Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

This page is our personal hall of fame. 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

• O'BRIEN, Donal (Donal Timothee O’Brien) - 9/15/1930, Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France - 4/23/2018, Andernos-les-Baines, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

I received an e-mail today from Philippe Rege with a copy of the official announcement of the passing of actor Donal O’Brien back in April, 2018.

O’Brien was born Donal Timothee O’Brien on September 15,1930 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France and died on April 23, 2018 in Andernos-les-Baines, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. He appeared in 19 Euro-westerns starting with a small role in 1960’s “Dynamite Jack” starring Fernandel and ending in 1982 with “2020 Texas Gladiators”. He was a leading actor in the genre and starred in “Run, Man, Run” (1967) as Daniel/Nathaniel Cassidy with Tomas Milian; “Finders Killers” (1971) as Jack Forrest/Dan with Gordon Mitchell; “Jesse and Lester, Two Brothers in a Place Called Trinity” (1972) with Richard Harrison; “The Judgment of God” (1972) as ‘The Ace of Hearts’; “4 of the Apocalypse” (1974) as Sheriff of Salt Flat with Fabio Testi and Tomas Milian; “Keoma” (1975) as Caldwell with Franco Nero; “A Man Called Blade” (1977) as Burt Craven with Maurizio Merli and John Steiner and “Silver Saddle” (1978) as Fletcher with Giuliano Gemma.

In 1980 Donal slipped in the bathroom of a Parisian hotel and hit his head. He was in a coma for three days and discovered half of his body was paralyzed shortly after waking up. It took him nearly four years to recover from his injuries though he would have limited mobility for the rest of his life. This would also reduce the range of roles he could play. His last film was “Honey Sweet Love”, in 1999.

• GESCHER, Norbert (Norbert Gescher-Ringelnatz) - 12/14/ 1939, Berlin, Berlin, Germany - 4/30/2021, Germany

German actor and voice dubber Norbert Gescher died on April 30, 2021. He was 81. Born in Berlin, German on December 14, 1939 as Norbert Gescher-Ringelnatz, he was is a German voice actor. Gescher was well known for being the German voiceover of Steve Martin, Richard Dreyfuss, and Beau Bridges. Gescher is the son of German translator Muschelkalk Ringelnatz, who was also the widow of German author, painter and cabaret artist Joachim Ringelnatz. Gescher managed his legacy until his recent passing and was responsible for exhibitions. His voice was heard in three Euro-westerns: “His Name was Holy Ghost” (1972) [German voice of a soldier]; “Lucky Luke” (TV 1984) [German voice of Augustus Oyster] and in Bandidas (2006) [German voice of Jose Maria Negri],

• DOUGLAS, Anne (Hannelore Marx) - 4/23/1919, Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany - 4/29/2021, Beverly Hills, California, U.S.A.

Film producer Anne Douglas, philanthropist and widow of Kirk Douglas, Died at her Beverly Hills, California home at 102. She was born Hannelore Marx on April 23, 1991 in Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany. She worked for director John Huston as a location scout and assistant on Moulin Rouge (1952), then began a three-year stint in 1953 as head of protocol at the Cannes Film Festival, scheduling parties and making sure they were filled with celebrities and media. She later became a casting director and a film producer after marrying Kirk Douglas in 1954. Anne was a producer on the 1973 Euro-semi-western “Scalawag”.

• RENIER, Yves - 9/29/1942, Berne, Switzerland - 4/23/2021, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

RIP Yves Rénier. The actor Yves Rénier , who played between 1976 and 2006 the commissioner Moulin on TF1, has died, his family announced. He was 78. The actor succumbed to a heart attack on April 24, 2021 at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), his wife confirmed to AFP. Son of actor Max Régnier, Yves Rénier began his career in the 1960s, playing in a film adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo. Yves Rénier had since appeared in the cinema in Diabolo mint (1977) by Diane Kurys, Frantic (1988) by Roman Polanski, Merci la vie (1990) by Bertrand Blier or even Les Anges gardiens (1995) by Jean-Marie Poiré. Always small roles. The actor then moved on to directing in recent years with some success, with a series of fictions inspired by recent police cases. Yves appeared as Donald McRae in the 1994 Euro-western TV series “Tales of the Wild”.

• FRITSCH, Thomas - 1/16/1944, Dresden, Saxony, Germany - 4/21/2021, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

German film, TV and voice actor Thomas Fritsch died in a senior citizens facility in Berlin, Germany on April 21, 2021. He was 77. Fritsch was born on January 16, 1944 in Dresden, Germany but fled to Hamburg with his family as a toddler, he attended a drama school, graduating with a degree where he trained as an actor. He was discovered for film while still at school. “Das schwarz-weiß-rote Himmelbett” (The Black-White-Red Four-Poster Bed) was his first big box-office success in 1962, followed by roles in films such as “The Last Ride to Santa Cruz” and “Uncle Tom's Cabin” and “Three Men in the Snow”. He switched to TV in the 1970s and is probably best known as the German voice of Scar in 1994’s “The Lion King” and its 1998 sequel “The Lion King II: Simba’s Ptide”. Fritsch appeared in two Euro-westerns: “The Last Ride to Santa Cruz” (1963) as Carlos and “Legend of a Gunfighter” (1964) as Chris Harper. Fritsch was also the voice of Eli Wallach in the deleted scenes of the restored version of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

• HELLMAN, Monte (Monte Jay Himmelbaum) - 7/12/1932, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.A. - 4/20/2021, Palm Desert, California, U.S.A.

American maverick director Monte Hellman died in a Palm Springs, California hospital on April 20 after a fall in his home. He was 91. Hellman directed such films as such films as “Two-Lane Blacktop,” “The Shooting” and “Road to Nowhere.” Born in Brooklyn, New York on July 12, 1932, Hellman was an exec producer of Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 “Reservoir Dogs.” He was also a directing teacher at California Institute of the Arts. Monte directed the Euro-western “China 9, Liberty 37” starring Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter and Fabio Testi in 1978 and was also the director of 1977’s CBS-TV prologue for “A Fistful of Dollars”.

• DIAS, Pavel - 12/9/1938, Brno, Czechoslovakia - 4/19/2021, Prague, Czech Republic

Czech photographer Pavel Dias died in Ptague on April 19, 1921. He was 82. Born in Brno on December 9, 1938 he studied photography at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Brno. From the end of the 1950s, he contributed photographs to various magazines, especially Young World, collaborated with film, photographed horses and races, and devoted himself to advertising photography. From 1989 he taught for 20 years at FAMU, from 2005 to 2018 he also taught photography at Tomas Bata University in Zlín. Dias was a still photographer on the 1972 Euro-western short “A Canyon of Gold”.

• BRADLEY, Harold (Harold Willard Bradley, Jr.) - 10/13/1929, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. - 4/13/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

American actor, singer, former professional football player Harold Bradley died in Rome, Italy from pneumonia on April 13, 2021. He was 92. Bradley was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 13, 1929 and played football at the University of Iowa before turning pro and playing for the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles. He and his wife, Hannelore Zacharias moved to Italy in 1959 to study art and pursue careers in music and acting, getting his foot in the door of the latter by appearing in stuntman roles in a succession of peplum films playing servants and slaves. At the same time, he developed his love of the arts by becoming a painter and singer in 1960 he, along with sculptor Bob Cowgill, opened a studio called ‘The Folkstudio’ and founded the ‘Folkstudio Singers’. Harold became an accomplished Blues, Gospel and Jazz singer. Harold appeared in two Euo-westerns. The TV film “Questa sera parla Mark Twain” (1965) as George and “Days of Vengeance” (1967) as Nathan. In 1975 “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was re-released as ‘Cassy’ as more of a western and Harold appeared in the role of Harris.

• TOMMASI, Amedeo - 12/1/1935, Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy - 4/14/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian composer, arranger and musician Amedeo Tommasi died in Rome, Italy on April 14, 2021. He was 85. Amedeo was born in Trieste, Italy on December 1, 1935. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 6 and was thought to be one the most talented pianist of his generation, Tommasi came to light in 1960, during a radio transmission entitled "La coppa di jazz". He joined trumpet player Chet Baker’s group in 1961 and then worked as an arranger for RCA Italy. He became a film composer towards the end of the 1960s. Amedeo worked with Ennio Morricone for over 20 years providing him with electronic sound material for his films, and subsequently collaborated with him on the music for the film “The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean” by Giuseppe Tornatore. He composed the score for the 1967 Euro-western “This Man Can’t Die” starring Guy Madison.