Your history lesson for today

Macon-born Charles Coburn waves to crowd during parade in
September 1949. On left is Macon Mayor Lewis Wilson. Seated
is Mayor Pro Tem Dan Tidwell.

In honor of last night’s Academy Awards, my trivia question today is: Which two Academy Award winning actors were born in Macon?

If you said Melvyn Douglas and Charles Coburn, give yourself a pat on the back.

I’ve written about Douglas several times over the years. His father was a Wesleyan professor and lived here only a short time after his birth. Douglas captured Oscars twice for best supporting actor in "Hud" (1964) and "Being There" (1980).

Lesser known is Coburn, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor for "The More the Merrier" in 1943. He also starred in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Monkey Business" with Marilyn Monroe, and "King's Row" with Ronald Reagan. He also worked with Bing Crosby in "Mr. Music," Gregory Peck in "The Paradine Case" and Henry Fonda in "The Lady Eve."

There is some dispute whether he was actually born in Macon. In fact, when I wrote that a few years ago, I had several letters telling me I had made an error. I was told Coburn was born in Savannah. Several web sites, including the grandest movie source of them all, the Internet Movie Data Base list his birthplace as Savannah.

But I’m looking an old release from a New York theatre company we had in our files at the Telegraph. It is dated Jan. 22, 1951 and lists Macon as Coburn’s place of birth. He moved with his family to Savannah when he was 9 months old, and grew up and was educated there. At age 14, he got his start in show business as an usher at the old Savannah Theatre. Three years later he was the youngest theater manager in the U.S., so that’s where the confusion may have started.

During a visit to Macon in 1949, where he was honored with a parade (see above photo), he said his father told him he was born under a rose bush in Macon. Coburn was such a prolific actor and busy man I doubt he would have taken time to participate in a parade in this city if he had no connections here.

The parade was held downtown to mark the opening of football season at Lanier High school. Coburn was showered with tributes during his visit. He was made a life-time member of the Macon Police Department and honored at a luncheon at the Sidney Lanier House.

That's your history lesson for today.