Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

This page is our personal hall of faml'e. A reminder to us all that even though considered a B-genre, Spaghetti Westerns were full of great characters, played by great people. Many have passed away, and while we are young growing up re-watching all these classics, many more will probably leave us. May they be remembered. What follows, is a work-in-progress, a growing list of legends who have passed away...

Sorted by last name: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

FRESH GRAVES

• MINA, Gianni - 5/17/1938, Turin, Piedmont, Italy - 3/27/2023, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian journalist, documentary film director Gianni Minà died in Rome from a heart attack on March 27, 2023. He was 84. Born in Turin on May 17, 1938, Mina was one of Italy’s most respected journalists who began his career in 1959 at the sports newspaper Tuttosport, where he was also director between 1996 and 1998. In 1960 Minà made his debut at Rai as a sports reporter for the Olympic Games in Rome. Five years later was his baptism in the renowned sports program Sprint, directed by Maurizio Barendson. At that time, his reports began to be very recognized. The same goes for his documentaries and feature films that marked an era on Italian TV at the time. Gianni wrote and directed “Il ritorno di Zapata” in 1994 and “Once Upon a Time There was Cinema: Sergio Leone and His Films” in 2014.

• GAME, Marion - 7/31/1938, Casablanca, French Protectorate in Morocco - 3/23/2023, Paris, Île-de-France, France

French theater, film, TV and voice actress died in Paris on March 23, 2023. She was 84. Born in Casablanca on July 31, 1938, she was known for her TV role of Huguette in the series ‘Scènes de Ménage’. She had begun her career in the theater in the 1960s, where she had quickly established herself as a talented actress. Over the years, she explored different facets of the artistic world, moving into television and film with success. Throughout her career, she has worked with great directors and actors, and has thus marked the history of French entertainment. Game was known to Euro-western fans as a voice actress and was heard in two Lucky Luke films and TV series: “Lucky Luke and the Escape from Grumble Gulch” 1983 [various voices] and ‘Lucky Luke’ (TV) 1983-1984 [French voice of Arabella Films, Madam Van Buren].

• SILVA, Maria - 8/16/1941, Palencia, Palencia, Castilla y León, Spain - 3/17/2023, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

It was announced by friend of Spanish actress Maria Silva passed away on March 17, 2023. No official obituary has been posted but there has been references to her passing on Facebook.

Born on August 16,1941, Palencia, Palencia, Castilla y León, Spain, Silva began her career in 1959 with “Una gran señora” (April in Portugal) playing the role of a model. Her career continued on for 74 more films and television appearances finishing in the 1991-1992 TV series ‘Taller mecánico’ in the role of Consuelo. Born María Jesús Marín Rodríguez on August 16, 1941 in Palencia, Palencia, Castilla y León, Spain she was married to director, writer, cinematographer José Grañena [1933- ].

Silva appeared in ten Spaghetti westerns: “Shadow of Zorro” 1962 (Irene); “The Terrible Sheriff” 1962 (Clementine); “Zorro the Avenger” 1962 (Irene) [as Mary Silvers]; “Shoot to Kill” 1963 (Mary Thompson); “Cavalry Charge”1964 (Valerie Jackson) [as Mary Silvers]; “Kill the Wicked!” 1967 (Shelley); “I Do Not Forgive... I Kill!” 1968 (Isabel Alvarez) [as Mary Silva]; “Santana Kills Them All” 1970 (María Anderson); “The Black Wolf” 1980 (Marquesa); “Revenge of the Black Wolf” 1981 (Marquesa).

• JELLINEK, Uwe - 12/25/1953, East Berlin, East Germany - 3/17/2023, Germany

German actor and voice dubber Uwe Jellinek died on March 17, 2023, in Germany he was 69. Born in East Berlin on December 25, 1953, Jellinek began his film career in East Germany beginning in 1980 and made 36 films and TV appearances until 2018. He was most well known as a film dubber and voice actor who was known for the ‘Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog’ television series. As well as that, he was the German voice actor for Baraqiel from ‘HighSchool DxD Born’ and Tom Dupain from ‘Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir.’ His lone Euro-western was as Private Harper in 1982’s “The Scout” starring Gojko Mitic. He was also the German voice of Randy Roybal in one episode of Terence Hill’s 1991 TV series ‘Lucky Luke’ as Barbiere and was most recently heard in the new 2023 ‘Django’ TV series as the German voice of Adam Astill in the role of Bobby McGee.

• BLUDAU, Jochen - 7/2/1941, Krefeld-Hüls, North Rhine-Westfalen Germany - 3/9/2023, Elspe, Sauerland, Germany

German producer, director, playwright, writer and actor Jochen Bludau died in Elspe, Sauerland, Germany on March 9, 2023. He was 82. Bludau was the heart and soul of the Elspe Karl May Festival and played many roles on stage and behind the curtains, He wrote all the plays from the Karl May novels, appeared as Winnetou for many years and then switched to playing villains. He was instrumental in getting Pierre Brice to play the stage character of his film character of Winnetou. Bludau was also a co-producer on the 1993 Euro-western "Texas - Doc Snyder hält die Welt" in Atem. In the summer of 2013, Jochen Bludau was presented with the aforementioned "Scharlih", the honorary award of the Karl May Archive, which until then had mainly only been awarded to participants in the Karl May films. This showed the special status that the festival maker from the Sauerland enjoyed in the scene and will probably always enjoy.

• TOPOL (Chaim Topol) - 9/9/1935, Tel Aviv, Palestine - 3/9/2023, Tel Aviv, Israel

Oscar-nominated actor, an Israel Prize laureate, gained global recognition for his role as the grumbling ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ milkman, Chaim Topol, died on March 9, 2023, at the age of 87 in Tel Aviv after a multi-year battle with Alzheimer’s. Topol was a prolific actor with a wide range of credits including one Euro-western 1969’s “A Talent for Loving” (aka “Gun Craz”) starring Richard Widmark and Cesar Romero where he played a Mexican bandit.

• BAUMANN, Heinz - 2/12/1928, Oldenberg, Lower Saxony, Germany - 3/4/2023, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

German actor Heinz Baumann has died. The native of Oldenburg died March 4 at the age of 95. Baumann was best known as an actor in crime roles. In "Adelheid und ihre Mörder" he played alongside Evelyn Hamann the somewhat goofy Chief Inspector Ewald Strobel, who could only solve his cases with the help of his resourceful secretary Adelheid. In the ZDF series "Soko 5113" he played the detective chief inspector Jürgen Sudmann. He was married to actress Gardy Brombacher who died in 2003. He leaves a son and a daughter (1963-2003) father of a son, and a daughter actress, singer Beatrice Richter born in 1948. Baumann appeared as Antonio Colani in the 1972-1973 German western TV series ‘Stadt ohne Sheriff’.