Bud Spencer

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  • October 31, 1929 in Naples, Campania, Italy


Biography

Bud Spencer (born October 31, 1929), born as Carlo Pedersoli, is a famous Italian actor, known for his height 6' 4" (1.93 m) and his past roles in spaghetti westerns. Growing from a successful swimmer in his youth, he later achieved a degree in law, and has registered several patents.

Bud Spencer was born Carlo Pedersoli in Naples (at Santa Lucia). Spencer married Maria Amato in 1960 and together had three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972).

Spencer established Mistral Air in 1984, but left it to buy a textile mill that produced clothes for children.


Swimming and water polo career A successful swimmer in his youth, Spencer was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute. He achieved this on 19 September 1950, when he swam the 100 m in 59.5 s. In the 1951 Mediterranean Games, he won a silver medal in the same 100m freestyle event.

Spencer participated in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m freestyle (58.8 s heats, 58.9 s semi final). Four years later, in Melbourne, he also entered the semi-finals in the same category (58.5 s heat, 59.0 s semi final). As a water polo player, he won the Italian Championship in 1954, with S.S. Lazio. His swimming career ended abruptly in 1957.

On 17 January 2005 he was awarded with the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation. On 24 January 2007, he received from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli, swim and water polo coach diplomas.


Acting career Bud Spencer's first movie role was that of a member of the Praetorian guard in Quo Vadis, a film shot in Italy, in 1951. During the 1950s and part of the 1960s, Spencer appeared in some Italian films but "his career was strictly minor league until the late 1960s."

Spencer then met Terence Hill, with whom he made a large number of Italian Westerns, including God Forgives... I Don't! (1968), They Call Me Trinity (1971) and Trinity Is STILL My Name! (1972). Hill also acted with him in a number of action films, including Watch Out, We're Mad (1974), Odds and Evens (1978) and Who Finds a Friend, Finds a Treasure (1981). These films gathered popularity for both actors, especially in Europe. They made a total of 19 films together.

Spencer also wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his movies. His fan base is particularly large in Europe. Spencer's career slowed down after 1983. In the 1990s he acted in the TV action-drama "Extralarge".


Career in politics In 2005, Pedersoli entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as regional counselor in Lazio for the Forza Italia party. The reason for entering politics was due to a bequest of the then-Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi was trying to use Spencer's media power to draw in the voters. Spencer has stated: "In my life, I've done everything. There are only three things I haven't been - a ballet dancer, a jockey and a politician. Given that the first two jobs are out of the question, I'll throw myself into politics." The opposition critisized him for engaging in "politica spettacolo" ("showbiz politics").

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