Antipsychotic drugs were forcibly administered, which almost always caused muscle spasms. He said that the clinic's medical staff beat him.

Michael wrote letters of complaint incessantly. He often ran away from the ward and went to the roof of the building. The clinic workers could not remove the man from there for a long time, but when they removed him, they sent him to the ward and tied him up. Michael, recalling those times, said that he spent more time on the roof than Santa Claus himself. Perhaps the clinic staff got tired of running after their patient, and she recognized him as completely healthy.

Sitting in solitary confinement, he began to write poems and draw pictures // Photo: favera.ru

As a result, Michael went back to the penal colony. There, sitting in solitary confinement, he began to write poems and draw pictures. Moreover, he received prizes more than once for his work. His work was published in printed publications. For this he received some allowance. He donated all the proceeds to charity. Most likely, the media found out about him thanks to his art teacher. Despite the fact that the teacher provided a favor to the prisoner, Michael one day took him hostage. He was not happy that the teacher criticized his work too much. He tied his victim to a chair and began throwing homemade bladed weapons at him. He also bullied me in other ways. As a result, the teacher received deep psychological trauma, and Michael received a life sentence.

A cult American actor of the mid-twentieth century, he became famous for his roles in the films “The Great Escape,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.” His real name is Charles Dennis Buchinski. But viewers and a million-strong army of fans know him under his stage name Charles Bronson.

Childhood and youth

He was born in Pennsylvania in 1921. The childhood of Charles Dennis, the eleventh child of 15 children of Polish-Lithuanian emigrants, was not carefree. Charles was the first of all the Buchinskis to complete his education at high school. English language he learned it on his own, interacting with local yard boys.

Young Charlie Buchinski's childhood ended at age 10. The father of a large family died, so the boy had to go to work. At first he worked in the office of a coal mine, and soon in the mine itself. Later famous actor recalled that the poverty in their home was such that once they even had to wear their sister’s dress to go to school.

Second world war did not pass by the young man. Buczynski went to the war zone. He joined the Pacific Fleet and served as an air gunner. He was awarded the Purple Star for his valor and intrepidity.

After the end of the war, a young man for many years I looked for myself in different areas of life until I joined a theater troupe in Philadelphia. Only when he went on stage did he realize that acting was his true calling.

Buchinsky understood that without acting education he would not be able to get to the cinema Olympus. Therefore, he entered and successfully graduated from the Pasadena Playhouse, a theater school in the Californian city of Pasadena.

Movies

Cinematic biography of Charles Bronson, future legend world cinema, began in 1950, when he was preparing to celebrate his 30th anniversary. For the first 12 films in which he starred, the actor was listed in the credits under his real name. But during the McCarthyite “witch hunt,” he decided to change his too “Slavic” surname to an Anglo-Saxon one.

Bronson's debut film was the war film “Now You're in the Navy,” where he got the role of a sailor. The film was released on big screens in 1951. 2 years later the films “Museum” followed wax figures", "Miss Sadie Thompson" and "The Stagecoach Security Guard". Everywhere, the artist received supporting roles, which did not bring much popularity, but played an invaluable role in acquiring acting skills.

In the late 1950s, Bronson was entrusted with a number of leading roles in films that turned out to be very successful at the box office. The most striking of them are the crime drama “Gun Gun Kelly” and the series “Man with a Camera.”

The breakthrough in his career came after the release of the brilliant western “The Magnificent Seven” in 1960. The role of the shooter in this film brought the artist his first - at that time fabulous - fee: 50 thousand dollars. It is noteworthy that this film gained the greatest popularity in the Soviet Union. Bronson became my favorite actor.

After 2 years, Charles pleased his fans with a new film - “The Great Escape.” Interestingly, the role of a Polish prisoner suffering from claustrophobia turned out to be quite close to Bronson: he himself suffered from this disease.

The peak of this actor's fame was in the 1960s and 70s of the twentieth century. The most striking and beloved films with his participation include the films “The Dirty Dozen” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.”

The drama “The Dirty Dozen” won several Oscar awards, and the cult western “Once Upon a Time in the West” by the famous Italian director Sergio Leone brought the actor to a new level of popularity. The director himself called Bronson “the greatest actor with whom he had the opportunity to work.”

Among the artist’s works of the 1970s, the paintings “Passenger of the Rain”, “Red Sun” and “Enemy at the Door” should be noted. This is the time when Charles Bronson already has the status of a world cinema star. His fees were called crazy: for each of his roles he received around a million dollars.

Most often, the artist is filmed in westerns and action films. Viewers and critics are crazy about the films “Cold Blooded Killer”, “Valdez Half-Blood” and “Death Wish”. The action film “Death Wish” turned out to be so successful that the directors decided to make a sequel. It came out in 1994.

In the 1980s, the star acted less and less. One of the most remarkable films of this period is the painting “Ten Minutes to Midnight.” Old age takes its toll.

The actor has his own star on Hollywood Alley glory.

Personal life

The Hollywood star, for whom millions of fans sighed, was a monogamous man. When the beautiful Jill Ireland he adored agreed to marry him, it seemed Bronson was flying in the clouds. Their marriage turned out to be long and strong. This love and mutual understanding beautiful couple Many colleagues were jealous. It was an atypical marriage for Hollywood.

Charles Bronson's personal life with Jill was surprisingly happy: his beloved wife gave birth to beautiful children. But the light dimmed for the star when he learned that his wife had cancer.

Bronson fought for her life for 6 long years. He was ready to give up everything he had and throw all his money at saving his beloved, just to bring her back to life. During this difficult period, he refused to film and did not leave his sick wife. Dying, the woman whispered that she would remain with him, like a guardian angel, forever. But Jill asked her husband to definitely find a life partner and try to be happy.

For several years after the death of his wife, Bronson led a reclusive life. When he finally began to go out into the world, Kim Weeks, Jill's former personal secretary, was seen next to him. It seemed that a smile began to flicker on the face of the gloomy Charles, and in December 1998, Charles and Kim got married.

He soon developed a mental disorder. Bronson told his doctor that he was in regular contact with deceased wife. According to him, once she even saved his life. The man dreamed that Jill asked him to take a taxi. The next morning he did just that, instructing the driver to check the car. It turned out that the car in which the actor went to filming every morning had a serious malfunction.

Death

IN recent years life famous artist suffered from . After the death of his wife in 1990, his health deteriorated significantly.

He lived another 13 years and died in August 2003 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. He came here with pneumonia, which he was treated for several weeks without success.

Filmography

• 1958 - “Machine Gunner Kelly”
• 1960 - “The Magnificent Seven”
• 1963 - “The Great Escape”
• 1967 - “The Dirty Dozen”
• 1968 - “Once Upon a Time in the West”
• 1970 - “Rain Passenger”
• 1971 - “Red Sun”
• 1974 - “Death Wish”
• 1983 - “Ten Minutes to Midnight”
• 1987 - “Murder”
• 1993 - “Under Threat of Death”
• 1995-1999 - “Family of Policemen”

His real name is Michael Gordon Peterson, he was born in 1952, and from the age of 26 to the present, with short breaks, he has been in prison. His unpredictable antics made him perhaps the most famous prisoner in Britain.

Childhood and youth

As they say, nothing foreshadowed a criminal “career” for young Michael. Lawyers for criminals usually cite a lack of parental love and unfavorable life circumstances. However, Michael's family was quite prosperous and wealthy; there were no tragic incidents in his life. He studied willingly, had many friends, and was invariably polite to others.

According to his aunt, it all started when the family moved and Michael got involved with bad company. It was then that he changed his name to Charles Bronson - his idol, the tough macho man of Hollywood, and began to participate in fist fights. He once even fought a Rottweiler for £1,000. Sports allowed him to pump up luxurious muscles, and he began performing in the circus arena.

Bronson married quite early, at the age of 19, and soon became a father. However, this did not stop him from taking part in an armed robbery, and at the age of 26 he ended up in his first prison (note that by now he has been in 120 English prisons!).

Criminal career

Bronson committed his most famous crime in 1974, when he robbed a post office of £26.18. He received 7 years and had every chance of being released early if he had not regularly violated the prison regime.

In 1988, he was again arrested for robbery, 4 years later he was released, but after 3 weeks he was again arrested for preparing a new robbery. Since then, Bronson has been sitting without a break.

It would seem that compared to serial killers and other serious criminals, his criminal career looks rather pathetic, but it was not this that made Bronson famous, but his unpredictable behavior in prison. It is not surprising that after several such episodes, not a single British prison wanted to accept this prisoner.

It was in prison that Bronson fully demonstrated his penchant for violence, although, oddly enough, none of the episodes ended in the death of the victims. Judge for yourself, here are just some of Bronson’s “antics”:
Having stripped naked and heavily oiled himself, he attacked the guards and inflicted several serious injuries on them. To neutralize it it was necessary whole squad special forces
In 1994, he took a prison guard hostage and demanded that he be given a helicopter and an inflatable doll(!).
In 1996, he unexpectedly took his lawyer hostage, but released him after half an hour.
In 1998, he took several imprisoned Iraqis hostage simply because one of them, having stumbled upon him, did not apologize. This time the demands were more serious: as usual, a helicopter to Cuba, and with it a machine gun with cartridges and an axe. If he refused, he threatened to eat one of the hostages.
He attempted suicide using a running washing machine.
In 2014, at the age of 62 (!), Bronson, during a televised match, became so enraged by the loss of his favorite team that he used his old trick: he stripped, oiled himself and, naked, attacked ten prison guards in full protective gear. . In doing so, he broke several of his ribs.
Captured a prison teacher, tied him up and held him for 44 hours just because he criticized one of his paintings.

However, one such incident earned Bronson £200 compensation after security guards broke Bronson's glasses in an effort to prevent another hostage-taking.

It is not surprising that Bronson spends a significant part of his sentence in solitary confinement. But even here he did not waste time.

Prison fitness

Judging by Charles Bronson's appearance, his time in prison only benefited him. And it’s not just his famous mustache, which he always wears, changing his hairstyle from a regular haircut to a completely shaved head, as in recent years (there was a period when he also grew a long beard).

No, it's all about his brilliant physical form. Even in his old age, Bronson does not stop training and looks like a real mountain of muscles. He described his system in the book “Single Fitness,” published in 2007. In it, he shares his experience of how, without special equipment and healthy eating, you can pump up truly superhuman strength.

Bronson confirmed the effectiveness of his method in practice: he managed to set a world record for push-ups, which he performs up to 2000 times daily; bend the steel bars of the chamber with bare hands, etc.

"Artistic creativity"

In fact, this title could easily be left out of quotation marks, because Bronson, a prisoner, managed to gain fame as an artist and poet during his years in prison.

He has been awarded seven Koestler awards for artistic creativity and poetry; his work was published in newspapers and magazines and was even hung on the London Underground (albeit illegally). It is characteristic that he donated part of the money received for these works to an orphanage.

Film adaptation of biography

In 2009, a film about the life story of Charles Bronson was released. His role was played by Tom Hardy, who for this purpose personally met his hero several times in prison. Bronson made a big impression on Hardy; in his words, he is “a very clear, kind, funny and smart person.”

At the same time, Hardy did not try to justify Bronson’s actions, but sought to understand the character of his character. I wonder how he managed to reconcile these qualities with Bronson’s actions?

Bronson himself was so inspired by the idea of ​​filming his life story that he cut off his famous mustache and gave it to Tom to use on the set.

"Free Charles Bronson!"

Under this slogan, more than 10 thousand signatures were collected during the campaign for the release of the prisoner. His supporters claim he served more time than many brutal killers, and now ready to start a new life.
However, numerous violations and hostage-takings in prison indicate that Charles Branson is not just an eccentric person, but absolutely unpredictable and dangerous to others, and he himself does not deny this. In his own words, violence makes him “crazier and stronger.” So it looks like he will end his days in prison, where he has already spent two-thirds of his life.

Our today's hero is a real professional criminal, whom many bros consider the most dangerous criminal in the world. At the same time, Michael Gordon Peterson (that’s the dude’s real name) never killed anyone or even beat anyone to death. On his account there are robberies, hostage-taking with a demand for a cup of tea as ransom, but not a single murder. But in his entire life, after embarking on a path of crime and chaos, this bald Joker was free for only 69 days between prison stints.

Bronson, by the way, despite his seemingly extremely destructive nature, comes from a very favorable middle-class family. You can't call him a lumpen! He committed his very first crime in 1974, when he carried out an armed raid on a post office. His loot was only a few pounds, and Michael was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In prison, Michael watched the film “Death Wish” with actor Charles Bronson and took on the appropriate pseudonym and mustache. At that time, it was simply impossible to imagine anyone cooler than Bronson among actors. And Michael himself was definitely very cool.

Apparently, the newly minted Bronson loved to promote himself with any of the possible ways. Of all the prisoners in Britain, no one has changed so many prisons or had as many fights with guards as our hero. Once Bronson even smeared himself with oil, captured a guard and fought with several dozen prison security officers.

Sometimes Charlie did leave prison, but every time he came back. He called the prison a “cozy hotel.” Once, when he ended up in a mental hospital, he even decided to kill one of the patients there in order to return to prison again. Fortunately, the guy survived, and Bronson went back to prison.

Charlie's help in fighting with the guards and at the same time surviving is simply amazing. physical fitness. This bro, by the way, can do 172 push-ups in a minute, 90 push-ups in 30 seconds, 1727 push-ups in an hour and 1790 abdominal curls in an hour. This helped Bronson brutally beat 19 prison guards naked.

Charlie wrote several books about his life in prison. One book, by the way, is devoted to how to quickly and effectively pump up in prison. And even in solitary confinement.

Also among Bronson's books you can find a guide to British prisons.

In 2009, a film was made about Michael.

Charlie is still imprisoned, but in total he has been imprisoned for about 40 years. He's probably in his cell right now, rocking or drawing something. Or writes another book. There is a movement in England to free Bronson. These guys think Charlie is not a bad person. What do you think, dude?