Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

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KÜLOWThis 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 their last names:

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

  • Milita, Mario - 6/26/1912, Cori, Latina, Italy - 8/22/2017, Rome, Lazio, Italy

The legendary voice dubber Mario Milita died today August 22, 2017 at the age of 94. He was born in Cori, Latina, Italy on June 26, 1923 and was known by TV fans as being the Italian voice of iconic animated characters such as Fred Flinstone, Homer Simpson, and Holly and Benji's narrator. Milita was the Italian voice of James Whitmore in the 1972 Euro-western: “Chato’s Land” starring Charles Bronson.


  • HIELSCHER, Margot (Margot Marie Else Hielscher) - 9/29/1919, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany - 8/20/2017 Munich, Bavaria, Germany

There are only a few German ladies who can be called Film Divas. Margot Hielscher was one of them. She began as a costume designer in the pre-World War II period and was discovered by a director and immediately signed to "The Heart of the Queen" (1940). In the Second World War she was one of the most popular German actresses, playing in 60 films and about 200 TV productions. Her passion for music was discovered by the Berlin woman in the post-war period, when she repeatedly presented singing inserts for American soldiers. In 1957 and 58 Margot Hielscher represented the FRG at the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne - the present Eurovision Song Contest - where she finished 4th and 7th. The red-haired talent was also as a presenter. In the 1960s, she moderated her own TV program "Visiting Margot Hielscher", where she welcomed over 700 celebrities. Margot appeared in only one Euro-western: “Johnny Saves Nebrador” (1953) as Marina starring Hans Albers.


  • PAVEZ, Terele (Teresa Marta Ruiz Penella) - 7/29/1939, Bilbao, Vizcaya, Pais Vasco, Spain - 8/11/2017, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Spanish actress Terele Pávez died in the La Paz Hospital in Madrid Spain of a stroke at the age of 78. Pávez won a Goya Award in 2014 as a supporting actress in the film “The Witches of Zugarramurdi”, by Álex de la Iglesia. Her last film role was in another De la Iglesia movie, “El bar”, which premiered this year. Her artistic surname came from the second of her maternal grandmother, Emma Silva Pavez, of Chilean origin, and used to differentiate herself from her sisters. Terele was the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of the composers Manuel Penella Moreno and Manuel Penella Raga, she was sister of actresses Enma Penella and Elisa Montés, and the aunt of Emma Ozores. She appeared in one Euro-western, “800 Bullets” as Rocio the grandmother of Carlos who goes to Ft. Bravo to find his famous grandfather Julián Torralba played by Sancho Gracia.


  • CANFORA, Bruno - 11/6/1924, Milan, Lombardy, Italy - 8/4/2017, Tavernelle, Perugia, Italy

The famous Italian orchestra conductor, Bruno Canfora, died August 3rd. He was 92, in his Tavernelle home where he lived for a long time with his family. Born in Milan, Italy on November 6, 1924, Canfora was a part of the history of Italian TV, in particular the television variety programs from the 1960's onwards, until 1995, his last appearance in the TV program Papaveri and Papere. He was the conductor for the RAI orchestra for numerous programs such as Studio Uno, Senza rete, Sabato Sera and Premio Italia. Canfora was also a songwriter who worked with such pop singers as Mina, Rita Pavone and the Kessler Twins. He was also the orchestra conductor for the Eurovision Song Festival as well as a film composer. His lone Euro-western was “The Last of the Mohicans” (1965) a joint effort with Francesco Lavagnino.


  • HARDIN, Ty (Orison Whipple Hungerford III) - 1/1/1930, New York City, New York, U.S.A. - 8/3/2017, Huntington Beach, California, U.S.A.

Orison Whipple Hungerford III aka Ty Hardin died during the evening of August 3rd. He was 87. Ty was known to millions as Bronco Layne from the hit Warner Bros. TV series Bronco which ran from 1958-1962. When Clint Walker, star of the Cheyenne TV series, went on strike he was replaced by Bronco and when Clint reached an agreement with Warner Brothers and returned to the air Bronco and Sugarfoot starring Wil Hutchins were seen in a rotating format from week to week. Ty went on to make eight Euro-westerns and told several of us at Festival of the West in Scottsdale that he was another of the long list of actors who was offered the role of ‘The Man With No Name’ but turned down the role. After his Italian career he returned to the US and appeared at film festivals and TV films. After difficulties with the IRS, Hardin founded an anti-tax movement in Prescott. In 1982 the movement became the Arizona Patriots. Ty was living in Huntington Beach, California and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for the past few years.


  • Di GIOIA, Nicola - 5/3/1944, Rome, Lazio, Italy - 7/31/2017, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian stuntman, actor, location manager and cinema historian Nicola Di Gioia died in Rome, Italy on July 31st. He was 73. Di Gioia was a regular on Marco Giusti’s Stracult and was indispensable in helping Marco find old actors, directors and other film personnel from the Italy’s Golden age of film who had virtually disappeared. Nicola began his career in the eraly 1960s on Sword and Sandal films and the merged into the Spaghetti western genre and continued working till the present time. Di Gioia appeared in seven Euro-westerns: “My Name is Pecos” 1966 (Mexican policeman), “Death Walks in Laredo” 1967 (gunman), “Don’t Wait Django… Shoot!”1967 (Hondo), “Poker With Pistols” 1967 (gunman), “A Stranger in Town” 1967 (bandit) “A Stranger in Paso Bravo” 1968 (gunman) and “Arrapaho”1984 [stunts].


  • MOREAU, Jeanne - 1/23/1928, Paris, Île-de-France, France - 7/31/2017, Paris, Île-de-France, France

French actress Jeanne Moreau died at her Paris home on Monday July 31, 2017. Her famous sensual presence was backed up with formidable timing and technique, so much so that every major director wanted to work with her - Orson Welles, Michelangelo Antonioni, Joseph Losey and Luis Bunuel among them. Of the three most iconic French actresses of her generation - herself, Catherine Deneuve and Brigitte Bardot - Moreau was the one with the most on-screen authority. Post-war French cinema is unthinkable without her. Known for her husky tones, her other films included 1961's La Notte, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni; Luis Bunuel's Diary of a Chambermaid (1964); and Tony Richardson's Mademoiselle (1966). Orson Welles, who worked with her on films including Chimes at Midnight and his adaptation of Kafka's The Trial, once described her as the greatest actress in the world. Her lone Euro-western appearance was as Maria Fitzgerald O’Malley in 1965’s “Viva Maria!” alongside Brigitte Bardot.


  • SHEPARD, Sam (Samuel Shepard Rogers) - 11/5/1943, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, U.S.A. – 7/30/2017, Midway, Kentucky, U.S.A.

Director, writer, actor, singer, Sam Shepard died July 30, 2017 at his Midway, Kentucky home of ALS. Sam was a multi-talented performer and won a Pultizer Prize for drama for the play “Buried Child” and was nominated for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "True West" and the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play "Fool for Love". Sam was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as author of a Best Play nominee: in 1996 for "Buried Child" and in 2000 for "True West." Sam was also bronc and bull rider on the rodeo circuit and was a member of the rock band Holy Modal Rounders (1968-1971). involved with four Euro-westerns: "Silent Tongue" 1993 as director and writer, the modern day "Don't Come Knocking" 2005 as Howard Spence and singer, "Bandidas" 2006 as Bill Buck and "Blackthorn" 2006 as James Blackthorn/Butch Cassidy and as a singer.


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