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

  • BALDAN, Alberto (Alberto Baldan Benbo) - 194?, Milan, Lombardy, Italy - 11/5/2017, Italy

Alberto Baldan died in Italy on November 5th after a long illness. His younger brother and fellow composer Dario posted on his Facebook page. The two often performed together in various clubs in the late 1960s. Born in Milan in the mid 1940 Alberto first worked with the Clan Celentano then composed music for the movie “Io e Mara” in 1969. In 1971 he became the keyboardist for Il Dio Serpente with the music soundtrack composed by Augusto Martelli. The same year he worked with Lucio Battisti for “Amore Non Amore”. In 1974 he creates The Soul Of "Alì" Ben Djamballa and composed his only Euro-western score for “Tiger from the River Kwai as Albert Baldan. He worked with Mia Martini (Donna Sola, Piccolo Uomo, Minuetto) before his debut as a singer in 1975 with Aria and sold 25 million records across Europe.


  • SIMPSON, Dudley (Dudley George Simpson) - 10/4/1922, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - 11/4/2017, Australia

Composer Dudley Simpson has died at the age of 95. He died in Australia on November 4th. Simpson was best remembered for his work on the Dr. Who TV series. Dudley worked on at least 290 episodes, writing the score to over 60 stories. His music provided the soundtrack to the majority of the adventures of the first four Doctors as well as contributing some of the most iconic TV Theme tunes, writing the title music for Blake's 7 and The Tomorrow People. He also wrote the music for two classic British TV western films “The Last of the Mohicans” (1971) and “Hawkeye”, the Pathfinder (1973). Simpson retired in the 1990's and returned to his native Australia. He returned to the UK in 2013 to help celebrate Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary


  • PETRAZZI, Gianluca - 9/3/1966, Rome, Lazio, Italy – 11/1/2017, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Gianluca Petrazzi died in Rome on November 1st. He was among the most prominent stunt men and stunt coordinators in Italy and abroad. Born in Rome, Italy on September 3, 1966 he was only 51 years old. Petrazzi appeared in one Euro-western: “Buck and the Magic Bracelet” (1996) in the role of Ezechiele. He was the son of assistant director, actor Riccardo Petrazzi [1938-2003] and brother of actor, stuntman Francesco Petrazzi. As the son of trapeze artists and other descendants of a circus family, he began his stunt career at the age of 9. He participated in more than 100 films, as a stuntman and stunt coordinator, he lead the action unit on countless films. As director he made several short films and in 2013 directed his first feature film "Criminal Rome". His lone Euro-western was as Ezechiele in 1996's "Buck and the Magic Bracelet"


  • STRABEL, Herbert - 10/14/1927, Berlin, Berlin, Germany - 10/21/2017, Holzkirchen, Bavaria, Germany

RIP Herbert Strabel. Herbert Strabel, the Berlin-born art director and set designer who won an Academy Award for his work on the Liza Minnelli classic Cabaret, has died. He was 90. Born in Berlin, Germnay on October 14, 1927, Strabel died October 21 in a nursing home in Holzkirchen, Bavaria Germany. Strabel was art director on the Delbert Mann drama Night Crossing (1982), which starred John Hurt in the true story of families attempting to escape East Germany in a hot air balloon. Two years later, he teamed with Wolfgang Petersen on the fantasy adventure The NeverEnding Story. His lone Euro-western was for 1972’s “The Cry of the Black Wolves” starring Ron Ely and Raimund Harmstorf.


  • DANISCHEWSKY, John - 1940 Hampstead, London, England, U.K. - 10/12/2017, California, U.S.A.

Second unit director Danischewsky died in California on October 12, 2017. Born in Hampstead, London, England in 1940, John ‘Danny’ Danischewsky was the second unit director on the 1969 Euro-western ‘Desperados’ starring Jack Palance and Vince Edwards.


  • FANGAREGGI, Ugo - 1/30/1938, Genoa, Liguria, Italy - 10/20/2017, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian actor, director Ugo Fangareggi died in Rome, Italy on October 20th. He was 79. He started out working as a dental technician, when in 1961 he was noticed by Luigi Squarzina who chose him to act in the play Ciascuno a suo modo. He later moved to Rome to devote himself to a professional acting career and in a short time he became one of the most active character actors in Italian cinema. Mainly appearing in humorous roles, he is best known for the role of Mangold in Mario Monicelli's “The Incredible Army of Brancaleone”. Fangareggi was also active in several TV-series of good success. He opened his own theater company Ugo Fangareggi Independent’. Ugo appeared in seven Euro-westerns: “The last Gun” (1964), “The Two Sergeants of General Custer” (1965) “Bullet for a Stranger, “Judge Roy Bean”, “Pistol Packin' Preacher (all 1971), “Massacre at Fort Holman” (1972) and “Seven Nuns in Kansas City” (1973).


  • LENZI, Umberto - 8/6/1931, Massa Marittima, Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy – 10/19/2017, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian producer, director, writer and actor Umberto Lenzi died today October 19 in Rome, Italy. He was 86. Born in Massa Marittima, Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy on August 6, 1931, Lenzi was known for contributing to Italian genres from politics to horror. The author of over sixty films between the 1960s and 1990s, Lenzi directed some real cult films that made him appreciated much more abroad especially by Quentin Tarantino. Among his most famous titles were “Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare”, “Roma a mano armata” and “Napoli violenta”. His Euro-westerns include “Samson and the Slave Queen” (1963), “Go For Broke” (1968) using the alias Humbert Humphrey and in which he also acted and “A Pistol for 100 Coffins” (1968).


  • BONAGURA, Gianni (Gianfelice Bonagura) - 10/27/1926, Milan, Lombardy, Italy - 10/8/2017, Milan, Lombardy Italy

Gianni Bonagura is dead at 92, one of the great Italian voices. He was the Italian voice of Danny De Vito, Rod Steiger, Mel Brooks, Walter Matthau, Gene Wilder and many others. A man of fine culture (a library of 10,000 volumes donated to the Municipal Library of Formello), he was also an excellent interpreter of the lyrics of Gioacchino Belli. Born Gianfelice Bonagura in Milan, Italy on October 27, 1926 he became one of the great voice actors of the Golden Age of Italian films. His Euro-western dubbing was small: Frank Brana in “For a Few Dollars More” (1965), Jacques Sernas in “Fort Yuma Gold” 1966 and Giorgio Gargiullo in “Roy Colt and Winchester Jack” (1970). Bonagura died in Milan on October 8th.


  • SABRINA (Norma Ann Sykes) - 5/19/1936, Stockport, Cheshire, England, U.K. – 11/24/2016, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Sabrina, the onetime British model and actress once hailed as a British Marilyn Monroe died on November 24, 2016 but was just made public in British newspapers on October 7, 2017. Born Norma Ann Sykes on May 19, 1936 in Stockport, England, she became a household name when she appeared as a regular on the weekly comedy TV series ‘Before Your Very Eyes’, hosted by Arthur Askey. She appeared in a handful of British films including the Euro-western “Ramsbottom Rides Again” (1956) and the comedy “Blue Murder at St Trinian’s” with Terry-Thomas and Alastair Sim. Most parts were small and insignificant. She relocated to the US, where she performed in a touring cabaret. She moved to the U.S. and in November 1967 Sabrina withdrew from public life when she married Dr Harry Melsheimer, a wealthy Hollywood gynecologist. Sabrina suffered chronic back problems through her adult life and had several unsuccessful operations. In later years she was paraplegic. In 1990 her mother moved to Hollywood to look after her, but died five years later. Sabrina lived quietly thereafter, visited regularly by a small group of friends with whom she rarely talked of her colorful past.


  • ROCHEFORT, Jean (Jean Raoul Robert Rochefort) - 4/29/1930, Dinan, Cote-d'Armor, France - 10/9/2017, Paris, Île-de-France, France

An icon of elegance and comedy with an instantly recognizable mustache, veteran French actor Jean Rochefort has died. The prolific talent and three-time César Award winner was hospitalized in August and passed away overnight Sunday, his family told AFP. He was 87. Rochefort was born in Paris and began making movies in the 1950s. He grew to be one of France’s favorite actors, appearing in other popular titles like Philippe de Broca’s “Cartouche” with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Claudia Cardinale; Leconte’s “Les Grands Ducs” and “Ridicule”; and Robert’s “Nous Irons Tous Au Paradis” and “Pardon Mon Affaire” which Gene Wilder remade as “The Woman In Red” in 1984. Rochefort supplied the French voice for Lucky Luke’s horse Jolly Jumper in 2004’s “The Daltons”.


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