Actors: Beyond the Ego

Zap! With one jolt from his cigarette lighter-ray gun, James Coburn became the roguish superspy in Our Man Flint. Zap! Zap! And the near-impossible switch from heavy to heartthrob was complete. It was Coburn's first leading role, but Flint made him a star, which means, among other things, that everybody wants him. They can get him too — for only $500,000, plus a slice of the profits.

Producers are now furiously trying to groom new Coburn types, but his seamy-faced, hard-guy specifications are so disproportionate that it is a bit like trying...

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