Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Carlo Duse

[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.]

Carlo Artemio Vittorio Duse was born in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia on January 5, 1898. He was an Italian actor, director, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his extensive work in theater and cinema during the early to mid-20th century.

Born into a family of artists related to the celebrated actress Eleonora Duse, Duse began his career as a young stage performer in prominent Italian theater companies led by directors such as Antonio Gandusio, Dina Galli, and Ermete Zacconi. He also contributed as a playwright, penning works like “Primavera” and “Il dono della notte”. Duse made his film debut in 1918 with “Uragano” and later appeared in “Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei” (1926), directed by Carmine Gallone and Amleto Palermi; he went on to appear in more than 80 films, often portraying villains or complex character roles in the 1930s and 1940s. His screen credits include notable films such as “Scipione l'africano” (1937), “I promessi sposi” (1941), “Giarabub” (1942), “Totò sceicco” (1950), and the Don Camillo series, including “Don Camillo” (1952) and “Don Camillo e l'onorevole Peppone” (1955). In addition to acting, Duse served as a screenwriter and assistant director for projects by filmmakers like Alessandro Blasetti, Guido Brignone, and Giacomo Gentilomo, contributing to the development of Italian cinema during the Fascist era and postwar period. He continued working until his death in Rome on August 8, 1956, at age 58.

Carlo Duse appeared in one Euro-western, “Una signora dell’ovest” (The Girl of the Golden West) as Butler’s employee in 1942.

DUSE, Carlo (aka C. Duse) (Carlo Artemio Vittorio Duse) [1/5/1899, Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy – 8/9/1956, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – director, assistant director, playwright, writer, film actor, grandson of actor Luigi Duse [1792-1954], son of actor Vittorio Duse, brother actor Eugenio Duse [1889-1969], nephews of actor Vincenzo Alessandro Duse, cousin of actress Eleanor Duse (Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse) [1858-1924], married to actress Italia Vitaliani [1866-1938] (191?-1938) father of Erminia Duse, Giorgio Duse.

The Girl of the Golden West – 1942 (Butler’s employee)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Emil Kneiss

The illustrator and caricaturist Emil Kneiss was born on December 3, 1867, in Frankfurt, Germany. After completing his school education, Emil Kneiss completed an apprenticeship as a lithographer and then went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Later he studied at the art academy in Berlin and he contributed illustrations for the publication "Berliner Wespen".

He was active working for the magazine "Jugend" from 1896 to 1897 and realized around 20 drawings. In 1899 he was appointed artistic director of the lithographic institute Schneller in Nuremberg but gave up the position in 1902 when he returned to Munich. In the studio he founded there, he produced numerous advertising drawings, posters and postcards as a graphic artist. With the outbreak of the First World War, illustrated postcards experienced a great boom and Emil Kneiss created numerous motifs that quickly became popular.

When he was commissioned in 1917 to make an animated film that was shown to students as a

teaching aid on the subject of "obstetrics", he took a liking to this new profession, and he drew several humorous animated films such as the "Texas Jack" series of films in the following years.

In 1921 he founded Minverva Film GmbH, which concentrated on the production of animated and educational films.

In the years of the 2nd World War, he successfully continued his career as a caricaturist and heralded his last work-intensive period as a draughtsman. After the war, Kneiss increasingly showed problems with his eyesight, and he realized only a few illustrations.

Kneiss died on March 22, 1956, at the age of 88 in Munich, Germany.

Emil Kneiss directed on silent Euro western, “Texas Jack zähmt ein wildes Pferd” (Texas Jack Tames a Wild Horse) in 1922

KNEISS, Emil (Emil Kneiß) [12/3/1867, Frankfurt, Main, Germany – 3/22/1956, Munich, Bavaria, Germany] – director, son of actor, singer Ludwig Kneiß [1830-1900], founded Minverva Film GmbH [1921].

Texas Jack – 1922 [series titles “Der Todessattel” (Texas Jack – The Deathly Hallows), “Firestarter”. “Texas Jacks Todesritt” (Texas Jacks Deadline), “Die Todesfarm”]

 

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Arpad de Riso

Arpad DeRiso was a Hungarian-born Italian screenwriter known for his contributions to low-budget Italian genre cinema during the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in the peplum (sword-and-sandal), spaghetti western, and giallo genres.

Born on December 13, 1909, in Budapest, Hungary, DeRiso worked extensively in the Italian film industry and resided in Rome, where he died in 1983. His screenwriting career focused on popular exploitation and adventure films, often produced quickly for international markets, and he frequently received credit under variant spellings such as Arpad De Riso or De Riso Arpad.  Among his notable works are “La strada dei giganti” (1960), “Maciste contro i mostri” (1962), “Death Carries a Cane” (1973), and “Death Steps in the Dark” (1977).

Arpad de Riso wrote and co-wrote ten Spaghetti westerns: “Sansone e il Tesoro degli Incas” (Lost Treasure of the Aztecs) with Piero Pierotti in 1964, “Uccidete Johnny Ringo” (Kill Johnny Ringo) with Nino Scolaro in 1965, “Il magnifico Texano” (The Magnficent Texan) with Luigi Capuano and Manuel Martínez Remís in 1967, “Garrringo” with Joaquin Luis Romero Marchent and Nino Scolaro in 1969, “In nome del padre, del figlio e della Colt” (In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Colt) with Mario Gariazzo, Eduardo M. Brochero and “I senza Dio” (Thunder Over El Paso) with Antonio Fos and Maurizio Pradeaux both in 1971, “Küçük Kovboy” (Cowboy Kid) with Guido Zurli, Gianfranco Pisano, Fuat Özlüer and Erdogan Tünas, “La colt era il suo Dio” (God is My Colt .45) with Luigi Batzella, “Storia di karatè, pugni e fagioli” (Karate, Fists and Beans) with Giovanni Scolaro and “Il figlio di Zorro” (The Son of Zorro) with Guido Zurli and Gianfranco Baldanello both in 1973

de RISO, Arpad (aka A. De Riso, Arpad De Riso, Robert Keaton) (Arpad DeRiso) [12/13/1909, Budapest, Hungary – 1983, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – writer, brother of actress Giulietta De Riso [1896-1988].

Lost Treasure of the Aztecs – 1964 (co)

Kill Johnny Ringo 1965 (co)

The Magnificent Texan – 1967 (co) [as Robert Keaton]

Garringo – 1969 (co)

Soltanto il diritto di morire – 19?? (co) [film was never made]

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Colt – 1971 (co)

Thunder Over El Paso – 1971 (co)

Cowboy Kid – 1972 (co)

God is My Colt .45 – 1972 (co)

Karate, Fists and Beans – 1973 (co)

The Son of Zorro – 1973 (co)

Soltanto il diritto di morire – 19?? (co) [film was never made]

Spaghetti, western e karate – 19?? (co) [film was never made]

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Enrique Novials

Enrique Novials was born in Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Spain on July 13, 2002, and graduated in Humanities from the UOC (Barcelona 2014) and Film Production and Direction (San Sebastián, SGAE 2009) with Pablo Malo. He started as an actor at the Globe Theater in Zaragoza and he moved to Tarragona where he worked as an actor at Universal Studios Port-Aventura. He began directing amateur theater groups and directing / producing short films selected at various national and international festivals. His stories always have always a personal and poetic thread. Enrique is member of the PNR platform that brings together new talents from independent Spanish cinema and the Aragonese Film Academy.

Enrique Novials was a cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: “The Searcher” in 2024 and “The Bounty Hunter” in 2025.

NOVIALS, Enrique [7/13/2002, Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Spain - ] – director, writer, cinematographer, actor.

The Searcher – 2024

The Bounty Hunter - 2025

Joe Namath Has Part in Civil War Movie [archived newspaper article]

 

The Naples Daily News

8/20/1971

     Two former football stars who have made something of a success on the screen now contribute to the success of a third, in the same medium. The comparative newcomer is Joe Namath, and the film is Columbia Pictures’ “The Last Rebel.” Helping Namath are Woody Strode, formerly of UCLA, the Los Angeles Rams and the Calgary Stampeders, and Ty Hardin, formerly of a Texas A&M team that was rated second in the nation.

     Also starred in “The Last Rebel” are Jack Elam and Victoria George.

     “The Last Rebel” is the story of two Confederate soldiers, at loose ends just as the Civil War is ending. They save a black Union solider from a lynch mob, and the three wind up in a small Western town among whose more important citizens are a tough sheriff and the belle of the local bordello.

     Namath and Elam play the men in gray, Strode is the man they rescue and with whom they team up. Hardin appears as the sheriff and Miss George, the brothel beauty.

     Victoria George, who plays a frontier madame in the post-Civil War west, in “The Last Rebel,” was born in New York City of a Russian mother and Sicilian father. She considers Los Angeles her home although for two years she has lived in a nine-room flat in Rome with her two children, two cats, two turtles and a school of fish.

     Vicky began her career as a model on the West Coast. Her first modeling job was for a California Gas Company billboard which announced “Smart Women Cook With Gas!,” a statement Vicky had difficulty believing because she feels that truly smart women don’t cook. She subsequently did TV commercials.

     Her first film role was in Howard Hawk’s “El Dorado.” This led to other film and TV work in “Twelve O’Clock High,” “Green Hornet,” “Lost in Space,” “Tim Tunnel,” “Star Trek,” “Run for Your Life,” “The F.B.I.” and a number of romantic comedy series.

     Working with Joe Namath, Vicky was surprised that his on-camera blushes during the love scenes were real. After all, she had heard of Joe’s reputation. About Joe, Vicky said: “He’s a nice guy. He’s got sex appeal though he’s not beautiful, God knows, but it’s all there. And he looks great in “The Last Rebel.”

     Joe Namath the football player who became known to millions as “Broadway Joe,” played a cameo role in “Norwood,” and then starred with Ann-Margaret in “C.C. and Co.,” for which he had to learn to ride a motorcycle. For “The Last Rebel,” Namath had to learn how to ride a horset and how to handle a gun, two invaluable requirements for anyone tackling a Western-action role. Ex-football players Woody Strode and Ty Hardin helped Namath.

     All-American for two years straight when he played for the University of Alabama, Namath was signed by the New York Jets on a then unprecedented $400,000 contract and led them to the American League championship and a brilliant upset victory over the Baltimore Colts in a Super Bowl game, New Year’s Day 1969. A bachelor, Namath acquired his “Broadway Joe” nickname, and a considerable amount of publicity, by his unabashed interest in tall, swinging ladies.

     Jack Elam, veteran screen and television character actor who plays Namath’s Confederate Army buddy, came into motion pictures by way of the business office. A CPA who ultimately wound up a auditor of the Samuel Goldwyn Studios and business manager for Hopalong Cassidy Pictures, Elam turned actor in 1949. Among his 120-odd films have been “Rawhide,” “Kansas City Confidential,” “Rio Lobo,” “Dirty Dingus Magee,” “The Wild Country” and “The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County.” On television, he was the sheriff in “Temple Houston,” and a regular “The Dakotas.”

     Woody Strode, who starred as end at UCLA with Kenny Washington and Jackie Robinson and his teammates, later played for the Los Angeles Rams and the Calgary Stampeders. From there he moved into professional wrestling became a Hollywood stuntman, and finally, an actor. Among his films have been “Por Chop Hill,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Spartacus,” “The Sins of Rachel Cade,” “Sergeant Rutledge,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “Two Rode Together,” “Shalako” and “Che.” He was one of “The Professionals,” along with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and Robert Ryan, and he played the role of Jesus Christ in Valerie Zurlini’s “Seated at His Right Hand.”

[THE LAST REBEL – Victoria George, above, has a part with Joe Namath, Woody Strode, Ty Hardin and Jack Elam in “The Last Rebel.” The movie is set just as the Civil War is ending.]

Special Birthdays

Billy Dean (actor) would have been 105 today but died in 2000.

Donato Castellaneta would have been 95 today but died in 2014.

Ico Cerutti (singer) would have been 90 today but died in 1999.

Jeremy Kaplan (actor) is 65 today.

Gianluca Petrazzi (actor) would have been 60 today but died in 2017.

RIP Francesc Garrido

 

Theatre, television and film actor Francesc Garrido, who participated in films such as “Mar adentro y este año” (The Sea Inside) and this year in “El anfitrión” (The Host), starring Willem Dafoe, has died in Spain at the age of 56 due to a heart attack, sources in the film sector told EFE on Monday. Born in Barcelona on September 7, 1969, Francesc Garrido had made his debut in the theater in 1990 with the play “Alfons Quart”, on television he began his career in the TV3 series ‘Estació d'enllaç’ in 1996 and, in the cinema, he appeared in 1999 in the film “La ciudad de los prodigios”. In the cinema he participated in some thirty films including 'Te doy mis ojos', 'Smoking Room', by Roger Gual and Julio D. Wallovits, with which he won the Silver Biznaga at the Malaga Festival. Garrido appeared as Riko in 2015’s Euro-western “Twice Upon a Time in the West” starring Claudia Cardinale.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Oktar Durukan

[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.]

Oktar Durukan was born in Istanbul, Turkey on October 6, 1938. He appeared in around two hundred and fifty films and television shows between 1950 and 2004. He was also an assistant director on the 1975 Turkish film “Halime'nin Kizlari”.

Durukan graduated from Haydar Pasha High School. He started acting in 1958 with the movie “O Günden Sonra”, then “Yak Bir Sigara” (1960), “10 Korkusuz Adam” (1964), “The Sinless” (1968), “The Owner of My Heart” (1969), “Bloody Mill” (1972), “The Last Duel” (1972), “Tosun Pasha” (1976), “Töre” (1978), “The Unfortunate People” (1987), “Love Birds” (1994) and “Bulutlari Beklerken” (2004). After taking the lead roles for a while, he then played character roles. In the following years, he appeared in newspapers and magazine photo-novels and later in television films and series. Durukan passed away in Istanbul in 2007.

He married and separated from Erden Ener, the singer and actress who was the daughter of actor Mümtaz Ener. Contrary to popular belief, he is not related to Magnificent Durukan.

Durukan passed away in Istanbul in 2007 a month before turning 69.

Oktar Durukan appeared in one Euro-western, “Küçük Kovboy” (Cowboy Kid) in 1972 and six Turkish westerns: “Cango: Korkusuz Adam” and “Kanunsuz kahraman - Ringo Kid” both in 1967” Vahsetin Esirleri” in 1971 and “Çilginlar Ordusu”, “Kara Bomba” and “Son Düello” all in 1972.

DURUKAN, Oktar (aka Oktay Durukan) [10/6/1938, Istanbul, Turkey – 9/20/2007, Istanbul, Turkey] – film, TV actor, married to singer, actress Erden Ener [1936-    ] (1986-????).

Cango: Korkusuz Adam – 1967

Kanunsuz kahraman - Ringo Kid - 1967

Vahsetin Esirleri – 1971

Çilginlar Ordusu - 1972

Cowboy Kid – 1972

Kara Bomba - 1972

Son Düello - 1972

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

 Spaghetti Western Director ~ Jozef Klyk

Józef Kłyk was born in Bojszowy near Pszczyna on April 13, 1950. He is a Silesian amateur filmmaker, author of over 80 films on, among others, western and historical. On the set, he performs all possible functions, from the director, through the makeup artist, actor and set designer, to the camera operator and producer. Józef Kłyk not only films the Wild West, but also paints it.

He discovered his love of film in his teens. In 1967, as a seventeen-year-old boy, he found employment in a traveling cinema, helping a cinematographer. At the same time, he made his first film, a parody of Charlie Chaplin, then it was the turn of Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and other silent stars.

As a teenager, he was interested in westerns, so he made Wild West in Bojszowy. At that time, he came across literature on Silesians in Miss Maria in Texas and this is how the film "The Emigrant" was made in 1970. Then he deepened his studies on Silesian Texans, inspiring the filmmaker to make a larger production, which later turned into a trilogy. The first part is entitled "Man from Nowhere". It is the story of a Silesian, Wawrzyn Złotka, who fled to America during the partitions and lands in Texas, where he meets his compatriot. The film received the journalists' award at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. Józef Kłyk was honored for "reaching the roots of cinema and for outstanding artistic values".

Jozef Klyk was a director of twelve Euro-westerns: “The Stagecoach Robbery” in 1968, “The Stagecoach to Kansas” in 1969, “Towards Poland” from 1976-1978, “Deadly full” from 1977-1979), “Man Out of Nowhere - The Trail of Lawlessness” in 1980-1983, “Full Śmierci” (Full Death - The Trail of Lawlessness) in 1984 “Wolny człowiek” (Free Man) from 1988-1991, “A Free Man - The Trail of Lawlessness” from 1988-1991, “Rosary Made of Barbed Wire” from 1998-1999, “Four Sons of the Father” from  2001-2003, “Brothers” in 2006 “The War Has Not Taken Everything Away From Me” in 2009 and “Slaski Szeryf” in 2010.

KLYK, Józef [4/13/1950, Bojszowy, Slaskie, Poland -     ] – producer, director, writer, cinematographer, actor.

The Stagecoach Robbery – 1968

The Stagecoach to Kansas - 1969

Towards Poland - 1976-1978

Deadly full - 1977-1979)

Man Out of Nowhere - The Trail of Lawlessness - 1980-1983

Full Death - The Trail of Lawlessness - 1984-1986

Free Man - 1988-1989

A Free Man - The Trail of Lawlessness - 1988-1991

Rosary Made of Barbed Wire - 1998-1999

Four Sons of the  Father” - 2001-2003

Brothers" - 2006

The War Has Not Taken Everything Away From Me - 2009

Slaski Szeryf - 2010

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ David De Reszke

David De Reszke is/was a screenwriter of unknown origin. His last name is of Polish abstraction.  He only has one credit according to the IMDb and that was also his only Euro-western as a co-screenwriter on “Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand” (Thunder at the Border) with Harald G. Petersson and C.B. Taylor in 1966.

De RESZKE, David – writer.

Thunder at the Border – 1966 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western ~ The Noruzi Brothers

The Noruzi Brothers, Amir Reza and Amirmohammad Norouzi, are Iranian animation simulators based in Qom Province, Iran. They have only been credited with the two Euro-westerns below and I can find no biographical information on them

The Noruzi Brothers were animators on two Euro-westerns: “فیلم فرعی ماجراهای بوشوگ: فرار دالتون ها” (The Adventures of Rantanplan: Escape of the Daltons) in 2021 and “فیلم لوک خوش شانس: پایان افسانه (نسخه موزیک ویدئو” (Lucky Luke: End of Legend) in 2022.

NORUZI BROTHERS [Iranian] (Amir reza Norouzi [2/10/2007, Iran -    ] director, writer, editor, animator, Amirmohammad Norouzi,  – animator, voice actor, founded the Phoenix Factory.

The Adventures of Rantanplan: Escape of the Daltons – 2021

Lucky Luke: End of Legend - 2022