James Coburn, who was born on August 31, 1928, died 10 years ago today on November 18, 2002. Coburn is remembered for many tough guy roles. He appeared in almost all of the westerns in the 1950s, like Have Gun, Will Travel, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Rifleman, Bat Masterson and even Disney’s Elfego Baca. He also showed up in some of the other popular series like Perry Mason and Checkmate. In 1966, he became a bona fide “movie star” with the James Bond spoof, Our Man Flint.

But our favorite role of his was in 1960, when he co-starred as Britt in The Magnificent Seven. Although he only had a total of 11 lines in the whole movie, he did have this great line, when he shoots a fleeing bandito off his horse from a distance:

An impressed Chico (Horst Bucholz) says admiringly: “That was the greatest shot I’ve ever seen.” Britt says: “The worst! I was aiming at the horse.”

The only surviving stars of The Magnificent Seven today are Robert Vaughn (Lee) and Eli Wallach, who played the outlaw, Calvera. They both continue to act. We should mention that the amazing Eli Wallach is 96 years old.

Other Magnificent Seven cast members:
Steve McQueen – Vin (3/24/1930 – 11/7/1980)
Yul Brynner – Chris Adams (7/11/1920 – 10/10/1985)
Brad Dexter – Harry Luck (4/9/1917 – 12/2/2002)
Horst Bucholz – Chico (12/4/1933 – 3/3/2003)
Charles Bronson – Bernardo O’Reilly (11/3/1921 – 8/30/2003)