Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

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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

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FRESH GRAVES

  • MOLINA, Juan Ramón - 19??, Spain - 2/?/2020, Spain

Spanish Special Effects Director Juan Ramón Molina has died (Molinafx). The list of work in Almeria that he worked on since the beginning of his career learning the trade in titles such as 'Treasure Island ' (1972): 'Straight to Hell' (1987), 'Here Comes Condemor... ' (1996 ), 'A Dollar for the Dead' (TV 1998), 'The Year of Maria' (2000), '800 Bullets' (2002), 'Four Lions' (2010), 'A War' (2015), 'Game of Thrones s' (2016), 'Assassin's Creed' (2016), 'The Sister Brothers ' (2018), 'Hanna' (TV 2019), 'The Spanish Princess' (TV 2019), 'Domino' (2019). Among His awards he received a Goya for the best special effects for '800 Bullets'.


  • BUCCI, Flavio - 5/25/1947, Turin, Piedmont, Italy - 2/18/2020, Passoscuro, Lazio, Italy

Italian actor Flavio Bucci died of a heart attack in his home in Passoscuro, Lazio, Italy on February 18, 2020. He was 72 years old. He was a producer, theatrical, film, TV and voice actor. Born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy on May 25, 1947, everyone remembers him in some of his memorable roles in equally unforgettable films: Il Marchese del Grillo, alongside Sordi, Suspiria by the master of terror Dario Argento, and Il divo by Paolo Sorrentino, just to name a few. He was married to actress Micaela Pignatelli and had two sons Alessandro and Lorenzo. He also had another son Rube from a relationship with Dutch director Loes Kamsteeg. He appeared in one Euro-western as Kanas in 1985’s “Tex and the Lord of the Deep” starring Giuliano Gemma and William Berger.


  • ZIEMANN, Sonja - 2/8/1926, Eichwalde bei Berlin, Germany - 2/17/2020, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

German actress, singer, dancer Sonja Zieman died in an Munich retirement home on Monday February 17, 2020. She had just turned 94. Born Alice Toni Selma Ziemann in Eichwalde bei Berlin, Germany on February 8, 1926 she left school at the age of 14 to start dancing. She appeared in her first film “Ein Windstoß” as Gina Galassi and made her final appearance after 92 films television shows as Vera Stern in TV’s ‘Park Hotel Stern’ in 1997. Zieman appeared in one Euro-western; 1958’s “Texas Serenade” as Sylvia.


  • MIMICA, Vatroslav - 6/25/1923, Omis, Croatia, Yugoslavia - 2/15/2020, Zagreb, Croatia

Croatian producer, director, writer Vatroslav Mimica died in Zagreb, Croatia on February 15, 2020. He was 97. Mimica was born on June 25, 1923 in Omis, Croatia, Yugoslavia. He studied at the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb and was a participant in the anti-fascist movement in World War II. He had been working in films since 1950, first as director of Jadran Film, of which he is one of the artists. Croatian cinema will remember him primarily for feature films such as “Prometheus from the Island of Visevica”, the internationally acclaimed “Kai, I'll Kill You”, Monday or Tuesday”, “Event”, “Peasant Revolt” and “Banović Strahinja”. Mimica co-wrote the story and screenplay for 1957’s short film “Cowboy Jimmy”.


  • MARCHENT, Rafael Romero - 5/3/1926, Madrid, Madrid, Spain - 2/13/2020, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Legendary Spanish filmmaker Rafael Romero Marchent died in Madrid, Spain on February 13, 2020. He was 94. The director, writer, actor along was born into a family of filmmakers and along with his brothers Joaquin., Carlos and his sister Ana were pioneers in the Euro-western genre that brought international cinema and film making to Spain. He was involved with 20 Euro-westerns as production manager, director, assistant director, writer and actor. Some of the titles are: “The Shadow of Zorro”; “Zorro the Avenger” both 1962; “Sign of the Coyote” (1963); “Gunfight at High Noon” (1965); Two Crosses at Danger Pass” (1967); “Dead Men Don’t Count” (1968), “The Dead are Countless” (1969) and he finished his western career with “The Black Wolf” and “Revenge of the Black Wolf” in 1981. One of the greats of the genre has passed.


  • DOUGLAS, Kirk (Issur Danielovitch) - 12/9/1916, Amsterdam, New York, U.S.A. - 2/5/2020, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Although Kirk Douglas never made a Euro-western a couple of his westerns had scenes that were filmed in Europe. Mike Ferguson e-mailed me the following information. A Gunfight (bullfight ending shot outside Madrid. They couldn't kill the bull Stateside or in Mexico, so they went to Spain. Rest of the film shot in US) Light at the Edge of the World (flashback scene filmed in Madrid, set in a typical western saloon, has American actor John Clarke as the town sheriff confronting, I think Douglas, who has stolen the man's wife as I recall. Or they used to be bandits together? I think Douglas shoots him? Anyway they're both dressed in frontier garb. Of course some western aficionados count his appearance as Peg in 1973’s Scalawag as a western because the action takes place in 1840’s California.


  • MINERVINI, Gianni (Giovanni Minervini) - 10/26/1928, Naples, Campania, Italy - 2/4/2020, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian producer, production manager and supervisor Gianni Minervini died in\ Rome, Italy on February 4, 2020. Born Giovanni Minervini in Naples, Italy on October 26, 1928, he was the son of the journalist Roberto (1900-1962) and brother of the sculptor Annamaria. He began his film career as an actor and then debuted as a producer in 1976, when he co-founded with the brothers Antonio and Pupi Avati the production company A.M.A. Film. The Avati brothers left the company in the late 1983, leaving the sole Minervini leading the company. He won a best foreign film Oscar in 1991 for “Mediterraneo”. He was a production manager on “The Sign of the Coyote” (1963) and “Death Rides a Horse” (1967), a production supervisor on “Blood and Guns” (Tepepa)” (1969) and a producer of “Night of the Serpent” (1969).


  • FRANK JR., Harriet - 3/2/1917, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. - 1/28/2020, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

American writer Harriet Frank Jr. died in Los Angeles, California on January 28, 2020. She and her husband, Irving Ravetch, collaborated on provocative screenplays that explored the social conflicts and moral questions of postwar American life in movies like “Hud” and “Norma Rae,” died on Tuesday January 28, 2020 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 96. Harriet co-wrote the screenplay for 1974’s Euro-western “The Spike’s Gang”.


  • PARSONS, Nicholas (Christopher Nicholas Parsons) - 10/10/1923, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, U.K. - 1/28/2020, Aylesbury, Buckinhamshire, England, U.K.

Born Christopher Nicholas Parsons in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England on October 10, 1923, he was an British actor and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show ‘Just a Minute’ and hosted the game show “Sale of the Century” during the 1970s and early 1980s. His Euro-western connection was the English voice of Sheriff Tex Tucker, telegrapher Dan Morse and Billy Pinto in the 1960 British TV western series “Four Feather Falls”. He was married to actress Denise Bryer from 1954-1989, who was the voice of Martha 'Ma' Jones and Little Jake on the same series.


  • SANS, Santi - 7/?/1933, Gràcia, Barcelona, Cataluna, Spain - 1/22/2020, Barcelona, Cataluna, Spain

The humorist and actor Santi Sans died January 22, 2020 in the Hospital de Mataro, Barcelona, Cataluna, Spain, after more than half a century career, as reported by his family to Europa Press. He was 86. He was born in July 1933 in the Barcelona neighborhood of Gràcia, where, as a child, he was already an amateur actor; and debuted professionally in 1956 with a small role in the play Just Married, Do Not Disturb , directed by Adolfo Marsillach at the Windsor Theater in the city. In the party halls he also performed in the 60s with singers such as Julio Iglesias and Raphael, whom he presented and imitated, entertaining the shows. One, two, three and Filiprim . In the 70s he performed in various spaces of TVE Catalunya, especially humorist, and also in the first stage of the 'One, two, three' contest, when presented by Kiko Ledgard. In the 80s Sans became very popular on TV3, with humorous performances and imitations in various programs, among which Filiprim and Tres i l'astròleg stand out , in addition to acting later in the drama series Laberint d'ombres. His only Euro-western appearance was in the film short “Peacemaker” in 2005.

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