Born in Savannah, GA, at 17 he became manager of a Savannah theater where he had started three years earlier as a program boy. He later turned to acting, making his Broadway debut in 1901. In 1906 he organized the Coburn Shakespeare Players with his wife, Ivah Wills. He resisted entering films until the mid-30s but then made numerous screen appearances in key character roles, typically as a hardened businessman or politician with a vulnerable heart. Some of his notable credits include BOSS TWEED (1933), VIVACIOUS LADY (1938), IDIOT'S DELIGHT, THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL and STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE (all 1939), ROAD TO SINGAPORE and EDISON, THE MAN (both 1940), THE LADY EVE and THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (both 1941), KINGS ROW and GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (both 1942), THE MORE THE MERRIER, HEAVEN CAN WAIT, PRINCESS O'ROURKE and THE CONSTANT NYMPH (all 1943), KNICKERBOCKER HOLIDAY, WILSON and THE IMPATIENT YEARS (all 1944), RHAPSODY IN BLUE (1945), THE GREEN YEARS (1946), THE PARADINE CASE (1947), B.F.'S DAUGHTER and GREEN GRASS OF WYOMING (both 1948), YES SIR THAT'S MY BABY (1949), PEGGY, LOUISA and MR. MUSIC (all 1950), THE HIGHWAYMAN (1951), MONKEY BUSINESS (1952), GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953), THE ROCKET MAN (1954), HOW TO BE VERY, VERY POPULAR (1955), THE POWER AND THE PRIZE and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (both 1956), HOW TO MURDER A RICH UNCLE (1957), and THE REMARKABLE MR. PENNYPACKER, A STRANGER IN MY ARMS and his last film, JOHN PAUL JONES (all 1959). From 1950, Coburn made many televsion appearances, guest starring on such shows as "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse", "Lux Video Theatre", "Center Stage", "The Best of Broadway", "The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse", "The United States Steel Hour", "Studio One", "Studio 57", "Justice", "December Bride", "The Star and the Story", "Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre", "Damon Runyon Theater", "Kraft Television Theatre", "The Ford Television Theatre", "Ethel Barrymore Theater", "The Betty White Show", "The Bob Cummings Show", "Startime", "The Best of the Post" and "General Electric Theater."   Nominated for Supporting Actor 1941: THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES  Supporting Actor 1943: THE MORE THE MERRIER   Nominated for Supporting Actor 1946: THE GREEN YEARS 3 nominations, 1 Award