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

  • ARNOUL, Françoise (Françoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch) - 6/3/1931, Constantine, France - 7/20/2021, Paris, Île de France, France

French actress Françoise Arnoul died in Paris, France on July 20, 2021 after a long illness. She was 90. Born Françoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch in Constantine, France on June 3, 1931 she was the daughter of an artillery general and an actress, Arnoul spent her youth in Algeria. From the age of seven, she took classical dance lessons in Rabat. In the aftermath of the Second World War, she landed in France and enrolled in drama lessons with Andrée Bauer-Thérond (like Michel Piccoli and Anouk Aimée). An impresario noticed her and introduced her to Willy Rozier who is looking for a young girl to play the very undressed role of Perruche in “L’épave”. This performance made her a star, at only 18 years old. It also confirms her new status by continuing with a comedy by Jean Boyer, “We Will Go to Paris”. She was most notably famous for having played the dancer Nini in “French Cancan” by Jean Renoir. She appeared ad Cad Wilson and Sangerin in the 1975 Jack London TV series “Burning Daylight”.


  • BARDEM, Pilar (Pilar Bardem Muñoz) - 3/14/1939, Seville, Seville, Andalucía, Spain - 7/17/2021, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Spanish actress Pilar Bardem died in a Madrid, Spain clinic from a respiratory illness on July 17, 2021. She was 82. Pilar Bardem Muñoz was born in Seville, Spain on March 14, 2939, she was a member of a family of actors and film directors; sister of Juan Antonio Bardem and mother of Carlos, Mónica and Oscar winner Javier Bardem. She studied medicine but then dropped out of to start an acting career at the beginning of the 1970s, with small roles in theater, cinema, television and zarzuela. Throughout her career she participated in 81 films, 43 plays and 31 television series. Pilar appeared in only one Euro-western as Martha Tafford in “Al este del Oeste” in 1983.


  • CLAMAN, Dolores (Dolores Olga Claman) - 7/6/1927, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – 7/17/2021, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Canadian Composer, songwriter Dolores Claman died last week in Spain after suffering the last few years with dementia. She was 94. Born Dolores Olga Claman on July 6, 1927 in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, she is best known for composing the 1968 theme song for CBC's Hockey Night In Canada show, known simply as The Hockey Theme, a song often regarded as Canada's second national anthem. Dolores also co-wrote over 3000 commercial jingles with her partner and husband Richard Morris. Dolores was the composer for 1969’s “Captain Apache” and the writer of the songs “Captain Apache” and “April Morning.”


  • CUDNEY, Roger (Donald Roger Cudney) - 6/22/1936, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. - 7/5/2021, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

American actor, singer, dubbing director, radio and television host, Roger Cudney, lost his life on July 5, 2021 in Mexico City, Mexico after a spectacular accident, as confirmed by the National Association of Interpreters (ANDI). According to the media, the actor was disconnected from life support equipment in a hospital in Mexico City after suffering two cardiac arrests. Although the renowned actor who lived in Mexico, aged 85, died on July 5, it was not until this Friday, July 9, that the news was revealed by ANDI through its official Twitter account. The actor suffered the serious accident when his wife, Eloisa, was driving their car in which they both were traveling through Lomas de Chapultepec, after realizing that the vehicle had no brakes on a descent, the woman decided to impact the car against a tree to avoid damage to third parties. Donald Roger Cudney was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 22, 1936 where he was a film and TV actor, but since 1967 when he decided to stay in Mexico, achieving a successful career in television, although he also stood out for participating in film productions. Cudney appeared in five Euro-western films and TV series/films; as Vincent in 1979’s “My Friend Winnetou”; as a newspaper reporter in 1982’s “Mexico in Flames”; as Ames in the 1982 TV film “Showdown at Eagle Gap”; as Durand in 1982’s “Triumphs of a Man Called Horse”; and as Colonel Harney in 1998’s “One Man's Hero”.


  • GUIOT, Fernand - 8/7/1932, Namur, Belgium - 6/26/2021, Paris, Île-de-France, France

Fernand Guiot, prolific supporting role of French cinema, died at 88 years old on June 26, 2021 in Paris, France. The Franco-Belgian actor Fernand Guiot, a prolific supporting role, one of the popular “faces” of French cinema known in particular for his role of a stupid inspector of the Duchemin Guide in “The Wing or the Thigh” by Claude Zidi. Born on August 7, 1932 in Namur, Belgium, trained at the Conservatoire dramatique de Bruxelles, Fernand Guiot moved to Paris at the end of the 1950s, starting a long career in cinema, theater and television with nearly 200 films, parts and series to his credit. He appeared in two Euro-western TV series: ‘Frontier’ (1969) as commander of the Clementine and ‘Hudson Frontier’ (1986) as Lorrain.


  • GUNTHER, Eric - 12/25/1923, Germany - 4/30/2021, Germany

According to the June DEFA Newsletter Eric Gunther died on April 30, 2021. He was 97. Born on December 25, 1923 Günther was a director, writer, cinematographer and visual and special effects man. He worked in the German film industry from 1955 until his final film Novalis - Die blaue Blume where he worked on special effects. He worked on special effects on the DEFA western “The Long Ride to School” 1982.


  • CARRA, Raffaella (Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni) - 6/18/1943, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy - 7/5/2021, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian TV entertainer Raffaella Carra died on July 5, 2021 in Rome, Italy. Trying to define Raffaella Carrà is really difficult. Because this multifaceted artist really did it all. Singer, dancer, actress, TV lady. Born Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni in Bologna, Italy on June 18, 1943, she grew up in Romagna. She grew up following the Musichiere, learning titles and refrains by heart. At the age of eight she left Romagna to attend the National Dance Academy of Rome, that of Jia Ruskaia. She is 14 when Ruskaia tells her that her ankles are too small and that going on like this, maybe at 28 she could have been a choreographer. Raffaella runs away and decides to try the way of cinema and enrolls in the Experimental Center of Cinematography. In 1960 she won a small part in "La lunga notte del '43" by Florestano Vancini. Three years later she shoots "I Compagni" and then "Celestina" with Carlo Lizzani. Then the American experience. With Frank Sinatra he starred in "Von Ryan’s Express". I was chosen from a lot of famous actresses who wanted to play alongside Frank. He was a great gentleman, but I didn't know his songs. I used to go to the juke-box and put the Beatles on. He was perplexed, she recalled. Hollywood doesn't drive her crazy. Raffaella appeared in one Euro-western as Carmela in 1962’s “Shadow of Zorro” starring Frank Latimore, Robert Hundar and Paul Piaget.


  • RAMSEY, Bill (William McCreery Ramsey) - 4/17/1931, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. - 7/2/2021, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

American ex-patriot Bill Ramsey died in his adopted home if Hamburg, Germany on July 2, 2021. He was 90. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 17, 1931, William McCreery Ramsey later served his military service in Germany. His musical career began in Frankfurt am Main when the young GI appeared there as a jazz singer in army clubs in the early 1950s. As the US military broadcaster AFN he was soon able to devote himself entirely to music as the chief producer. Ramsey had great success in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s with hits like "Pigalle - die große Mausefalle", "Zuckerpuppe aus der Bauchtanzgruppe" oder "Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie ins Bett". In the 1960s in particular, he also appeared in films, including hit films and Karl May adventures. Around 30 films and even more albums, plus numerous TV programs such as "Talentschuppen" (1974-1980) - Ramsey was a born entertainer. As a moderator, he presented his "Swingtime" for Hessischer Rundfunk even at an advanced age. It wasn't until the beginning of March 2019, shortly before his 88th birthday, that he put an end to the show after more than three decades as an anchorman. Ramsey appeared as a piano player in the 1963 Winnetou western “Apaches Last Battle” starring Lex Barker and Pierre Brice, Dahlia Lavi and Guy Madison.


  • BENGOECHEA, José Alberto Gutiérrez - 1949, Spain - 6/26/2021, Logrono, La Rioja, Spain

José Alberto Gutiérrez Bengoechea died in Logrono, La Rioja, Spain on June 26, 2021. He was 73. José played guitar and was a member of the Betterville prison camp band in 1966's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

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