Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Andrea Drahota

[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Andrea Drahota was born in Veszprém, Hungary on July 15, 1941, her mother travelled there from Perkáta in Fejér County to give birth. At that time, her father served at the Don as an officer in the Hungarian 2nd Army. Her mother worked as a sculptor. She had a younger sister, Agnes, who was a doctor. Later, they moved to Abaújszántó, where her father worked as a teacher. Her mother died in tragic circumstances in 1953, committing suicide. Her father remarried and Andrea’s stepmother was a high school teacher of mathematics and physics.

Drahota graduated from the Kossuth Lajos High School in Cegléd and studied industry at the Karl Marx University of Economics between 1959 and 1961. She graduated from the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in 1965.

Andrea has been appearing in films since 1963. She played for a year at the Szigligeti Theatre in Szolnok (1965–1966). Between 1966 and 1991 she was a member of the Thália Theatre and the Arizona Theatre. Between 1991 and 1993 she was a freelance actor. Between 1993 and 2001 she was an actress at the National Theatre and the Hungarian Theatre of Pest. From 2001 she was an artist at the Vörösmarty Theatre and the Vidám Theatre in Székesfehérvár.

Drahota retired from the stage at the age of 70 and since the 2000s, she has been living in Gyermely.

Andrea Drahota was in one Euro-western, “Chingachgook, die große Schlange” (Chingachgook, the Great Snake) Wahtawa in 1967.

DRAHOTA, Andrea [7/15/1941, Veszprém, Hungary -     ] – theater, film, TV, voice actress, married to actor András Kozák [1943-2005] (1964-2005) mother of actress Ágnes Kozák [1965-     ], actor Dénes Kozák [1975-    ], awarded Artist of Merit [1986].

Chingachgook, the Great Snake – 1967 (Wahtawa)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Michael “Bully” Herbig

Michael "Bully" Herbig was born April 29, 1968, in Munich, West Germany. He is a prominent German comedian, actor, director, producer, writer, and voice actor, best known by his childhood nickname "Bully". He rose to fame as the creator, writer, director, and star of the influential late-night sketch comedy television series ‘Bullyparade’ (1997–2002) on ProSieben, where he frequently collaborated with actors Christian Tramitz and Rick Kavanian to parody films, television, and pop culture in over-the-top style.

‘Bullyparade’ spawned highly successful feature film adaptations, most notably the Western parody “Der Schuh des Manitu” (2001), which attracted 11,721,183 admissions in Germany and became one of the country's highest-grossing films ever, followed by the science fiction spoof “(T)Raumschiff Surprise – Periode 1” (2004) with over 9 million viewers. These works cemented Herbig's reputation for blockbuster parody cinema in the German-speaking world.

Herbig began his career in Munich's radio scene, including morning shows, before transitioning to television and film; he also studied photography and is recognized for his multifaceted contributions to German entertainment, including voice acting in animated films and later projects such as the 2025 sequel “Das Kanu des Manitu” and the BAMBI jury's honorary award for his body of work.

Michael “Bully” Herbig directed three Euro-westerns, “Der Schuh des Manitu” (The Shoe of Manitu) in 2000, “Bullyparade der film” in 2017 and “Das Kanu des Manitu” (Manitou's Canoe) in 2024.

HERBIG, Michael ‘Bully’ (aka 'Bully' Herbig, Bully Herbig, Michael 'Bully' Herbig) [4/29/1968, Munich, Bavaria, Germany -     ]- producer, director, writer, songwriter, actor, married to Daniela Herbig (2003-    ) father of Ben Herbig [2012].

The Shoe of Manitu – 2000

Bullyparade der film – 2017

Das Kanu des Manitu – 2024

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Damiano Damiani

Damiano Damiani was born in Pasiano, Pordenone, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Udine, Italy on July 23, 1922. He was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor, and writer whose career spanned over five decades, focusing on socially conscious narratives often centered on organized crime and institutional corruption. He began with short films in the late 1940s before directing features like “Arturo's Island” (1962), which earned the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Damiani gained prominence for mafia-themed works, including “Confessions of a Police Captain” (1971) and the long-running television series ‘La Piovra’ (The Octopus, 1984–2001), which depicted systemic mafia influence in Italian society and became a cultural phenomenon for its unflinching portrayal of real-world criminal networks. His films received international recognition, such as a Silver Bear Honorable Mention at the 1985 Berlin International Film Festival for The Sicilian Connection, and multiple David di Donatello Awards in Italy. Damiani's oeuvre emphasized moral ambiguity and critique of power, influencing Italian genre cinema while avoiding sensationalism in favor of structural analysis of societal decay.

Damiani died in Rome on March 7, 2013, at the age of 90.

Damiano Damiani wrote the screenplays for two Spaghetti westerns: “Quién sabe?” (A Bullet for the General) with Salvatore Laurani and Franco Solinas and “Un genio, due compari, un pollo” (The Genius) with Fulvio Morsella and Ernesto Gastaldi in 1975.

DAMIANI, Damiano [7/23/1922, Pasiano, Pordenone, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Udine, Italy - 3/7/2013, Rome, Lazio, Italy (respiratory failure)] director, screenwriter, actor, married to Rosa Zetti [19??-2008] (1945–2008) father of Cristina Damiani [1951-    ], Sibilla Damiani [1955-    ], Francesco Damiani [1959-    ].

A Bullet for the General – 1966 (co)

The Genius – 1975 (co)

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Marcello Masciocchi

Marcello Masciocchi was an Italian cinematographer and cameraman. He worked as a cameraman on fifteen films between 1951 and 1992 and a cinematographer on sixty-one films between 1960 and 1991. He often was credited using such aliases as Marc Lane, Mark March, Mark Marsch, Marcel Mascot. He also worked sporadically as an assistant cameraman, and a production manager.

He’s best known for his work on “Treasure of the Four Crowns” (1982), “Ultimo mondo cannibal” and “La polizia è sconfitta” both in 1977.

Marcello Masciocchi was a cinematographer on nine Spaghetti westerns: “30 Winchester per El Diablo” (Gold Train), “Uccidete Johnny Ringo” (Kill Johnny Ringo) both in 1965, “Un dollaro tra i denti” (A Stranger in Town) in 1966, “I quattro dell’Ave Maria” (Ace High), “Un uomo, un cavallo, una pistola” (The Stranger Returns) both in 1967, “La collina degli stivali” (Boot Hill) and “El Zorro justiciero” (Zorro the Lawman) both in 1969, “W Django!” (A Man Called Django), “Una Colt in mano del diavolo” (When the Devil Grips a Colt) with Alvaro Lanzo in 1972

MASCIOCCHI, Marcello (aka Marc Lane, Mark March, Mark Marsch, Marcel Mascot) [Italian] – cinematographer, cameraman.

Gold Train – 1965 [as Marcel Mascot]

Kill Johnny Ringo – 1965 [as Marc Lane]

A Stranger in Town – 1966

Ace High - 1967

The Stranger Returns - 1967

Boot Hill – 1969

Zorro the Lawman – 1969

A Man Called Django! – 1971

When the Devil Grips a Colt – 1972 (co) [as Marcel Mascot]

‘How We Conquered the West and Where It Took Us’, the documentary about Aragonese emigration to America

Secuenciadas

by Ana and Marisa

January 7, 2026

In black and white and with very epic music, at the beginning of the 20th century, more than a thousand men and women left their villages in Turel, such as Jabaloyas, La Puebla de Valverde or Camarena de la Sierra, towards the far American west. They crossed the Atlantic, with nothing in their pockets and in search of a better future. Flat detail of a captain rolling on the ground. Circular to black transition. Title.

‘How we conquered the west and where it took us’, led by Elsa Tercero, tells the story of these migrants who dared to travel to the unknown, without knowing the language and without more luggage than their desire to fulfill a dream. The film is from the Aragonese production company Prolight AudioVisual with Jorge De Bautista in front and part of an idea by Roberto Roldán. “This story comes to us through Roberto, who is a friend of both Jorge and my lifelong friend, and we have developed a lot of projects together. We fell in love, we wanted to do something more of our own, and that’s where we started,” director Elsa Tercero explains to Sequenciados.

[The good, the ugly, the bad and the least bad.]

 His first contact was with Raúl Ibáñez who made a thesis on the subject. “Raul was the one who presented us to the descendants, first to those of Jabaloyas. We made a meeting with Teodoro Pradas and Fermín Yagües ", thanks to Ibáñez's thesis and the investigations of Yagües began to contact the American descendants. "We started the documentary with the vision of being able to record the part of America as well." With a team of four people, the Aragonese went to make the Americas to record the testimonies of the relatives, who were delighted to participate and give their vision in the documentary.

They crossed more than 10,000 kilometers, as our protagonists years ago, and learned the stories of relatives living in Utah, Idaho and Baja California (Mexico). “It was very frantic, in a very short time. We tried to scratch everything we could and the people were wonderful,” the director recalls.

[Elsa Tercero, Jorge De Bautista and Santiago Gracia to the conquest of the best testimonies.]

To tell this film story, the team formed by Elsa, Jorge and Roberto, decided that it was best to make a fictional part. “We wanted to make a kind of hybrid between documentary and fiction, since we couldn’t make a whole fiction about the subject,” says Tercero. For the recordings they contacted a horse ranch that has been in Teruel for twenty years and took a pleasant surprise. “Just the founder of this association had a descendant within the Puebla de Valverde.” Thanks to this they suddenly added to that family that they had not signed.

For the recreations they did not have actors, they are the descendants themselves. “They are collaborations of the neighbors and protagonists of the story,” the conference emphasizes about a very special participation. “We must name because this year she turned 100 and is the daughter of an emigrant. She returned from Barcelona to live in Jabaloyas and her daughter who is taking care of her.” The centenary steals very nice shots on the screen.

[The longest-living descendants of the Turolense conquistadors]

 Most of the people who emigrated to the American West were engaged in livestock and mining. Some did well and others did not so much. “What they have in common is that all the people who left had a very long, difficult journey and in a very complicated time. Without media they came to another country where they had nothing and spoke a different language. They are things that currently happen everywhere, but a few years ago it was very different,” says Tercero.

Now this legacy is in the audiovisual ‘How we conquer the west and where it took us’ a memory of all those Aragonese who dared to embark on an uncertain journey to the American conquest. “It’s a tribute to be left in memory, because these stories are lost, forgotten. At least with this documentary it will last over time,” the director confides. The docu had a very emotional preview at the Cine Maravillas de Teruel. More than fifty relatives came from Tijuana, Mexico, to learn about their origins. After its premiere in cinemas, you can see later in Aragon TV.

The team is composed by Pilar Bellé in the script, photography of Jorge De Bautista, Santiago Gracia as camera operator, Daniel Orta and Isabel Chaverri in sound, Nerea Moreno in art direction, the makeup is Cristina Sánchez, in graphic design are Pablo Pellicer and Juan Flores, the costumes is by Arantxa Ezquerro and Laura Sanz, the music is by José María Rubio and the edition is José Manuel Fandos.

 

Cómo conquistamos el oeste y adónde nos llevó – Spanish title

How We Conquered theWest and Where It Took Us – English translated title

 

A 2025 Spanish documentary film [Prolight AudioVisual (Zaragoza)]

Producer: Jorge De Bautista

Director: Elsa Tercero

Story: Roberto Roldán, Raúl Ibáñez

Screenplay: Pilar Bellé

Cinematography: Jorge De Bautista, Santiago Gracia

Music: José María Rubio

Running time: 72 minutes

 

Story: At the beginning of the twentieth century, more than a thousand men and women left behind the lonely lands of Teruel. They embarked into the unknown. They crossed the ocean in search of a future that overflowed their dreams and entered the American Wild West, which also held challenges.

 

Cast:

Holly George, Linda Lopez, Teodoro Pradas, Ismael Yagües Ames, Mona Yagües,  Fermín Yagües, Águeda, Jabaloyas. Maruja Izquierdo Izquierdo, John Urresti, Raul Ibanez

 

Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBbWifVVqBk

Special Birthdays

Wolf Ackva [voice actor] would have been 115 today but died in 2000.

Gene Kauer (composer) would have been 105 today but died in 1983.

Nello Appodia (actor) would have been 100 today but died in 2004.

Bruno Mattei (director) would have been 95 today but died in 2007.

Gian (Gian Fabio Bosco) (actor) would have been 90 today but died in 2010.

Dragomir Stanojevic (actress) would have been 85 today but died in 2017.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Ely Draco

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Ely Draco is an alias used by Italian actress Ely Drago. Either the name Draco was a misspelling in the credits, or an actual alias is unknown.

Ely appeared in only five films between 1959 and 1965. She’s best remembered for playing Jocasta in “Ercole al centro della terrra” (1961, directed by Mario Bava and starring Christopher Lee, Leonora Ruffo and Marisa Belli, and as Gina in “Eccellenza si fermo a mangiare” (1961) directed by Mario Mattoli.

Other than that, I can find no biographical information on her.

As Ely Draco she appeared in one Spaghetti western, “Que viva Carrancho!” (The Man from Canyon City) as Rosario in 1965.

DRACO, Ely (aka Ely Dracò) (Ely Drago) [Italian] – film actress.

The Man from Canyon City – 1965 (Rosario)

 

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Cecil M. Hepworth

Cecil M. Hepworth is a British film director, producer, and pioneer known for his foundational contributions to the British film industry during the silent era, including the establishment of one of the country's earliest film studios and innovations in narrative storytelling and film technique.

Born on March 19, 1874, in Lambeth, London, the son of a celebrated magic lantern showman, Hepworth entered the film industry in 1899 after assisting early cinematographers and authoring the first British book on the subject, Animated Photography, The ABC of the Cinematograph (1897). He converted a house in Walton-on-Thames into a studio that same year, where he and his company—initially Hepworth and Co, later the Hepworth Manufacturing Company and Hepworth Picture Plays—produced a wide range of films, from scenic actualities and trick shorts to more developed narratives. His early works included innovative comic shorts such as “How It Feels to Be Run Over” (1900) and “Explosion of a Motor Car” (1900), which demonstrated early special effects and editing.

Hepworth's most notable achievements include “Alice in Wonderland” (1903), the first screen adaptation of Lewis Carroll's story, and “Rescued by Rover” (1905), a major success that popularized continuous narrative editing, camera movement, and the use of animal performers in British cinema. He developed a distinctive pictorial style emphasizing scenic beauty, long takes, and frontal staging, while nurturing stars like Alma Taylor and producing adaptations such as “Oliver Twist” (1912) and “Hamlet” (1913). His company thrived for decades but collapsed in 1924 due to financial over-expansion, leading to the loss of most original negatives.

After the bankruptcy, Hepworth toured with lectures on the origins of cinema and published his autobiography, Came the Dawn, in 1951. He died on February 9, 1953 in Greenford, Middlesex, a month shy of turning 80. having outlasted many of his contemporaries among British film pioneers despite his adherence to a traditional aesthetic that became outdated in the face of Hollywood's narrative advances.

HEPWORTH, Cecil M. (aka Cecil Hepworth) (Cecil Milton Hepworth) [3/19/1873, Lewisham, London, England, U.K. – 2/9/1953, Greenford, Middlesex, England, U.K.] – producer, director, cinematographer, actor, married to writer, actress Mrs. Hepworth (Margaret Hope McGuffie) [1874–1917] (1902-1917) father of actress Barbara Hepworth (Elizabeth Barbara Hepworth)  [1904-1997], Blanche Margaret Hepworth [1907-19??], Thomas Andrew Hepworth [1910-19??], married to singer Olive Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Walter [1903-1972] (1929-1953) father of Valerie Hepworth [1932-2009], co-founded Hepwix Pictures [1899], founded Hepworth Film Mfg. Co. later known as Hepworth Picture Plays.

The Indian Chief and the Seidlitz Powder - 1901

Spaghetti Western Screenwriters ~ Alberto Damiani

Alberto Damiani is was an Italian screenwriter and script supervisor of which little is known. He worked as script advisor on nine films between 1977 and 1992 and as a screenwriter on five films between 1964 and 1999.

He’s the brother of director Amasi Damiani aand they worked together on several films.

Alberto Damiani wrote the screenplay for one Spaghetti western, “Una forca per un Bastardo” (A Rope for a Bastard) in 1967 and a western that was never released called “I Fantasmi di Omah-Ri” (The Giant’s Nail, the Legend of Phantom City) with his brother Amasi Damiani in 1971 which was to star Richard Harrison.

DAMIANI, Alberto [Italian] – writer, brother of director, writer Amasi Damiani [1927-2023].

A Rope for a Bastard - 1967

I Fantasmi di Omah-Ri – 1971 (co) [film was never released]

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Luciano Marzetti

Luciano Marzetti is/was an Italian cinematographer, cameraman, film editor and Special Effects artist. He worked as a cinematographer on fourteen films between 1960 and 1995, was an SFX artist on two films in 1965 and 1968 and was a cameraman on one film in 1992.

I can find no biographical information on him.

Luciano worked as a cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: The Italian television animated western series ‘Unca Dunca’ from 1961-1970 and the animated film “West and Soda” with Roberto Scarpa in 1964.

MARZETTI, Luciano [Italian] – cinematographer, cameraman, film editor, SFX.

Unca Dunca (TV) – 1961-1970

West and Soda – 1964 (co)

John Sayles Returns to Directing with Western ‘I Passed This Way,’ Filming in Spain in Fall 2026.

 

Production List

June 19, 2026

 

One of American independent cinema’s most distinctive voices is stepping behind the camera again, John Sayles, the writer-director who work on films like Lone Star, Matewan, and Passion Fish helped define a generation of American independent storytelling is set to direct I Passed This Way, a period Western adapted from Eugene Manlove Rhodes’ 1927 novella Paso Por Aqui. Principal photography is scheduled to begin October 1, 2026, giving department heads, crew and location professionals well over a year to position themselves for what promises to be one of the more creatively ambitious independent productions of that year. The project is currently in pre- production, and with its Cannes Film Market introduction already underway, the timeline to key hiring decisions is accelerating.