Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

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This page is our personal hall of faml'e. 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

  • OJEDA, Manuel (Jesús Manuel Ojeda Ruiz de la Peña) - 11/4/1938, La Paz, Baja California, Mexico - 8/11/2022, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Mexican actor Manuel Ojeda died on August 11, 2022. He was 83. He was born on November 4, 1940 in La Paz, Baja California Sur. He studied acting at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico. He began his career in the 1970s in the cinema, his first films were 'Canoa', 'El Elegido', 'La casa del sur', 'Calzonzin inspector', 'Celestina' and 'El apando', the latter gave him his first Ariel nomination in 1977. Thanks to his talent, he won several awards in film, television and theater, including an Ariel, awarded by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, as well as El Heraldo de México, a Golden Caliph and several TV Novelas. Ojeda appeared in one Euro-western 1979's "Eagle Wing" as Manuel with Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston.


  • LOIRI, Vesa-Matti - 1/4/1945, Helsinki, Finland - 8/10/2022, Helsinki, Finland

The actor, singer and entertainer Vesa-Matti Loiri has passed away on Wednesday, August 10, 2022 in Helsinki, Finland. He was 77 years old. Loiri was one of Finland’s best-known and popular entertainers of all time. He was active both as an actor in films and on stage, and also recorded 34 music albums. Loiri was hired at the Helsinki City Theater straight from theater school, and from 1971 to 1977 he acted at the Turku City Theatre. He starred in several classics. In the 1960s. Loiri became famous as a comedian at the end of the 1960s in the TV series Jatkoaika. In the early 1970s, Loir's music hobby turned into a profession, when he started recording as a jazz flutist and singer. Loiri wrote the screenplay for the Finnish comedy western “Speedy Gonzales” and directed, sang and starred as The Lone Ranger in 1971’s “The Unhanged.”


  • HUNT, Darryl - 5/4/1950, Christchurch, Hampshire, England, U.K. - 8/8/2022, London, England, U.K.

The Pogues and songwriter Darryl Hunt passed away at the age of 72 in London on August 8, 2022. Born in Christchurch, Hampshire, England on May 4, 1950 he joind the Pogues in 1986 after playing with the The Brothel Creepers, in 1973 and later formed the punk band The Favourites.


  • MULLER, Paul - 3/11/1923, Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland – 9/2/2016, Tivoli, Lazio, Italy

Peplum Paradise reported on August 2, 2022 that they discovered via “Data Query Registry Office" in Tivoli, Italy that Swiss actor Paul Muller passed away on September 2, 2016 in Tivoli, Lazio, Italy. He was 93. Muller was born in Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland on March 11, 1923. He appeared in over 230 films since his first role in 1948. He spent most of his life working in Italy, his main country of residence. He worked for more than 60 years with most of the well-known European actresses and actors of classic cinema and with some famous names of the Cinema of Italy like Roberto Rossellini, Carlo Ponti, Federico Fellini, Mario Bava, Sergio Corbucci, Michelangelo Antonioni. He also made his appearance in films under the direction of Veit Harlan, Artur Brauner, Jesús "Jess" Franco, René Clément, Michael Curtiz, Richard Fleischer, Jean-Pierre Mocky and many others. (Jesus Franco alone co-starred him in no less than 18 films). Muller usually played villains or military personell and appeared in four Euro-westerns: “The Fall of the Mohicans” (1965) as Colonel Munro, "Thompson 1880" (1966) as Jameson Brady; “Full House for the Devil” (1968) as George Ward and “They Call Me Providence” (1972) as Mr. Summitt, "Convoy of Women" (1974) English colonel.


  • RICHMOND, Tom (Thomas Julian Richmond) - 1/18/1950, Bronxville, New York, U.S.A. - 7/29/2022, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Cinematographer, director of photography Tom Richmond died in New York City on July 29, 2022. He was 72. Born Thomas Julian Richmond in the Bronx, New York on January 18, 1950, he earned an undergraduate degree in photography at Harvard University and then went to graduate film school at UCLA. As an American cinematographer he had worked in the film industry since the mid-1980s.His first major feature film as cinematographer was “Stand and Deliver” (1988), and by the time he shot for “A Midnight Clear” (1992), he had settled into working with different directors with ease. Richmond described his experience, "All my films look different because they're not my visions; they're my reflections of the directors' visions." In 1998, he said he was most proud of his work on “Little Odessa” (1994), for which he was nominated an Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography. “For Right at Your Door” (2006), he won the Excellence in Cinematography Award (Dramatic) at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Richmond was director of photography on the Alex Cox Euro-western “Straight to Hell” and the documentary “Straight to Hell Returns” both 1987.


  • STEINER, John - 1/7/1941, Chester, Cheshire, England, U.K. – 7/31/2022, La Quinta, California, U.S.A.

British actor John Steiner died at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California after a car accident in nearby LaQuinta, California on July 31, 2022. He was born in Chester, Cheshire, England on January 1, 1941. Steiner got his start in films after school with small parts in British productions. Among them were “Bedazzled” (1967), and “Work is a 4-Letter Word” (1968). He portrayed some of the most memorable villains of Italian cinema during the 1970s and 1980s in such films as “Violent Rome”, “Mannaja”, “The Last Hunter”. He also appeared in Sci-Fi and adventure films like “Yor, the Hunter from the Future” and horror films such as Mario Bava’s “Shock”, Dario Argento’s “Tenebrae” and Ruggero Deodato’s “Body Count” and even appeared in Tinto Brass’ “Salon Kity”. Steiner was in very steady demand until the late 1980s. As the Italian film industry dwindled, Steiner retired from acting in 1991 and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he became an extremely successful and well-respected real estate agent. John appeared in four Euro-westerns: “Tepepa” (Blood and Guns”) 1968 as Doctor Henry Price; “White Fang” 1973 (Charles ‘Beauty’ Smith), “Challenge to White Fang” 1974 (Beauty Smith/Charles Forth), “A Man Called Blade” 1977 (Theo Valler) and the documentary “The Outsider” – 2013.


  • IZARD, Christophe - 5/30/1937, Paris, Île de France, France - 7/31/2022, Paris, Île de France, France

RIP Christophe Izard. French television producer and writer Christophe Izard died in Paris, France on July 31, 2022. He was 85. Izard who was born in Paris on May 30, 1937 was known as the inventor of children’s television in the 1970s. After being a member of a jazz orchestra and publishing several thrillers, Christophe Izard began his television career at the ORTF as a variety producer. From 1974, he devoted his life to youth programs. First by adapting American programs like ‘Sésame Street’ then by launching ‘l'Ile aux enfants’. He was that producer and script supervisor on the 1992-1994 French, Canadian TV series “The Legend of White Fang”.


  • METCALFE, Burt (Burton Dennis Metcalfe) - 3/19/1935, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada - 7/27/2022, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Canadian born producer and actor Burt Metcalfe died in Los Angeles, California on July 27, 2022. He was 87. Born Burton Dennis Metcalfe on March 19, 1935, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Before he gave up full-time acting to work on the other side of the camera, Metcalfe played the surfer Lord Byron opposite Sandra Dee and James Darren in “Gidget” (1959), and appeared on the first season of ‘The Twilight Zone’ and starred on the 1961-62 CBS sitcom ‘Father of the Bride’. Metcalfe was a producer on all but five of M*A*S*H‘s 256 episodes from 1972-83 and its showrunner for its last six seasons. He also directed 31 installments of the acclaimed CBS comedy, wrote three and acted in one collecting 13 Emmy nominations along the way. Metcalfe appeared as Constable Springer in his only Euro-western the British-U.S.A. co-produced “The Canadians in 1961 with Robert Ryan, Torin Thatcher and John Dehner


  • BIANCHI, Mario 1/7/1939, Rome, Lazio, Italy – 7/27/2022, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian director, assistant director and writer died in Italy on July 27, 2022. He was 83. Born in Rome on January 7, 1939, the son of director, writer, actor Roberto Bianchi Montero [1907-1986]. Mario directed over 100 films from 1971 to 2001. He was also a screenwriter and assistant director on 21 films. He often used aliases such as Frank Bronston, Renzo Spaziani and Nicholas Moore He directed five Spaghetti westerns including: “In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Colt” – 1971 [as Frank Bronston]; “Kill the Poker Player” – 1972 [as Frank Bronston] where he was also the screenwriter; “Fast-Hand is Still My Name” – 1973 [as Frank Bronston];“For a Book of Dollars” - 1973 [as Renzo Spaziani] and “Zorro” 1996 [as Nicholas Moore] and writer. He was an assistant director on “Black Tigress” – 1967; “Hate Thy Neighbor” and “Vendetta at Dawn” 1968; “Quinto, Fighting Proud” – 1969 and” Shango” – 1970. He spent the majority of the 1990s directing pornography in Italy under the names Nicholas Moore, Tony Yanker and Martin White.

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