Editing James Coburn (section)

===Early television work===
Coburn's first television appearance was in 1953 on ''[[Four Star Playhouse]]''.

He was selected for a [[Remington Products]] razor commercial, where he was able to shave off 11 days of beard growth in less than 60 seconds<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/02/james-coburn-hollywood-interview.html |title=The Hollywood Interview blogsite |publisher=Thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com |date=February 28, 2008 |access-date=March 14, 2010 |archive-date=June 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617000126/http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/02/james-coburn-hollywood-interview.html |url-status=live }}</ref> while joking that he had more teeth to show on camera than the other 12 candidates for the part.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4857490-1.html |title=Allbusiness.com |publisher=Allbusiness.com |access-date=March 14, 2010}}</ref>

Coburn's film debut came in 1959 as the sidekick of [[Pernell Roberts]] in the [[Randolph Scott]] Western ''[[Ride Lonesome]]''.<ref>{{cite news |work=San Jose Mercury News|title=Coburn's Comfort Zone at Home in Western with Heston and Berenger Supporting|page=6|date=January 22, 1995|first=Ron|last=Miller|quote=JAMES COBURN began his movie career in a saddle 36 years ago, playing the gangly and not-too-bright sidekick to bad guy Pernell Roberts in the 1959 Randolph Scott western "Ride Lonesome."}}</ref> He soon got a job in another Western, ''[[Face of a Fugitive]]'' (1959). ''Filmink'' argued "he made a terrific cowboy and was thus easily castable in the scores of Westerns being made for American TV at the time; indeed, Coburn guest starred in pretty much all of them."<ref name=
"coburn">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|date=14 February 2025|access-date=14 February 2025|title=Movie Star Cold Streaks: James Coburn|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/movie-star-cold-streaks-james-coburn/}}</ref> These included several episodes of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Bonanza]]'' and appearing twice each on three other NBC Westerns: ''[[Laramie (TV series)|Laramie]]'' with [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]],''[[Tales of Wells Fargo]]'' with [[Dale Robertson]], one episode in the role of [[Butch Cassidy]]; and ''[[The Restless Gun]]'' with [[John Payne (actor)|John Payne]] in "The Pawn" and "The Way Back", the latter segment alongside ''Bonanza'''s [[Dan Blocker]].<ref>''[[The Restless Gun]]'', DVD, Timeless Media Group</ref> "Butch Cassidy" aired in 1958. He played a rustler in ''[[The Rifleman]]'' - Season 1, Episode 13 - The Young Englishman.

Coburn's third film was a major breakthrough for him, as the knife-wielding Britt in ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'' (1960), directed by [[John Sturges]] for the [[Mirisch Company]]. Coburn was hired on the recommendation of his friend [[Robert Vaughn]]. During the 1960–61 season, Coburn co-starred with [[Ralph Taeger]] and [[Joi Lansing]] in the NBC adventure/drama series ''[[Klondike (TV series)|Klondike]]'', set in the [[Alaska]]n [[gold rush]] town of [[Skagway, Alaska|Skagway]]. When ''Klondike'' was cancelled, Taeger and Coburn were regrouped as detectives in Mexico in NBC's equally short-lived ''[[Acapulco (1961 TV series)|Acapulco]]''.

Coburn also made two guest appearances on [[CBS]]'s ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'', both times as the murder victim, in "The Case of the Envious Editor" and "The Case of the Angry Astronaut". In 1962, he portrayed Col. Briscoe in the "Hostage Child" of CBS's ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]''.