Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky, Lithuanian name Karolis Bučinskis, November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor known for "tough guy" roles who starred in such classic films as Once Upon A Time In The West,The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape. In many of his roles, he played a police detective, western gunfighter, boxer or Mafia hitman.
Charles Bronson (born 6 December 1952) is the adopted name of Michael Gordon Peterson, a British criminal who calls himself the "most violent prisoner in Britain". Bronson was born in Aberystwyth, in Wales, before moving to Merseyside, and later Luton, which is often referred to as his home town. Bronson states on his website that contrary to reports frequently made in the press, his name was changed by his fight promoter in 1987 and was not a choice he made in relation to the actor, Charles Bronson. Bronson has been in prison since the age of nineteen, for various offences. Married in December 1970 to Irene, he has one son named Michael.
Initially jailed in 1974 for robbery, Bronson's sentence has been repeatedly extended and he has spent only three months out of custody. He has served 28 years of his time in prison in solitary confinement due to a number of hostage situations, rooftop protests, repeated attacks on prison staff and on other inmates. His dangerous behaviour has meant that he has spent time in over 120 different prisons. In 2000, he received a discretionary life sentence (with a three year tariff) for a hostage-taking incident. His appeal against this sentence was denied in 2004.
In 1999 a special prison unit was set up for Bronson and two other violent prisoners from Woodhill (HM Prison), to reduce the risk they posed to staff and other prisoners.
In 2001, Bronson married Saira Rehman, who had seen his picture in a newspaper and began writing to him. Rehman had visited Bronson just three times prior to their wedding. Bronson converted to Islam (Rehman is a Muslim) and was also known as Charles Ali Ahmed. However, he and Rehman have since divorced and Bronson has reportedly renounced Islam and the Ali Ahmed name.
While in prison, Bronson has developed an extreme fitness regimen and regularly performs 2,500 press-ups a day. In 2002, he published a book Solitary Fitness (ISBN 1-902578-12-0), detailing an individual training process with minimal resources and space.
For the past ten years, Bronson has occupied himself by writing poetry, producing pieces of art and has published ten books.
Bronson is still a "Category A" prisoner and is currently being held at Full Sutton high security prison as of May 2007.
