Cemetery with crosses - legends lost but remembered

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

FRESH GRAVES

BECERRIL, Fernando (Fernando Becerril Straffon) - 1945, San Luis Potosí, Mexico - 2/7/2023, Mexico

Mexican theater, film and TV actor Fernando died on February 7, 2023/ He was 78. Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in 1945 Becerril He began his studies at the School of Theatre of Fine Arts and in 1980 received a scholarship from France to study theater arts. Fernando lived in Paris for more than 20 years in France before moving back to Mexico after receiving a film offer. The nostalgia of living in Mexico was too strong and he remained there acting in theater, films and television. He appeared in only one Euro-western 1999’s “Ravenous” as the Mexican commander.

VELLE, Louis (Louis André Charles Marie Velle) - 5/29/1926, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Île-de-France, France - 2/2/2023, Paris, Île-de-France, France

Veteran French actor, director, writer and comedian Louis Velle died at his home in Paris, Île-de-France, France on February 2, 2023. He was 96. He was a leading actor in the1960s and 1970a and wrote several television soap operas. Born in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt on May 29, 1926, he made his film debut in the 1950s with Maurice Chevalier. He also appeared in over 25, theater plays where he also was a playwright. Velle appeared in two Euro-westerns: “Frontier Hellcat” (1964) as Gordon and in the 1986 short film “Bitumes”.

SYMS, Sylvia ((Sylvia May Laura Syms) - 1/6/1934, Woolwich, London, England, U.K. - 1/27/2023, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, U.K.

Veteran British actress Sylvia Syms died in a London nursing home on January 27, 2023. She had just turned 89 on January 6. Born Sylvia May Laura Syms in London. She starred in classic British films including “Ice Cold in Alex” and “Victim,” Other notable films in a career that stretched over seven decades included 1974's Cold War drama “The Tamarind Seed,” with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif and appeared as the Queen Mother Elizabeth — mother of Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth II — in Stephen Frears’ Academy Award-winning 2006 film “The Queen.” The following year, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by the real queen at Buckingham Palace. Syms appeared in one Euro-western: 1969’s “The Desperados!” as Laura Galt.

MARTIN, Eugenio (Eugenio Martín Márquez) - 5/15/1925, Ceuta, Spain - 1/23/2023, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Veteran Spanish director and writer Eugenio Martín died in Madrid, Spain on January 23, 2023. He was 97. He was best remembered for known for three classic Spanish films “Horror Express” (1972), “The Ugly Ones” (1966) and “A Candle for the Devil” (1973). Martín was born in Ceuta on May 15, 1925, and shortly after moved to Granada. There he would grow up secretly reading Lorca and León Felipe and poisoning himself with cinema. His first contact with what would later be his trade was in the cinema-club that he founded. And so on until the censorship of a Jesuit made him desist. "Granada was a prison then," he said in an interview. When he decided to go into exile, he would get the possibility of studying at the Madrid Film Institute and there he went with what was his first short film (“Romantic Journey to Granada”). Eugenio was married to actress Lone Faerch since 1970. Martín worked on four Euro-westerns: “The Ugly Ones” – 1966 [director, writer]; "Duel in the Eclipse” – 1968 [director]; “Bad Man's River” - 1971 [director, writer]; “Pancho Villa” – 1971 [director] and was scheduled as a director on an unmade western “Mudarra” in 1964.

MACHANI, Jirí - 12/27/1940, Nové Mesto nad Metují, Czechoslovakia - 1/20/23. Prague, Czech Republic

Czech cinematographer and cameraman Jiří Machání (aka Jiří Macháne) died in Prague, Czech Republic on January 20, 2023. He was 82. Born on December 27, 1940 he graduated twenty-four years later he graduated from the university as a cinematographer. At first he worked ifor the Czechoslovak Army Film and as an assistant cameraman he participated in Jan Schmidt's gloomy vision “The End of August in the Ozon Hotel” and in Kachyňa's disillusioning fresco “Long Live the Republic”. He began his independent work as a cameraman with Schmidt's film “The Lanfieri Colony”, shot in the Soviet Union during the August invasion of Czechoslovakia. “His Funeral Celebration” directed by Zdeněk Sirový gave a true picture of the village in the 1950s and 1960s but ended up in the vault, it was not performed until 1990. Machání was the cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: “The Claim at Deaf Creek” and “David Sandel’s Last Shot” both in 1972.

MARIUZZO, Giorgio - 7/14/1939, Venice, Veneto, Italy - 1/16/2023, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian director, assistant director, writer and actor Giorgio Mariuzzo died in Rome, Italy on January 16, 2023. He was 83. Born in Venice on July 14, 1939, he started his career as an assistant director in 1968 and since the mid-1970s started writing screenplays and also directed a number of films. Best known for his collaboration with Lucio Fulci in the early 1980s, from 1985 he was mainly active on television. He wrote the story, screenplay and directed under the alias George McRoots the 1976 Spaghetti western “Apache Woman” starring Al Cliver and Clara Hopf.

LANDI, Gino (Luigi Gregori) - 8/2/1933, Milan, Lombardy, Italy - 1/17/2023, Rome, Lazio, Italy

The Italian choreographer, theater and television director Gino Landi died January 17, 2023, in Rome. Landi was a pseudonym of Luigi Gregori, he was born in Milan on August 2, 1933, he was 89 years old. As a dancer he began with Erminio Macario, as a choreographer hbut was also known as a director and writer for “Bárbara” (1980), “Waterloo” (1970) and “Roma” (1972). He was a choreographer on the Euro-western “Another Try, Eh Providence” (1973) with Tomas Milan.

LOLLOBRIGIDA, Gina (Luigina Lollobrigida) - 7/4/1927, Subiaco, Lazio, Italy - 1/16/2023, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Italian bombshell Gina Lollobrigida who starred in films including “Fanfan la Tulipe,” “Beat the Devil,” “Trapeze” and “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell,” died on January 16, 2023, in a Rome clinic. She was 95. Born Luigina Lollobrigida on July 4, 1927 in Subiaco, Lazio, Italy. Modelling work in her youth led to participation in a series of beauty contests, and she placed third in the Miss Italy pageant in 1947. She made her feature film debut the year before with a small role in the Italian-language “Return of the Black Eagle.” Lollobrigida played opposite Hollywood stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, becoming one of the most recognizable cinema icons of the 1950s and 60s. She rivaled Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe and Birgit Bardotte as 1950’s 60s divas. Gina was also an acclaimed photojournalist. She appeared in only one Euro-western as Alica/Alice in 1971’s “Bad Man’s River” with Lee Van Cleef and James Mason.

KIKABIDZE, Buba (Vakhtang Kikabidze Konstantinovich) - 7/19/1938, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia – 1/15/2023,

Georgian singer and actor Buba Kikabidze died on January 15, 2023 he was 84. The Besides being a veteran singer and songwriter, Kikabidze was remembered for his acting roles, particularly in the much-loved Soviet-era comedy “Mimino”, in which he played a homesick Georgian pilot. Born Vakhtang Kikabidze Konstantinovich on July 19, 1938 in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia he appeared in one Euro-western as Hertsog in 1973’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.

BLUMHAGEN, Lothar - 7/16/1927, Leipzig, Danzig, Germany - 1/10/2023, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

The German actor and voice actor Lothar Blumhagen died in Berlin, Germany on January 10, 2023, at the age of 95. Blumhagen born in Leipzig, Germany on July 16, 1927, was the German voice of many international stars. His dark, rough timbre was unmistakable and perfectly underlined the appearance of a British gentleman. Blumhagen also stood in front of the camera again and again for television films and was also seen on theater stages. "His family mourns the loss of a humorous, warm-hearted and generous father, father-in-law and grandfather. We will remember him as an open-minded, art and literature enthusiast." Lothar voiced many Euro-westerns during his career.

Lothar Blumhagen’s westerns: Savage Gun – 1962 [German voice of Richard Basehart], Frontier Hellcat – 1964 [German voice of Louis Velle], A Man Called Gringo – 1965 [German voice of Sieghardt Rupp], Pyramid of the Sun God – 1965 [German voice of Gerard Barray], The Return of Ringo – 1965 [German voice of George Matin], Treasure of the Aztecs – 1965 [German voice of Gerard Barray], Behind the Mask of Zorro – 1965 [German voice of Sancho Gracia], Django Shoots First – 1966 [German voice of Nando Gazzolo], For a Few Dollars More – 1966 [German voice of Carlo Simi], My Name is Pecos – 1966 [German voice of Luigi Casellato], Django the Last Killer – 1967 [German voice of George Eastman], $10,000 for a Massacre – 1967 [German voice of Ferdinado Poggi], Guns for San Sebastian – 1968 [German voice of Julio Aldama], Full House for the Devil – 1969 [German voice of Paul Muller], Sundance Cassidy and Butch the Kid – 1969 [German voice of sheriff], Companeros – 1970 [German voice of Gino Pernice], El Condor – 1970 [German voice of Gustavo Rojo], Have a Good Funeral – 1970 [German voice of Robert Dell’Acqua], Hands Up Dead Man! You're Under Arrest – 1971 [German voice of Rafael Corés], Vengeance Trail - 1971 [German voice of Sullivan], Long Live Your Death - 1971 [German voice of Enrique Espinosa], Ben and Charlie – 1972 [German voice of Giacomo Rossi Stuart], Chato’s Land – 1972 [German voice of Paul Young], It Can be Done Amigo – 1972 [German voice of Francisco Rabal], The Long Ride of Revenge – 1972 [German voice of George Wang], Trinity is STILL My Name – 1972 [German voice of man in carriage], White Fang – 1973 [German voice of John Steiner], Lucky Luke (TV) – 1984 [German voice of Colonel Prendergast], Thunder 3 – 1988 [German voice of John Phillip Law], Jonathan of the Bears – 1993 [German voice of John Saxon]