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

  • RENIER, Yves - 9/29/1942, Berne, Switzerland - 4/23/2021, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

RIP Yves Rénier. The actor Yves Rénier , who played between 1976 and 2006 the commissioner Moulin on TF1, has died, his family announced. He was 78. The actor succumbed to a heart attack on April 24, 2021 at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), his wife confirmed to AFP. Son of actor Max Régnier, Yves Rénier began his career in the 1960s, playing in a film adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo. Yves Rénier had since appeared in the cinema in Diabolo mint (1977) by Diane Kurys, Frantic (1988) by Roman Polanski, Merci la vie (1990) by Bertrand Blier or even Les Anges gardiens (1995) by Jean-Marie Poiré. Always small roles. The actor then moved on to directing in recent years with some success, with a series of fictions inspired by recent police cases. Yves appeared as Donald McRae in the 1994 Euro-western TV series “Tales of the Wild”.


  • FRITSCH, Thomas - 1/16/1944, Dresden, Saxony, Germany - 4/21/2021, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

German film, TV and voice actor Thomas Fritsch died in a senior citizens facility in Berlin, Germany on April 21, 2021. He was 77. Fritsch was born on January 16, 1944 in Dresden, Germany but fled to Hamburg with his family as a toddler, he attended a drama school, graduating with a degree where he trained as an actor. He was discovered for film while still at school. “Das schwarz-weiß-rote Himmelbett” (The Black-White-Red Four-Poster Bed) was his first big box-office success in 1962, followed by roles in films such as “The Last Ride to Santa Cruz” and “Uncle Tom's Cabin” and “Three Men in the Snow”. He switched to TV in the 1970s and is probably best known as the German voice of Scar in 1994’s “The Lion King” and its 1998 sequel “The Lion King II: Simba’s Ptide”. Fritsch appeared in two Euro-westerns: “The Last Ride to Santa Cruz” (1963) as Carlos and “Legend of a Gunfighter” (1964) as Chris Harper. Fritsch was also the voice of Eli Wallach in the deleted scenes of the restored version of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.


  • HELLMAN, Monte (Monte Jay Himmelbaum) - 7/12/1932, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.A. - 4/20/2021, Palm Desert, California, U.S.A.

American maverick director Monte Hellman died in a Palm Springs, California hospital on April 20 after a fall in his home. He was 91. Hellman directed such films as such films as “Two-Lane Blacktop,” “The Shooting” and “Road to Nowhere.” Born in Brooklyn, New York on July 12, 1932, Hellman was an exec producer of Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 “Reservoir Dogs.” He was also a directing teacher at California Institute of the Arts. Monte directed the Euro-western “China 9, Liberty 37” starring Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter and Fabio Testi in 1978 and was also the director of 1977’s CBS-TV prologue for “A Fistful of Dollars”.

  • DIAS, Pavel - 12/9/1938, Brno, Czechoslovakia - 4/19/2021, Prague, Czech Republic

Czech photographer Pavel Dias died in Ptague on April 19, 1921. He was 82. Born in Brno on December 9, 1938 he studied photography at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Brno. From the end of the 1950s, he contributed photographs to various magazines, especially Young World, collaborated with film, photographed horses and races, and devoted himself to advertising photography. From 1989 he taught for 20 years at FAMU, from 2005 to 2018 he also taught photography at Tomas Bata University in Zlín. Dias was a still photographer on the 1972 Euro-western short “A Canyon of Gold”.


  • BRADLEY, Harold (Harold Willard Bradley, Jr.) - 10/13/1929, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. - 4/13/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

American actor, singer, former professional football player Harold Bradley died in Rome, Italy from pneumonia on April 13, 2021. He was 92. Bradley was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 13, 1929 and played football at the University of Iowa before turning pro and playing for the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles. He and his wife, Hannelore Zacharias moved to Italy in 1959 to study art and pursue careers in music and acting, getting his foot in the door of the latter by appearing in stuntman roles in a succession of peplum films playing servants and slaves. At the same time, he developed his love of the arts by becoming a painter and singer in 1960 he, along with sculptor Bob Cowgill, opened a studio called ‘The Folkstudio’ and founded the ‘Folkstudio Singers’. Harold became an accomplished Blues, Gospel and Jazz singer. Harold appeared in two Euo-westerns. The TV film “Questa sera parla Mark Twain” (1965) as George and “Days of Vengeance” (1967) as Nathan. In 1975 “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was re-released as ‘Cassy’ as more of a western and Harold appeared in the role of Harris.


  • TOMMASI, Amedeo - 12/1/1935, Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy - 4/14/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian composer, arranger and musician Amedeo Tommasi died in Rome, Italy on April 14, 2021. He was 85. Amedeo was born in Trieste, Italy on December 1, 1935. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 6 and was thought to be one the most talented pianist of his generation, Tommasi came to light in 1960, during a radio transmission entitled "La coppa di jazz". He joined trumpet player Chet Baker’s group in 1961 and then worked as an arranger for RCA Italy. He became a film composer towards the end of the 1960s. Amedeo worked with Ennio Morricone for over 20 years providing him with electronic sound material for his films, and subsequently collaborated with him on the music for the film “The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean” by Giuseppe Tornatore. He composed the score for the 1967 Euro-western “This Man Can’t Die” starring Guy Madison.


  • BRANCUCCI, Ernesto 11/23/1947, Rome, Lazio, Italy - 4/12/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian voice actor, singer and musical director he was a part of the Disney world in Italy. His career was very long, in which he remained known above all for his work in adapting the songs of films and TV series and for the dubbing of the character of Pumbaa in the film The Lion King died in Rome, Italy on April 12, 2021. Born in Rome on November 23, 1947, the son of composer Italo Brancucci and brother of the singer Maria Cristina Brancucci aka Christy, he used the name of Ermavilo as a mixture of his initials and those of his wife Marinella Viri and his daughters Virginia and Lorena. After having started singing in the Alleluia Clan, he was chosen by the maestro Pietro Carapellucci for the parts sung in various films. Starting in 1986 as Basil the detective, after the death of Roberto De Leonardi, he began to deal with the adaptations for the lyrics of the songs of the Disney films. Since 1993 he has worked as a music director for many films, such as “Nightmare Before Christmas”, “The Lion King”, “Lilo & Stitch”, “The Princess and the Frog, Rebel - The Brave”, “Frozen - The Kingdom of Ice”, “Oceania”, “Coco, Ralph Breaks the Internet”, “As if by Enchantment”, “The Return by Mary Poppins”, “Dumbo”. He was a voice actor on “Fistful of Dollars” (1964); “For a Few Dollars More” (1965); “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966).


  • SCIOTTI, Enzo - 12/24/1944, Rome, Lazio, Italy - 4/10/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Enzo Sciotti, famous illustrator of horror movie posters, died on 11 April 2021 at the age of 76. Sciotti was particularly known for having created the covers of several Italian comics of the seventies and eighties and for the artistic works dedicated to film posters and home-video editions. The high point of his career, however, was reached through the collaboration with Lucio Fulci, for which he illustrated the poster of ... And you will live in terror! The afterlife and that villa next to the cemetery. Also famous is the artwork created for the blue velvet and Phenomena poster by David Lynch and Dario Argento. Spaghetti western art that Enzo designed were “Lola Colt” (1967); “The Hunting Party” (1972); “Keoma” (1975); “Thunder Warrior I, II and III (1983, 1985, 1987) and “Django Strikes Again” (1987).


  • PINORI, Giuseppe - 9/15/1928, Tagliacozzo, Abruzzo, Italy - 3/3/2021, Rome Lazio, Italy

Cinematographer, director of photography Giuseppe Pinori died in Rome on April 3. He was born in Tagliacozzo on September 15, 1928. His filmography includes significant films of the new auteur cinema such as “Ecce bombo” by Nanni Moretti, “Maledetti vi amerò” and “La caduta degli angeli ribelli” by Marco Tullio Giordana. He has collaborated with directors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Lucio Fulci and Romano Scavolini. He has taught Photography for Cinema at the Cinecittà Cinema Academy (ACT Multimedia), together with Franco Di Giacomo. Pinoori was the cinematographer on 1972’s “The Return of the Holy Ghost” starring Vasili Karis.


  • FILIPELLII, Gerard - 12/12/1942, Paris, Ile-de- France, France - 3/30/2021, France

French composer, singer, musician, writer, actor Gérard Filippelli died on March 30, 2021. He was 78. Born in Paris on December 12, 1942 Filippelli was a founder and member of the ‘Charlots’. Gérard appeared as Phil as well as with the Charlots in the 1969 Euro-western TV film “The Man Who Came from Cher”.


  • McMURTRY. Larry (Larry Jeff McMurty) - 6/3/1936, Archer City, Texas, U.S.A. - 3/25/2021, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.

Larry McMurtry, a prolific novelist and screenwriter who demythologized the American West with his unromantic depictions of life on the 19th-century frontier and in contemporary small-town Texas, died on March 25, 2021 at his home in Tucson, Arizona. He was 84. Norn Larry Jeff McMurtry on June 3, 1936 in Archer City, Texas, U.S.A. McMurtry wrote more than 30 novels and many books of essays, memoir and history. He also wrote more than 30 screenplays, including the one for “Brokeback Mountain” (written with his longtime collaborator Diana Ossana, based on a short story by Annie Proulx), for which he won an Academy Award in 2006. But he found his greatest commercial and critical success with “Lonesome Dove,” a sweeping 843-page novel about two retired Texas Rangers who drive a herd of stolen cattle from the Rio Grande to Montana in the 1870s. The book won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and was made into a popular television mini-series. Larry was a producer and writer on the 2002 Euro-western TV film “Johnson County War” in 2002 starring Tom Berenger and Burt Reynolds.

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