From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Buff Douthitt

[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.]

Buff Douthitt was born Audrey Elgin Douthitt and was a member of the Rodeo Hall of Fame and character actor who was born in Hagerman, New Mexico on October 29, 1924. Buff became a steer roper and trick roper at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in the 1940s and even appeared on the front of a Wheaties box. Buff was the inventor of the first horse-house trailerand manufactured them commercially. He also manufactured horse trailers, motor homes and relocatable houses for foreign markets. Buff moved to New Mexico and found his way into movie as an actor. Buff also began team roping and won the New Mexico State Championships in 1996 at the age of 74.

Buff died in Santa Fe, New Mexico on September 4, 2016 at the age of 91.

Buff Douthitt was in one Euro-western film as mayor in 1991’s “Lucky Luke” and as the mayor the 1990-1991 “Lucky Luke” television series with Terence Hill.

DOUTHITT, Buff (Audrey Elgin Douthitt) [10/29/1924 Hagerman, New Mexico, U.S.A. - 9/4/2016, Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.] – rodeo performer, film, TV actor, married to Jamie “Jane” Kirkland [1937-    ] (1957-2016) father of April E. Douthitt [1959-    ], Lisa Douthitt [1960-1960], Jason Kirk Douthitt [1962-2006].

Lucky Luke (TV) – 1990-1991 (mayor)

Lucky Luke – 1991 (mayor)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Monte Hellman

Monte Hellman was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor renowned for his minimalist, existentialist approach to genre filmmaking, particularly in Westerns and road movies that explored themes of futility, isolation, and the American landscape.

Born Monte Jay Himmelbaum in New York City on July 12, 1932, to parents Fred Himmelbaum, a grocer who later became a real estate agent, and Gertrude Edelstein, a department store worker, Hellman grew up primarily in Albany, New York, before his family relocated to Los Angeles when he was six years old. After graduating from Stanford University in 1951 with a degree in speech and drama, he studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and founded a theater company in Los Angeles where he produced Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, an experience that profoundly influenced his later cinematic themes of absurdity and existential despair.

Hellman's film career began in the late 1950s under the mentorship of low-budget producer Roger Corman, for whom he directed his debut feature, the ski resort horror “Beast from Haunted Cave” (1959) and contributed to projects like “The Terror” (1963). He gained prominence in the 1960s through collaborations with emerging actor Jack Nicholson, co-writing and directing the Westerns “Ride in the Whirlwind” (1966) and “The Shooting” (1966), both shot back-to-back in Utah's desert on shoestring budgets, which exemplified his terse, anti-narrative style and focus on obsessive, isolated characters. His most acclaimed work, the existential road movie “Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971), starred singer-songwriter James Taylor and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys alongside Warren Oates and became a cult classic for its stripped-down portrayal of aimless drifting across America's highways, though it struggled commercially upon release.

Throughout his career, Hellman directed other notable films including the gambling drama “Cockfighter” (1974), adapted from Charles Willeford's novel, and the meta-thriller Road to Nowhere (2010), which earned him a Special Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival. He also served as executive producer on Quentin Tarantino's debut “Reservoir Dogs” (1992), bridging his independent roots with emerging talents, and taught filmmaking at the California Institute of the Arts, influencing generations of cinephiles with his emphasis on process over product. Despite critical praise, Hellman's output was sporadic due to Hollywood's challenges for independent filmmakers, yet his work remains a cornerstone of American New Wave cinema, blending European arthouse sensibilities with genre conventions. Hellman died in Rancho Mirage, California on April 20, 2021, at the age of 88 following a fall, survived by his two children, Jared and Melissa, and brother Herb.

Monte Hellman directed one Spaghetti western, “Amore, piombo e furore” (China 9, Liberty 37) in 1978. Hellman was hired by the ABC network to film a prologue to “A Fistful of Dollars” when it premiered on American television in 1977. This sequence was added to provide a moral justification for Clint Eastwood’s seemingly antiheroic actions.

HELLMAN, Monte (aka M. Hellman) (Monte Jay Himmelbaum) [7/12/1932, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.A. – 4/20/2021, Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.A. (fall)] – producer, director, assistant director, writer, film editor, actor, married to actress Barboura Morris (Barboura May Morris) [1932-1975] (1954-1958), actress Jaclyn Hellman (Jaclyn Ebeier) [1938-1992] (1962-1972) father of Melissa Hellman [1963-    ], Jared Hellman [1966-    ], married to producer, director, writer, actress Emma R. Webster [1967-    ] (1992-2002).

A Fistful of Dollars – 1977 [TV prologue]

China 9, Liberty 37 – 1978

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Joe D’Amato

Joe D’Amato was one of many aliases used by Aristide Massaccesi who was born on December 15, 1936. He was an Italian film director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter who worked in many genres (westerns, decamerotici, peplum, war films, swashbuckler, comedy, fantasy, postapocalyptic film, and erotic thriller) but is best known for his horror, erotic and adult films.

D'Amato worked in the 1950s as electric and set photographer, in the 1960s as camera operator, and from 1969 onwards as cinematographer. Starting in 1972, he directed and co-directed around 200 films under numerous pseudonyms, regularly acting as cinematographer as well, starting in the early 1980s, D'Amato produced many of his own and other directors' genre films through the companies he founded or co-founded, the best-known being Filmirage. From 1979 to 1982 and from 1993 to 1999, D'Amato also produced and directed about 120 adult films.

Aristide Massaccesi died from a heart attack 62 in Rome on January 23, 1999, at the age of

Joe D’Amato co-wrote one screenplay for a Spaghetti western, “Un bounty killer a Trinità” (A Bounty Killer for Trinity) with Romano Scandariato in 1972.

D’AMATO, Joe (aka  Joe D' Amato, Donna Aubert, Steven Benson, Anna Bergman, John Bird, Enrico Biribicchi, Jim Black, Alexander Boroscky, Alexandre Borsky, Bernard Brel, James Burke, Jim Burke, David Carson, Lynn Clark, O.J. Clarke, Oliver J. Clarke, Hugo Clevers, Joe De Mato, Joe d'Amato, Raf De Palma, Rad de Palma, Michael Di Caprio, Dario Donati, Robert Duke, Oscar Faradine, Dirk Frey, Romano Gastaldi, John Gelardi, Robert Hall, Richard Haller, David Hills, Igor Horwess, George Hudson, Fred Sloniscko Jr, John Larson, Kevin Mancuso, A. Massaccesi, Aristice Massaccesi, Aristide Massaccessi, Aristede Massacesi, Aristide Massacesi, Arizona Massachuset, Ariston Massachusetts, Andrea Massai, J. Metheus, Peter Newton, Una Pierre, Robert Price-Jones, Zak Roberts, Joan Russel, Joan Russell, Tom Salima, John Shadow, Fred Sloniscko Jr., Federico Slonisco, Frederick Slonisco, Fédérico Slonisco, Federico Slonisko Jr., Federiko Slonisko Jr., Frederico Slonisko Jr., Dan Slonisko, Federico Slonisko, Federiko Slonisko, Frederico Slonisko, Frederic Slonisko, Frederiko Slonisko, Fred Slonisko, Chana Lee Sun, Chang Lee Sun, Michael Wotruba, Robert Yip, Joe d'Amato, Raf de Palma) (Aristide Massaccesi) [12/15/1936, Rome, Lazio, Italy – 1/23/1999, Rome, Lazio, Italy (heart attack)] – producer, director, assistant director, writer, cinematographer, cameraman, film editor, actor, married to Carmela Massaccesi (19??–1999) father of assistant director, cinematographer, cameraman Daniele Massaccesi, Francesca Massaccesi, founded Filmirage Productions.

A Bounty Killer for Trinity – 1972 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematography ~ Otello Martelli

Otello Martelli'' was an Italian cinematographer known for his masterful black-and-white photography that helped define the visual style of post-war Italian cinema, particularly through his collaborations with directors Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini.

Born in Rome on May 19, 1902, Martelli entered the film industry at age 14 as an assistant cameraman during the silent era, later working on newsreels for the state company before becoming a leading director of photography on feature films. He contributed to landmark neorealist works such as Rossellini's Paisà and Stromboli, as well as Giuseppe De Santis's Bitter Rice. Martelli developed a long-term partnership with Fellini, serving as cinematographer on seven of his films, including “I Vitelloni”, “La Strada”, and “La Dolce Vita”, which showcased his ability to capture both gritty realism and poetic imagery.

Regarded as one of Italy's last great masters of black-and-white cinematography, Martelli's technical expertise and artistic vision influenced generations in the industry. He died on February 20, 2000, in Rome at the age of 97.

Otello Martelli was a cinematographer on one Spaghetti western, “Tre ragazzi d’oro” (Death Walks in Laredo) in 1966.

MARTELLI, Otello (aka O. Martelli) [5/19/1902, Rome, Lazio, Italy – 2/20/2000, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – cinematographer, cameraman.

Death Walks in Laredo - 1966

Spaghetti Western Locations for “Companeros”.

We continue our hunt for filming locations for “Companeros”. After the Penguin is rescued from his “squashing of the head” by General Mongo the two men have a conversation about the revolution where Mongo admits he wants to make a fortune from it but needs the Swede’s help to accomplish it. The Swede agrees but asks why he was asked to come to San Bernardino with a box car of guns and ammunition. He asks why Mongo hasn’t stolen the statue but is told it is the patron saint and sacred to everyone. Mongo works out a deal with Yodlof that they will steal the treasure and he will give the Swede one third. The Mongo will disappear with the guns and ammunition, suddenly gunfire erupts and Mongo runs to see what is happening while Yodlof calmly follows.

This scene was filmed on a soundstage in Madrid.

 

For a more detailed view of this site and other Spaghetti Western locations please visit my friend Yoshi Yasuda’s location site: http://y-yasuda.net/film-location.htm and Captain Douglas Film Locations http://www.western-locations-spain.com/

Special Birthdays

George Bernard Shaw (actor) would have been 170 today but died in 1950.

National Day of the Cowboy 2026

 

From the WAI! vault