Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Enrique Diosdado

[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.]

Enrique Diosdado is a Spanish actor and theatre director known for his distinguished career in stage and screen, particularly as a leading man in Spanish and Argentine productions during the 1940s and 1950s. He achieved prominence through dramatic roles in both theatre and film, earning acclaim for his interpretations of classical works and his contributions to Spanish performing arts.

Born on May 6, 1910, in Madrid, Diosdado began his professional life as a theatre reporter before debuting as an actor at age 18 and rising to leading man status in 1935 with the prestigious company of Margarita Xirgu. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 caught him on tour in South America, leading to exile in Argentina where he continued his career in theatre and cinema for over a decade. Upon returning to Spain in 1950, he joined the María Guerrero theatre company and later established his own ensemble with his second wife, actress Amelia de la Torre, directing and performing in a diverse repertoire that included modern plays and classics by Federico García Lorca. His screen work featured notable appearances in films such as “Madame Bovary” (1947), “Fedra, the Devil's Daughter” (1956), “Alexander the Great” (1956), and “Viento del norte” (1954), for which he received awards at festivals including San Sebastián.

Diosdado retired in 1978 following health complications and died on December 1, 1983, in Madrid. He is also remembered as the father of Ana Diosdado, a prominent Spanish playwright and actress.

Enrique Diosdado appeared in one Spaghetti western, “Il segno di Zorro” (The Sign of Zorro) as the governor in 1962.

DIOSDADO, Enrique (aka Enrique A. Diosdado, Enrique Alvarez Diosdado) (Enrique Álvarez Diosdado) [5/6/1910, Madrid, Madrid, Spain – 12/1/1983, Madrid, Madrid, Spain] – theater, film, TV actor, married to Isabel Gisbert (1937-1949) father of actress, writer, playwright, actress Ana Isabel Diosdado (Ana Isabel Álvarez-Diosdado Gisbert) [1938-2015], married to actress Amelia de la Torre (Amelia Torre de la Fuente) [1905-1987] (1943-1984).

The Sign of Zorro – 1962 (Governor)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Joe Evans

Joseph Evans was a British producer, director, writer and actor. The brother of Fred Evans he worked with his brother and together the founded Folly Films in 1912. Joe wrote screenplays for two-hundred-four films, acted in eighty-three and directed two-hundred-twelve.

Joe Evans born in London in 1891. He began as an English music hall comedian. Scripted, directed and starred in many silent short films including “Joey” and “The Terrible Twins” comedy series often starring opposite his wife actress Geraldine Maxwell as well as co-directing and playing second lead in those of his brother's movies, Fred 'Pimple' Evans in hundreds of Pimple comedies at the Piccadilly Film Company between 1913-20. he was last seen in an interview on BBC T.V. in the mid 1960's. He was the nephew of Music Hall Star Will Evans.

Joe Evans directed and co-directed six Silent Euro-westerns: “The Adventures of Pimple: The Indian Massacre” with Fred Evans in 1913, “Big Chief Little Pimple” with Fred Evans. “Broncho Pimple” with Fred Evans, “Lieutenant Pimple Goes to Mexico” with Fred Evans and “The Passing of Black Pete” all in 1914 and “Ragtime Cowboy Pimple” with Fred Evans in 1915.

EVANS, Joe (Joseph Evans) [1891, London, England, U.K. – 1967, England, U.K.] – producer, director, writer, actor, grandson of clown Fred Evans, nephew of director, writer, actor Will Evans (William Edward Evans) [1873–1931], brother of producer, director, writer, puppeteer, circus performer, actor Fred Evans (Alfred J. Evans) [1889-1951], married to actress Gerladine Maxwell, co-founded Folly Films [1912].

The Adventures of Pimple: The Indian Massacre – 1913 (co)

Big Chief Little Pimple – 1914 (co)

Broncho Pimple – 1914 (co)

Lieutenant Pimple Goes to Mexico – 1914 (co)

The Passing of Black Pete - 1914

Ragtime Cowboy Pimple – 1915 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Richard Carr

Richard Carr is an American television writer and producer known for his contributions to popular action, adventure, and drama series from the 1950s through the 1980s. He was botrn in Cambridge, Ohio on February 24, 1929. His career spanned numerous influential shows, where he crafted teleplays, stories, and served in key creative roles such as story editor and consultant.

Carr gained particular recognition for his extensive involvement with ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’, contributing teleplays and stories to multiple episodes while acting as story editor for a significant portion of the series. He also wrote for ‘Charlie's Angels’, ‘Wonder Woman’, ‘The Waltons’, ‘Johnny Staccato’, and ‘Richard Diamond, Private Detective’, among others, often specializing in high-concept action and western-influenced narratives. Earlier in his career, he wrote the screenplay for the 1956 film “Man from Del Rio” and later worked on television movies such as ‘Sizzle’ and ‘Casino’. His work helped shape several long-running series during the peak of episodic television production in the United States.

Carr died in Escondido, California on June 13, 1988, at the age of 59.

Richard Carr co-wrote one Spaghetti western, “Il magnifico straniero” (The Magnificent Stranger) with David Lang in 1966.

CARR, Richard [2/24/1929, Cambridge, Ohio, U.S.A. – 6/13/1988, Escondido, California, U.S.A.] – producer, writer.

The Magnificent Stranger – 1966 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Otto Hanisch

Otto Hanisch is a German cinematographer and screenwriter known for his extensive work with the DEFA film studio in East Germany.

Born in Berlin on January 11, 1927, Hanisch contributed to numerous East German films and television productions from the late 1950s onward, beginning with his first feature film credit on “Der Prozess wird vertagt” in 1958. His credits include director of photography roles on feature films such as “Gejagt bis zum Morgen”, “Chingachgook: The Great Snake”, “Woman Doctors”, “The Scout”, and “Sonja's Report”, as well as episodes of the long-running series ‘Polizeiruf 110’. Hanisch's career spanned several decades in the German Democratic Republic's film industry, where he helped shape the visual storytelling of many notable productions during the GDR era.

Hanisch died in Berlin, Germany on December 13, 2021. He was 94.

Otto Hanisch was a cinematographer on four Euro-westerns: “Chingachgook, die große Schlange” (Chingachgook: The Great Snake) and “Spur des Falken” (The Falcon’s Trail) both in 1967, “Blauvogel” (Blue Bird) in 1979 and “Der Scout” with Geserdshawijn Masch in 1982.

HANISCH, Otto [1/11/1927, Berlin, Berlin, Germany – 12/13/2021, Berlin, Berlin, Germany] – writer, cinematographer, cameraman.

Chingachgook: The Great Snake – 1967

The Falcon’s Trail - 1967

Blue Bird – 1979

The Scout – 1982 (co)

 

Hungary’s Bud Spencer Worship is Deep Rooted and Still Full of Beans

 Budapest Business Journal

April 10, 2026

Wandering through our local supermarket, I couldn’t help but smile and be more than a little curious when I spotted a selection of cans of Bud Spencer Beans. There were only three or four, suggesting either that the supermarket had been cautious in its order or the beans had been snapped up by Hungarian fans of the man who became an unlikely film star and an even more surprising cult figure in Hungary. I hoped it was the latter.

Google’s dratted AI instant answers, which I have not yet learned how to switch off, tells me that Hungary’s Spencer worship is a manifestation of a love that “stems from his plebeian appeal and the exotic settings of his films, which offered a rare glimpse of life outside communist-controlled societies during a time of restricted travel.”

Additional Googling revealed that Hungarians warmed to Bud because of his ability to laugh in the face of all-pervading criminality and the fact that he was a pro water polo star. Hungarians love water polo and are extremely good at it; it enjoys a popularity here that far exceeds anything I have witnessed in other countries.

According to Dénes Kemény, who coached the Hungarian men’s national water polo team to a hat trick of Olympic gold medals between 2000 and 2008, quoted on the “Time” magazine website, it’s because of the enormous number of thermal springs in this country.

When the sport, which began in Great Britain in the late 19th century, arrived here, players were able to train in the warm water for longer than in other countries.

Improved Fundamentals

“If you can stay in the pool to practice when the water is 80, 85 degrees, your fundamentals, movements, and coordination will improve a lot. We had this advantage over countries who could play in sea, lake, or riverside only four, five months a year,” Kemény explained.

Fittingly, Spencer played his last professional water polo game against Hungary in 1967. In that same year, the big bear, born in Naples in 1929 as Carlo Pedersoli, was spotted by Italian film director Giuseppe Colizzi and offered a role in Spaghetti Western movie “God Forgives.… I Don’t!”

The movie, which U.S. showbiz bible “Variety” described as “long on action, short on storyline,” paired Pedersoli with an actor named Mario Girotti for the first time. Carlo was renamed “Bud,” after Budweiser beer, and “Spencer” after tough guy American actor Spencer Tracy. Girotti was given a list of 20 names and 24-hours in which to find his new identity and went for Terence Hill because he liked it the most and it reminded him of his mother’s initials.

The pair would make 18 more movies together, with Spencer playing, as a German magazine wrote in an obituary for him, a “phlegmatic, grumpy strong-arm man with a blessed, naive child’s laughter and a golden heart.” Hill would become a successful television director as well as an actor.

Feeling a bit like a student who’d cheated on an assignment by getting AI to write it, I did some good old-fashioned journalistic legwork and asked my Hungarian wife why the Spencer cult came about. She simply says, “He looks Hungarian.”

Bud in Pest

Indeed, the statue of Bud unveiled in 2017 at Corvin Sétány in District VIII makes him look exceedingly Hungarian, remarkably like a friend of mine named László, if László had trimmed his beard. The inscription on the statue is a quote from the eulogy given to Spencer by his buddy Hill: “Mi sohasem veszekedtünk” (“We never argued”).

The marketing character created by the iconic Hungarian brand Trapper Jeans when it launched in 1978 bears a marked resemblance to Bud Spencer, but was based on Hungarian actor Mihály Kocsis, sometimes called Trapper Misi.

There was a summer Bud Spencer & Terence Hill film festival from 2007 to at least 2017 on the shores of Lake Velence. Not surprisingly, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill movies were a staple of the festival, along with beans. Given that their movies are uniformly awful, you’d have to be a serious fan to give up a weekend of your life.

“Bud Power,” is the trademarked name for the range of canned beans launched by Spencer’s enterprising grandsons Alessandro and Carlo Pedersoli Jr., who followed in his grandpa’s sporting strongman footsteps by becoming a mixed martial arts fighter. The menu of the Bud Power website also lists a Bud Power beer, but the page is “404 not found.”

Perhaps the Spencer boys ran into problems from notoriously litigious U.S. American beer giant Budweiser, which has been battling the Czech Budweiser Budvar brewery since 1907. To date, there have been more than 100 court cases around the world concerning the battle for market dominance between the two. Currently, Budweiser Budvar has the right to the name “Budweiser” in Europe, while the U.S. company goes under the name “Bud.” In the States, Czech Budweiser is “Czechvar,” which hardly rolls off the tongue and down the gullet.

But I digress. The beans come in three varieties: Original, Tex-Mex and BBQ Sauce. Original is “Authentic, Italian.” With Tex-Mex, “the legend just got spicy.” BBQ Sauce is “perfect for any grill or campfire feast.” Reading that, I couldn’t help but remember the legendary farting scene from Mel Brooks’ 1974 comic masterpiece “Blazing Saddles,” which satirized precisely the kind of movies Spencer and Hill made.

Somewhat oddly, each variety has precisely 1,250 reviews from Spencer fans. Valerio M. loves them, writing cryptically of the Original variety, “And we all know, even angels eat beans. Especially since Bud Spencer taught them.”

I must confess, I’ve yet to try the beans. But and I say this without any trace of irony, I admire the Bud Power brand’s proud claim to be “the companion of those who face life like Bud Spencer: with their head held high, a smile on their face, and perhaps…. a pan of steaming beans in their hand.”

Special Birthdays

Joe Evans (producer, director, writer, actor) would have been 135 today but died in 1967.

Gianni Santuccio (actor) would have been 115 today but died in 1999.

Fulvia Franco (actress) would have been 95 today but died in 1988.

Hartmut Beer (actor) would have been 85 today but died in 1998.

Katia Christine (actress) is 80 today.

 

Ursula Moore (actress) is 50 today.

 

RIP George Eastman

 

George Eastman died in Italy on May 20th. Born Luigi Montefiori; August 16, 1942, in Genoa he was an Italian actor and screenwriter recognized for his prolific work in B-movies, including spaghetti westerns, horror, and exploitation genres, often portraying towering villains and larger-than-life characters during the 1970s and 1980s. He initially trained as an advertising illustrator, providing artwork for agencies in his hometown before relocating to Rome in 1966 to pursue opportunities in film. Standing at approximately 6 feet 7 inches tall with a distinctive full beard, Eastman's physical stature made him a natural fit for imposing roles, such as the Minotaur in Federico Fellini's “Satyricon” (1969) and the cannibalistic antagonist in Joe D'Amato's “Anthropophagus” (1980). Eastman's screen debut came in the late 1960s amid the boom in Italian genre cinema, where he adopted his stage name—inspired by the American inventor and Kodak founder—to appeal to international audiences. Over his acting career, he appeared in more than 80 films. Eastman appeared in and wrote 20 Spaghetti westerns: Django Shoots First as Jeff Kluster/Custer), “My Name is Pecos” as a Kline/Clain henchman both in 1966, “Django Kills Silently” as Bill/Django, “Django, the Last Killer” as Ramón/Chico, “Poker With Pistols” as Lucas, “Viva Django!” 1967 as Lucas all in 1967, “Belle Starr” as Larry Blake/Blackie, “Hate Your Neighbor” as Gary Stevens all in 1968, “Boot Hill – 1969 as Baby Doll, “The Unholy Four” as Hondo) and writer both in 1970, “The Ballad of Ben and Charlie” as Charlie Logan and writer, “Bastard, Go and Kill” as Chaco, “Vendetta at Dawn” Doctor George Benton/Sabata all in 1971 “The Call of the Wild” as Black Burton in 1972, ) “The Three Musketeers of the West” as Mac Athos/Mercathos in 1973, “Keoma” as a writer and “Red Coat” as a writer both in 1975, “The New Land as a  writer for 197?  TV series that was never made, “The Tiger from the River Kwai” a Sheriff Sam in 1975 and “2020 Texas Gladiators” as director and writer in 1982. He leaves a wife actress, writer Manuela Romano and three children Evilina, Arianna and Tommaso.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Giorgio Dionisio

[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.]

Italian actor Giorgio Dionisio has only one film credit on the IMDb and it’s his only Spaghetti western appearance, “Il figlio di Django” (The Son of Django) as Joe Grayson in 1967.

I can find no biographical information on him.

DIONISIO, Giorgio [Italian] – film actor.

The Son of Django – 1967 (Joe Grayson)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Fred Evans

Frederick William Evans was born in Lambeth, London, England on February 20, 1889. He was a prominent British music hall and silent film comedian, best known for creating and portraying the anarchic character Pimple in over 200 short comedies produced between 1912 and the end of World War I. Born into a family of entertainers, Evans drew from music-hall and circus traditions to develop Pimple as a clownish, rootless chancer who parodied popular films, plays, and historical events through broad burlesque and slapstick gags. His films, often scripted and co-directed by his brother Joe Evans, achieved massive popularity in Britain during the 1910s, with Evans polling as one of the top British film stars in contemporary fan votes, though his career declined sharply after the war amid the rise of Hollywood imports and changing tastes.

Evans' early career included stage performances with his family's Florador Quartette and initial film roles as the mishap-prone "Charlie Smiler" for Cricks and Martin starting in 1910, before he and Joe launched their independent Folly Films company in 1912, setting up a studio on Eel Pie Island. Notable Pimple shorts, such as Pimple's “Battle of Waterloo” (1913), a farcical send-up of epic historical dramas, and the “Lieutenant Pimple” series mocking adventure serials like “Lieut. Daring”, exemplified his style of substituting absurdity for drama with punning intertitles, pantomime props, and relentless physical comedy. Despite enlisting for an army recruitment tour in 1915 and sustaining an injury that led to his discharge, Evans continued producing films until bankruptcy in 1920, after which he returned to the stage, including wartime revues with his family and a later puppet show collaboration with Joe during World War II. His work, preserved only as a handful of films, mostly fragments, in archives like the BFI National Archive, represents a key chapter in early British screen comedy, influencing a wave of topical clowns while highlighting the era's volatile stardom compared to contemporaries like Charlie Chaplin.

Evans died in St. Germans, Cornwall, England on August 31, 1951 at the age of 62.

Fred Evans directed six Silent Euro-westerns: “The Adventures of Pimple: The Indian Massacre” 1913 (co) with Joe Evans and “Broncho Pimple” with Joe Evans, “Lieutenant Pimple Goes to Mexico” with Joe Evansand the “The Passing of Black Pete” all in 1914 and “Ragtime Cowboy Pimple” with Joe Evans in 1915.

For more details check out his biography Pimple's Progress: Fred Evans, Britain's First Film Comedy Star by author Barry Anthony 

EVANS, Fred (Frederick William Evans) [2/10/1889, Lambeth, London, England, U.K. – 8/31/1951, St. Germans, Cornwall, England, U.K.] – producer, director, writer, puppeteer, circus performer, actor, grandson of clown Fred Evans, nephew of director, writer, actor Will Evans (William Edward Evans) [1873–1931], brother of director, writer, actor Joe Evans [1891-1967], married to ? father of two daughters, co-founded Folly Films [1912].

The Adventures of Pimple: The Indian Massacre – 1913 (co)

Big Chief Little Pimple – 1914 (co)

Broncho Pimple – 1914 (co)

Lieutenant Pimple Goes to Mexico – 1914 (co)

The Passing of Black Pete – 1914

Ragtime Cowboy Pimple – 1915 (co)

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Benjamin Carr

Benjamin Carr is an alias for Neal Marshall Stevens. He is an American screenwriter, author, teacher and writer, best known for writing several Hollywood horror films such as “Thirteen Ghosts”.

He began his career on Laurel Entertainment’s series, ‘Monsters’ which aired from 1988 to 1991. He went on to work as Laurel’s Senior Story editor on other projects, including “The Vernon Johns Story”, “Precious Victims” and Stephen King’s “The Stand”. He wrote “Thirteen Ghosts”, a 2001 remake of the 1960 film “13 Ghosts” by William Castle, for Dark Castle Entertainment.

Into the late 2000s and 2010s, much of Stevens' output would veer towards direct-to-video releases. He would write “Puppet Master: Axis Termination”, the twelfth film in the titular series for Full Moon Pictures, and the later sequel “Blade: The Iron Cross” in 2020.

In 2012, Stevens wrote the comic “Havoc Brigade”. In 2022, Stevens published a screenwriting manual, A Sense of Dread: Getting Under the Skin of Horror Screenwriting. The book draws from his extensive film experience and analyzes concepts of fear and how they can be applied in cinema. He also teaches screenwriting at Maharashi International University

Benjamin Carr wrote the screenplay for one Euro-western “Phantom Town” in 1997.

CARR, Benjamin (aka Neal Steven) (Neal Marshall Stevens) [195?, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. -    ] – producer, director, author, writer, married to Judith Ann Stevens father of Zachary N. Stevens

Phantom Town – 1997

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Carles Gusi

Carles Gusi is a Spanish cinematographer known for his atmospheric and often stark visual style in both Spanish and international films.

Gusi has collaborated with prominent Spanish directors on acclaimed projects, including Manuel Huerga on “Salvador” (Puig Antich) (2006), a historical drama, and Guillem Morales on “Julia's Eyes” (2010), a horror thriller.

His filmography also includes other notable Spanish productions such as “The Method” (2005) and “Eva” (2011), showcasing his versatility across genres from drama to science fiction.

Throughout his career, Gusi has been praised for his ability to enhance narrative through lighting and composition, establishing himself as a key figure in contemporary Spanish cinematography.

Carles Gusi was a cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: “Atolladero” in 1994 and “Orson Wes” in 2010.

GUSI, Carles [1953, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain -      ] – cinematographer, cameraman, film editor.

Atolladero - 1994

Orson West – 2010