Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

From The Spaghetti Western Database
Revision as of 16:12, 31 January 2021 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

  • MONELLI, Silvia - 9/6/1932, Messine, Sicily, Italy - 1/27/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian theater, film, TV voice actress and dubbing director Silvia Monelli passed away in Rome, Italy on January 27, 2021. She was 88. Born in Messine, Sicily, Italy on September 6, 1932 her acting career began in 1958 with an appearance as Commessa in the Italian TV mini-series ‘Valentina (Una ragazza che ha fretta)’. Silvia would go on to appear in over 20 films and TV series. She was better known as a dubbing director and voice actress. She directed several dozen films into Italian while adding or changing dialogue and occasionally voicing a role or two. She appeared as Stella in the 1971 Euro-western “Acquasanta Joe” (Holy Water Joe”), starring Richard Harrison and Ty Hardin.


  • GRIMALDI, Alberto - 3/28/1925, Naples, Campania, Italy - 1/23/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian film producer Alberto Grimaldi died on January 23, 2021. He was 95. Grimaldi’s credits include the Spaghetti Westerns “For a Few Dollars More”, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” “The Big Gundown”, “Face to Face”, “The Mercenary” and Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York”. Born in Naples, Italy on March 28, 1925, Grimaldi originally studied law before starting his own production company, Produzioni Europee Associati, or P.E.A., in 1961. The first feature film Grimaldi produced was the Spanish western film “L’ombra di Zorro,” (Shadow of Zorro) which was released the following year. Grimaldi produced his first Spaghetti Western film, “I due violenti,” (Two Violent Men) in 1964. P.E.A. became known for its low-budget action movies that were often co-productions with Spain and West Germany, and remained active until the early 1980s. In 1965, Grimaldi first collaborated with Sergio Leone on the international co-production “For a Few Dollars More,” starring Clint Eastwood. The two also worked together the following year, when Grimaldi produced Leone’s epic Spaghetti Western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” which scored $25 million at the box office and is credited with skyrocketing Eastwood to fame. Grimaldi worked as a producer on over 80 films in Europe and the United States during his career, which spanned four decades. Other notable titles include “Burn!” in 1969, 1972’s “Last Tango in Paris” starring Marlon Brando, “Man of La Mancha” in 1972 starring Sophia Loren, “Illustrious Corpses” in 1976 and “Ginger and Fred” in 1986. His last film production was Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York” in 2002, which starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Liam Neeson and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including best picture.


  • DORVAL, Adrian (P. Adrian Dorval) - 3/22/1963, Fort St. John, British Colombia, Canada - 1/5/2021, Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada

Canadian actor Adrian Dorval died in Vancouver, British Colombia on January 5, 2021 from esophageal cancer. He was 57. Dorval has garnered a reputation as one of Canada’s strongest character actors and has worked with some of the worlds most respected film makers such as Bruce Macdonald, "Hard Core Logo", Sean Penn, "The Pledge", and Chris Haddock, "Intelligence". He appeared as Timberline in the 1973 Euro-western TV movie ‘Johnson County War’ starring Tom Berenger and Burt Reynolds.


  • PETERSON, Tord (Tord Gregor Pettersson) - 4/21/1926, Stockholm, Sweden - 1/11/2021, Skåne, Sweden

Swedish actor Tor Peterson died in his home in Skåne, Sweden on January 11, 2021. He was 94. Born in Stockholm on April 21, 1926 he was active as an actor for over 50 years, from 1956 until 2013 when he shot his last film, "The Foam Hour". He appeared as Chris Siringo in the Swedish 1973 TV western film “The Blue Hotel”.


  • SABATO, Antonio 4/2/1943, Montelepre, Palermo, Italy - 1/10/2021, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Italian actor Antonio Sabato died of COVID-19 in a Los Angeles, California hospital. He was 77. Sabato’s son Antonio Jr. made the announcement on Twitter. Born in Montelepre, Palermo, Italy on April 2, 1943, Sabato was one of the last stars of the Spaghetti western genre but ended up appearing in seven of them from 1967–1983. Titles include “Beyond the Law” as Ben Novak; “Hate for Hate” as Manuel (both 1967); “I Came, I Saw, I Shot” as Moses Lang; “Twice a Judas” as Luke Barrett (all 1968); “Thunder Over El Paso” as Roy ‘El Santo’ MacFallow (1971); “Where the Bullets Fly” as Jonathan Edgar/Allen Poe/Gipo (1972) and “Thunder Warrior” as Thomas (1983) (Thomas). Another mix up on his passing as Antonio Jr. posted on his twitter page his dad died on the 6th. Both Antonio's wife and daughter later posted he did not die but was still alive and then his daughter posted Sunday that he died that morning on the 10th.


  • RICHARDSON, John (John M. Richardson) - 1/19/1934, Worthing, Sussex, England, U.K. - 1/5/2020

British leading man John Richardson died on January 5, 2020. He was 86. Born in Sussex on Jan. 19, 1934, Richardson started out with small roles in such notable films as “A Night to Remember” (1958), the Kenneth More-starring 1959 remake of “The 39 Steps” and “The League of Gentlemen” (1960). Richardson also starred in the spaghetti Westerns John the Bastard (1967), Execution (1968) and “A Candidate for a Killing” (1969) and had a supporting turn in Vincente Minnelli's “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” (1970), starring Barbra Streisand. Richardson was married to Spaghetti Western actress Martine Beswick from 1967 to 1973.

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