Tough guy Bronson dies at 81

Death Wish star Charles Bronson, the Pennsylvania coal miner who drifted into films as a villain and became a hard-faced action star, has died, it was reported today.

Bronson, 81, died yesterday of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, with his wife at his bedside, publicist Lori Jonas said. He had been in the hospital for weeks.