One of Hollywood's biggest screen names apparently had ties to Tamaqua but nobody seems to know details.

According to printed biographies for the late Charles Bronson, the film star's mother reportedly was born in Tamaqua in 1890.Bronson's official biography on Answers.com lists this information: "His mother, Mary Valinsky, whose parents were born in Lithuania, was born in the anthracite coal mining town of Tamaqua in northeastern Pennsylvania."The same information is found on Wikipedia and several other Internet sites.The problem is, nobody seems to have any information about the Tamaqua connection.Where did she live? For how long? And is the house still standing?The Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce was unaware of the Charles Bronson connection. In addition, Dale Freudenberger, president, Tamaqua Historical Society, also expressed surprise at learning of the potential link.At the request of the TIMES NEWS, genealogist Bob Kunkel, Schnecksville, researched the name Mary Valinsky and her married name, Buchinsky. Mary is not listed in Tamaqua in the 1890 U. S. Census. But Kunkel found a Mary Valinsky listed for Wilkes-Barre, born April 23, 1890. She died in May, 1968, in Johnstown, and is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, New Germany, Cambria County. She married Walter P. Buchinsky and the couple had many children. That listing would appear to be Bronson's mother. Assuming that record is accurate, did Mary Valinsky then move to Tamaqua? Or was it the other way around? The connection is yet unclear.As for Bronson. The records are a bit more focused.According to his biography, Bronson was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on Nov. 3, 1921, in Ehrenfeld, Pa. He was the 11th of 15 children of a coal miner and his wife, Mary, both Lithuanian immigrants.According to reports, he lived crowded in a shack. His father died when he was 10. The children wore hand-me-downs from older siblings. In fact, at age of 6, Charles was embarrassed to attend school wearing his sister's dress.At 16, Charles followed his brothers into the mines and was paid $1 per ton of coal. He volunteered for dangerous tasks because the pay was better. At one point he served time in jail for assault and robbery.Drafted in 1943, Charles served with the Air Force in the Pacific during World War II, reportedly as a tail gunner on a B29.According to reports, Charles was attracted to acting, he claimed, not because of any artistic urge. Instead, he was impressed by the money movie stars could earn. He joined the Philadelphia Play and Players Troupe, painting scenery and acting a few minor roles.Soon after, he enrolled at Pasadena Playhouse school to improve his diction. There, he was discovered and was cast as a sailor in the 1951 service comedy 'You're in the Navy Now,' starring Gary Cooper. Other appearances followed.He changed his name to Charles Bronson, eventually becoming a household name after the 1974 film 'Death Wish,' a riveting movie about a man who avenges the killing of his wife and rape of his daughter.Bronson was married three times. His second wife was actress Jill Ireland. The family lived in a Bel Air mansion with seven children: two by his previous marriage, three by hers and two of their own. They reportedly also spent time in a colonial farmhouse on 260 acres in West Windsor, Vt.Bronson died of pneumonia on August 20, 2003, at age 81. He reportedly was an Alzheimers patient.At the time, he was survived by third wife, Kim, six children and two grandchildren, and funeral services were private.