British-born actress Jill Ireland passed away from cancer in May of 1990 at the age of 54.
In the days leading up to her death, she had slipped into a coma after battling the disease
for six years.
Her husband, Charles Bronson, who selflessly remained by her side throughout her entire
cancer battle, helped her endure countless rounds of radiation and chemotherapy treatments
that sadly weren't enough to save her life.
Besides being her rock in her most significant moment of need, Bronson had previously also
appeared alongside Ireland in numerous films, including Death Wish II and Breakout.
It takes a particularly strong relationship to survive such an ordeal.
After 22 years of marriage, Bronson wasn't about to walk away when his wife needed him
the most.
Their marriage had already survived many troubles up to the point that Ireland received her
diagnosis, so Charles wasn't about to walk out on her when things got hard.
While their marriage was one that we can all learn from, the early stages of their relationship
were still marred with controversy due to the fact that they met each other while Ireland
was still married to Bronson's co-star and friend, David McCallum.
Keep watching to learn how Jill Ireland Hooked Up With Charles Bronson While Still Married.
That might not seem like the most solid foundation to start a relationship on, but in Ireland
and Bronson's case, nothing could have prevented them from loving each other with all of their
hearts.
Looking back on their marriage and the way that it was able to endure even the most trying
of circumstances, it's clear that they were each other's soul mates.
Charles Bronson: An Icon of the American Film Industry
Born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on November 3, 1921, in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania, Bronson
was raised in a large family of Lithuanian immigrants in the Allegheny Mountain region
of Pennsylvania's coal country.
He was the eleventh of 15 kids, and his parents struggled to make ends meet.
He didn't speak any English at home during his childhood.
Even when he later served in the Army, his accent was still so strong that his comrades
concluded that he must have come from another country.
Besides English, which he eventually learned to speak fluently, Bronson was also fluent
in Russian, Greek, and his family's native-tongue Lithuanian.
During the Great Depression, Bronson worked in the coal mines to provide for his family
before enlisting in the US Army during World War II.
During his time in the armed forces, he first served in the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training
Squadron before getting a chance to be a Boeing B-29 Superfortress aerial gunner with the
61st Bombardment Squadron based out of Guam.
The unit conducted combat missions against Japan.
Charles flew 25 missions and was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds that he received in
battle.
After being honorably discharged from the Army, Bronson worked several odd jobs before
joining a theatrical group based out of Philadelphia.
During this time, he shared an apartment in the Big Apple with Jack Klugman while both
actors were still aspiring stage actors.
In 1949, he got married to his first wife, Harriett Trundler, and moved to Hollywood
where he enrolled in acting lessons and started landing small roles.
In 1951, he scored a minor role in the film, You're in the Navy Now, alongside Gary Cooper.
He reportedly only bagged the role because out of all the other actors auditioning for
the role, he was the only one who could burp on cue.
True story!
It was during the 50s that he dropped the surname Burchinsky and adopted the name Bronson.
He did this because he feared his given name might make some suspect that he had communist
ties.
At the time, it was considered unwise for an actor as popular as he was becoming to
have a name that remotely resembled anything Russian.
Wanting to make his mark in Hollywood, Bronson continued to appear in low-budget films.
In 1958, he appeared in the film Machine Gun Kelly – not to be confused with the modern
rapper.
The film, which was made in just eight days, proved to be a minor success, and after French
actor, Alain Delon saw the movie, he was so impressed by Bronson that he invited him out
to France to cast him in his film Adieu, I'Ami which went on to become a huge hit in Europe.
By 1970, Bronson was a popular figure in Western and Crime movies.
While most of the movies that he appeared in were considered to be poorly written, critics
praised Charles' performances.
In 1972, he appeared in the revenge Western Chato's Land and the crime movie The Velachi
Papers.
He then teamed up with British filmmaker Michael Winner to do a series of successful films,
including The Stone Killer and The Mechanic.
After being in the film industry for almost a quarter century, Bronson landed the biggest
breakthrough role of his early career when he was cast in 1974s Death Wish.
The film proved to be so commercially successful that it went on to spawn four sequels over
the next two decades.
Bronson continued to please his fans with his tough-guy film persona, and over the next
few years, he appeared in countless hit films while becoming an international icon and legend
among movie lovers.
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Marrying His Co-Star's Wife
Bronson's first marriage ended in divorce in 1965.
While he was co-starring in the 1963 film, The Great Escape, with actor David McCallum,
Bronson was introduced by David to his future wife, Jill Ireland.
After getting to know each other, Bronson and Ireland became romantically involved despite
the fact that she was still married to David McCallum and his marriage with his first wife
had yet to be officially dissolved.
Discussing the affair, later on, McCallum admitted that the realization that his wife
was dating his co-star was at first challenging to accept, but eventually, he came to terms
with it.
He also revealed that he had no recollection of Bronson telling him after meeting Ireland
that he intended to one day marry his wife.
Although that's precisely how things eventually played out, David had no ill feelings towards
Bronson afterward.
David McCallum fortunately was able to move on from that episode without letting his temper
flair.
He later met and married model Katherine Carpenter after his divorce with Ireland was settled.
McCallum and Carpenter have been married for more than five decades now, and throughout
their marriage, they have brought two children into the world.
Bronson and Ireland's Marriage
A year after divorcing David McCallum, British-born actress Jill Ireland and Charles Bronson tied
the knot in 1968.
After getting married, Ireland began co-starring in her husband's films, beginning with the
flick Villa Rides.
She was later quite humorously quoted as saying that the reason why she appeared in so many
Charles Bronson films was because no other actress was willing to work with him.
The couple lived together in a mansion in Bel Air, where they raised seven children
– two from Bronson's previous marriage, three from Ireland's, and two that they had
together.
They adopted their second child, Katrina Holden, after her biological mother, Hilary, passed
away.
A year after the adoption was finalized, Ireland was diagnosed with breast cancer.
This diagnosis inspired Ireland to pen two books dealing with her battle with the disease.
Her first memoir, Life Wish: A Personal Story of Survival, relayed many details pertaining
to her mastectomy and subsequent recovery.
While grappling with the disease, Ireland dedicated much of her time to encouraging
other cancer patients and their families while fundraising for cancer research.
Ireland was deeply grateful to her husband for helping her endure her chemotherapy and
radiation treatments.
Without him, she would have likely felt quite alone in her struggles.
Devastatingly in 1989, Ireland was informed by her doctors that cancer had reappeared
and had metastasized to her lungs, femur, hip, and thyroid.
At that time, she was given three years to live.
She then penned her second memoir, Lifeline: My Fight To Save My Family which provided
details surrounding her son Jason McCallum's struggle with substance abuse before his accidental
overdose.
Ireland was in the process of writing her third book when she died on the morning of
May 18, 1990.
Bronson, as well as several of their children and other family members, were by her side
when she drew her final breath.
Before passing away, Ireland indicated that she wanted a funeral with a wake where champagne
and balloons would be present.
She also wanted attendees to wear bright happy colors and enjoy each other's company over
food and music.
More than anything, she wanted people to celebrate her life instead of mourning her death.
Bronson Remarried After Jill's Death
Charles Bronson got married to actress Kim Weeks eight years after Ireland's death.
Weeks is perhaps best known for her roles in films such as 1995s Breach of Faith and
Family Cops.
Sadly, just two years after the couple wed, Bronson was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
in 2000.
Three years later on August 30, 2003, Charles Bronson died at age 81 at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center in LA.
While Alzheimer's clearly played a role in his demise, Bronson's official cause of death
was listed as pneumonia.
Bronson was survived by his wife, three daughters, Katrina, Zuleika, and Suzanne, his son Tony,
and two stepsons, Valentine and Paul McCallum, in addition to two grandkids.
Charles left behind an estate valued at $48 million, including houses in Lithuania, Greece,
Malibu, and Vermont.
Following his passing, he was posthumously awarded with a special Golden Globe.
While that about wraps up this video, we'd love to hear from you.
Did you know that Jill Ireland began dating Charles Bronson while she was still married
to Bronson's co-star David McCallum?
And were you aware that Jill Ireland battled cancer for six years before succumbing to
the disease?
Let us know in the comments section down below.
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