Who Is Robert Bronzi? The Charles Bronson Impersonator's Wild Movie Career Explained

The name Robert Bronzi may not ring any bells with even the most niche movie fan, but he does have one memorable aspect to his film career: he's a dead ringer for Charles Bronson. Charles Bronson was the star of Western and action movies from the 1950s up through the '90s. With his square jaw, hardened scowl, and chiseled face, Bronson looked like a guy no villain wanted to mess with, and those who tried often found themselves on the wrong end of a gun or Bronson's fists. Bronson was one of the biggest action stars of his time.

Bronson appeared in dozens of war movies, western films, and action thrillers, nearly always as the leading man. He never won any major awards, only being nominated for one Golden Globe and one Emmy, and despite never being considered a "great" actor, his charisma and screen presence were so powerful, that it didn't matter that he was often playing the same type of role. He's the type of actor that everyone can do an impression of. Robert Bronzi took that ubiquitous appreciation for him a step further, building a career off impersonating him.

Robert Bronzi Is A Hungarian-Born Stuntman And Actor

Bronzi Rode Horses Professionally

Bronson passed away in 2003 and yet, he's still making movies. Well not him, just someone who looks exactly like him. Robert Bronzi, whose real name is Robert Kovacs, is a Hungarian actor, stuntman, horseback rider, and professional imitator (via CrookedMarquee). Specifically, Bronzi imitates Charles Bronson, whom he bears a remarkable resemblance to. Plenty of actors are doppelgängers of one another, but Bronzi could almost be Bronson's twin, it's so uncanny. Bronzi was working in Wild West stunt shows when his life changed (via 411Mania).

Director Rene Perez Spotted Rob Bronzi In Spain And Noticed His Resemblance To Charles Bronson

Perez Had To Secretly Put Bronzi In His Movies Before Producers Would Allow It

Director Rene Perez is a prolific B-movie director whose work mostly covers the action, horror, and Western genres. He's directed around 29 movies, often writing the screenplays for them too. While Perez was in Spain directing an episode of a TV show, he spotted Bronzi at one of the stuntman's Wild West shows. As soon as Perez spotted the performer, he immediately clocked his resemblance to the famous Western star Charles Bronson.

It was Perez' idea to cast Bronzi in movies as a Bronson imitator and the director even changes Bronzi's wardrobe in films to match the action star's aesthetic. Perez said in an interview (via 411Mania),

"In every movie I've made with Bronzi I have him wear an exact duplicate of what Bronson wore in a movie that both he and I like."

This is not a case of Perez trying to model Bronzi after Bronson, he's almost literally trying to duplicate the late-actor. It wasn't easy to make happen, however, and no producers wanted Perez to cast the Hungarian actor. Perez allegedly had to sneak Bronzi into one of his films just to show producers how much he looked like Bronson.

Bronzi Was Already Working As A Charles Bronson Impersonator

Perez Dubbed Over Bronzi With A Bronson Sound-Alike

Perez was not the first person to tell Bronzi who he looked like, because he had been working as a Charles Bronson impersonator before the director ever approached him. Apparently, the one part of Bronzi's act that didn't really work was his voice. Bronson had a very distinctive voice and, being Hungarian with English as a second language, Bronzi sounds quite different.

It's so different, in fact, that for the first few movies of Bronzi's career, Perez dubbed over his lines to make them sound more like Bronson's voice. Sometimes it works and other times, the voiceover artist does not sound too convincing either.

Bronzi Is Now A Prolific B- and C- Movie Star

Robert Bronzi Has Continued To Star In B-Movies

Robert Bronzi got his start in the 2017 horror Western, From Hell to the Wild West, where he's still credited as Robert Kovacs. In the movie, he plays Mr. Buchinski. He then went on to appear in Death Kiss as The Stranger, which is a contemporary thriller and a take on one of Charles Bronson's most famous roles, Paul Kersey, the lead vigilante in the Death Wish movie series. While Death Wish provides some deeper insights into the Kersey character, in true b-movie fashion, Death Kiss offers little in the way of motivation for Bronzi's violent killer.

After Death Kiss came Once Upon a Time in Deadwood, which took advantage of the interest in the Western saga thanks to the HBO series, Deadwood, which released a long awaited movie finale in 2019, the same year that Once Upon a Time in Deadwood released. Both these Western roles were based on the many Bronson Western films of his career, including Once Upon a Time in the West and The White Buffalo. Bronzi, does not have all the acting experience necessary to carry dialogue heavy scenes, so Perez tends to avoid them.

He is very much at home, however, in the action sequences and his comfort with horseback riding makes those scenes come alive more than any other in these movies. In Cry Havoc, an action, horror, crime movie from 2020, Bronzi plays a Bronson-style police officer who is up against a looming slasher villain. He may not have much to say, but he looks the part behind the gun. Escape from Death Block 13 was Bronzi's first film not directed by Perez and the director, Gary Jones, lets the actor use his own voice.

Allowed to use his own speaking voice, and not dressed like Charles Bronson for once, Bronzi gets to be himself a little more and his performance is noticeably lighter. Later, Bronzi appeared as Peter Juhasz in The Gardener, Father Jozsef in Exorcist Vengeance, a homeless man in the film Euphoria, and Toth in 12 to Midnight. In nearly every one of these films, Bronzi is featured prominently on the cover. It will definitely make anyone who browses by one of these movies on a streaming app do a double take.

As strange, and perhaps awkward, as it may seem that an actor is impersonating a real actor both with his style and the movies he makes, none of it seems particularly mean-spirited or disingenuous. Robert Bronzi noticed he had a particular look and that audiences seemed to like that look. Perez, who seems to have no delusions about the movies he makes, found a way to give Bronzi a fun job. It's not like either one is ruining Charles Bronson's legacy, Bronzi's just doing what he always has, performing an extended homage to the famous action star.