Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

From The Spaghetti Western Database
Revision as of 07:38, 22 November 2019 by Tom B. (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

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

Cemetery.jpg

FRESH GRAVES

  • POLLARD, Michael (Michael John Pollack, Jr.) - 5/30/1939, Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.A. - 11/21/2019, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Veteran American actor Michael J. Pollard died in a Los Angeles, California hospital on January 21, 2019. He was 80. Born Michael John Pollack, Jr. on May 30, 1939 in Passaic, New York. Pollard had been acting since 1958. A character actor, he accumulated almost a hundred appearances in movies and television series since then. An early career break occurred when Pollard was brought in as a replacement during the first season of TV's "Dobie Gillis." Co-star Bob Denver, who was stealing the show as Dobie's beatnik buddy Maynard G. Krebs. He was going to be drafted into the Army and had to exit the series. When Denver was classified "4-F" due to a longstanding neck injury and returned, Pollard's character of weird cousin Jerome Krebs was quickly written out. Pollard played the role of "Hugo" in the original Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie" (costarring with Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, Paul Lynde, and Dick Gautier) in the early 1960s. In 1967, Pollard earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role of C.W. Moss in the film “Bonnie and Clyde”. He also earned two Golden Globe nominations for that role, one for Best Supporting Actor and one for Most Promising Newcomer. In addition, his performance in Bonnie and Clyde won Pollard a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. Michael appeared in two Euro-westerns: “The Legend of Frenchie King” (1971) as Marshal Jeffords and “Four of the Apocalypse” (1974) as Clem.


  • DAVION, Alexander - /31/1929, Paris, Île-de-France, France - 9/28/2019, Norfolk, England, U.K.

British-American actor Alexander Davion died in Norfolk, England on September 28, 2019 according to probate records. He is an actor, known for “Valley of the Dolls” (1985) “The Man from Moscow” (1985) and “Paranoiac” (1963). He appeared on several TV western series including “Zane Grey Theater” (1959) “Death Valey Days” and “Have Gun – Will Travel” (both 1961), “Custer” (1967) and as Tony in the Euro-western “Charley-One Eye (1973). He was married to actresses Ellen Caryl Klein and Anne Lawson and had two children professor Victoria Michele Davion [1960-2017] and Nicholas Davion [1966- ].


  • CORSELLAS, Arseni (Arsenio Corsellas Serra) - 9/17/1933, Figueres, Girono, Catalonia, Spain - 11/15/2019, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

One of Spain’s great voice actor’s Arseni Corsellas died Saturday November 16, 2019 at age 86, according to his son who published his passing on social networks. Corsellas gave voice to iconic characters like JR of " Dallas " and also to actors like Sean Connery or Charlton Heston . Corsellas debuted in the 1950s on Radio Juventud. However, the work that opened the door to dubbing was the performance at the National Radio Invisible Theater. Since then he made more than a thousand dubbing and was the voice of actors such as Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Albert Finney, in addition to those already mentioned. He also directed almost all the films that were dubbed in the Voice of Spain studios in the sixties and seventies in Barcelona and, in addition, we have also been able to see him perform in films such as "Own Love" by Mario Camus or "The best thing it can happen in a croissant "by Paco Mir. His dubbing for Euro-westerns is too great to cover and list all the films and actors among which are Lex Barker in 1964’s “Last of the Renegades”; Robert Shaw “Custer of the West” (1967); Tomas Milian “Death Sentence” and Yul Brynner “Villa Rides” (1968); Anthony Steffen “Gentleman Killer” and Sean Connery “Shalako (both 1969); Raf Vallone “Cannon for Corsoba”, Fernando Rey “Companieros” and Richard Crenna “The Deserter” (all 1971); Charles Bronson “Chato’s Land” and Jim Brown “El Condor”, James Garner “A Man Called Sledge” Burt Lancaster “Valdez is Coming!” (all 1972); Richard Harrison “Jesse & Lester, Two Brothers in a Town Called Trinity”, Stephen Boyd “Those Dirty Dogs” (both 1973); and Robert Mitchum “Dead Man” 1996.


  • JASNY, Vojtěch - 11/30/1925, Kelc, Czechoslovakia, U.S.A. - 11/16/2019, Prague, Czechoslovakia

Czech director Vojtěch Jasný died in Prague on November 16, 2019. He was 93. From the 1950s, Jasny made some 50 movies in Czechoslovakia and later in the West when he emigrated after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. His most famous film, “All My Good Countrymen,” from 1968, about the brutal changes in the country under communism, was banned in his homeland. It won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969. He also won a Cannes special jury prize for his 1963 film, “The Cassandra Cat.” In the 1980s, Jasny settled in the United States, lecturing at Columbia University. He later returned home. He directed the 1965 Euro-western TV film “Magnetické vlny lécí”.


  • BLUDAU, Oliver - 11/26/1971, Lennestadt, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany - 11/8/2019, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

German businessman and actor Oliver Bludau died November 8, 2019. He was 47. Born on November 26, 1971. He was the grandson of actress Maria Bladau and the son of actor Jochen Bludau and actress Irmgard Bludau. Oliver appeared on stage at the Elipse Karl-May Festival from 2011-2014. He played Old Shatterhand in “Winnetou 1” (2012), “The Oil Prince” (2013) and “Among Vultures” 2014. He appeared in 2011 as Engineer Leverent in “Halfbreed”. He was also the managing director during this same time. He then turned his attention to his position as managing director of the Berghoff Group.


  • SAGNER, Martin - 8/11/1932, Podravski, Novigrad, Yugoslavia - 11/12/2019, Zagreb, Croatia

Martin Sagner a Croatian theater, television and film actor known not only in Croatia but also internationally died in Zagreb, Croatia on November 12, 2019. He was 87. Born in Podravski, Novigrad, Yugoslavia on August 11, 1932 Sagner first studied law before attending the Acting Academy in 1955. . He then started acting at the Croatian National Theater in Varaždin and then at the Comedy Theater in Zagreb. He appeared in 32 films and television series from 1961 to 2005. Later in life he entered politics and was the HDZ s representative in the first post-communist convocation of the Croatian Parliament (1990-1992), as well as in the second Croatian Parliament (1992-1995). Sagner appeared in only one Euro-western as Bonoja in 1965's "Old Surehand".


  • BONGUSTO, Fred (Alfred Antonio Carlo Buongusto) 4/6/1935, Campobasso, Campobasso, Italy - 11/8/2019, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Pop composer, songwriter and musical performer Fred Bongusto died in Rome, Italy on November 9th he was 84. Bongusto was big in the 1960s and 70s and he had several international hits. He was also very popular in South America, especially Brazil, as well as in his homeland. He composed the soundtracks of many movies too including three Euro-westerns: “Adios Gringo”, Blood for a Silver Dollar” (both 1965) and “Day After Tomorrow” where his composition and singing of “I Have to Kill a Man” became a cult classic among Euro-western fans.”


  • POWELL, Nik - 11/4/1950, Great Kingshill, Buckinghamshire, England, U.K. - 11/7/2019, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, U.K.

British music and film producer Nik Powell, who was among the Virgin Group co-founders with Richard Branson and became an influential force in U.K. cinema, producing more than 60 titles including Neil Jordan’s Oscar-winning “The Crying Game,” died Thursday at age 69. The cause of death was an unspecified form of cancer, Britain’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) – which Powell headed for more than a decade – said in a statement. He died in Oxford surrounded by his family. Born on November 4, 1950, in the small village of Great Kingshill, in Buckinghamshire, Powell started out running a record shop and was among the founding partners in 1972 of Virgin Records, which became one of the U.K.’s top recording labels before being sold to EMI 20 years later. Powell was a producer on the 2016 Euro-western “Btimstone” starring Guy Pearce and Dakota Fanning


  • CONROY, Jack (Jack Conroy Sr.) - 19??, Clonad, Lois, Ireland - 11/3/2019, Naas, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland

Irish cinematographer Jack Conroy passed away from Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Naas, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland on November 3, 2019. Conroy leaves behind a considerable and highly rated body of work in the sphere of cinema and television, but he will be best remembered for his collaboration with Director Jim Sheridan and producer Noel Pearson on the hugely successful and highly acclaimed movies, ‘My Left Foot’ (1989) and ‘The Field’ (1990). Among the westerns he was a cinematographer on were “The Magnificent 7” TV series in 1998’; “The Last Outlaw” (TV) 1993; “The Cherokee Kid” (TV) 1996; “Blind Justice” (TV) 1994 and the Euro-western “Silent Tongue” 1993 starring River Phoenix.


  • GRAF, Maurizio - 1941, Gorizia, Gorizia, Italy - 10/25/2019, Lugo, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian singer actor and performer Maurizio Graf passed away on Ocotber 26 in Lugo, Rome, Italy. He was 78. Graf was born in Gorizia, Italy in 1941 and was one of the most recognized voices of the Euro-western genre. He’s best remembered for his vocals on “A Pistol for Ringo” and “The Return of Ringo” (1965), but also for his song “Find a Man from” from 1968’s “Johnny Hamlet” (aka The Wild and the Dirty”. He also sang the main themes for “Killer Caliber .32” (1967), "Killer, Adios" (1967).

Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.