RIP Michael Forest

 

American film, TV and voice actor Michael Forest died in Sparks, Nevada on October 14^th. He was 97. Born Gerald Michael Charlebois on April 17, 1929, in Harvey, North Dakota. He moved with his family as a youngster to Seattle and said he decided to pursue acting — instead of boxing — after seeing a friend perform at the Seattle Rep Playhouse. After he attended the University of Washington and San Jose State, he moved to Los Angeles in 1955, appeared on an episode of ‘Highway Patrol’ and started acting for the Players Ring theater company in West Hollywood. He first met Roger Corman in an acting class that both were taking with noted teacher Jeff Corey. Forest wound up under contract at Warners — and later Universal — and worked on everything from ‘Zorro’, ‘Bat Masterson’, ‘Maverick’, ‘Bonanza’, ‘Have Gun — Will Travel’, ‘Lawman’, ‘The Rifleman’, ‘Death Valley Days’ and ‘Wagon Train’ to ‘Dr. Kildare’, ‘Gomer Pyle: USMC’, ‘The Outer Limits’, ‘Perry Mason’, ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’, ‘Gunsmoke’, ‘Combat!’, ‘Gilligan’s Island’ and ‘Get Smart’ through the end of the 1960s. Moving to Italy he appeared in some 20 films including acting in five Spaghetti westerns: “The Wrath of God” as Pitt in 1968, “100 Rifles” as Humara in 1969, “The Last Rebel” as the pool hustler in 1970, “Requiem for a Bounty Hunter” as Ryan/John Burton/Nick Barton in 1971 and “Now They Call Him Sacramento” as Sacramento/Amen in 1972. He also did voice actin work and provided the voice of Kirk Morris in “Little Rita the West” in 1967, additional voice for both “Compañeros” in 1970 and “The Grand Duel” in 1972 and for James Coburn in “Massacre at Fort Holman in 1972.

From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Simon Eine

[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.]

Simon Eine was a French actor and stage director renowned for his extensive career at the Comédie-Française, where he served as a sociétaire from 1972 to 2004 and later as sociétaire honoraire, performing in nearly 150 roles across classical and contemporary repertoire while directing more than a dozen productions. Born in Paris on August 8, 1936, to immigrant parents, his father Joseph was a tailor and his mother was Hélène Lubel. Eine pursued a diverse array of jobs from age 17 before discovering theater through Jean Vilar's Théâtre National Populaire, which inspired his lifelong dedication to the stage.

Eine honed his craft at several prestigious institutions, including the École Saint-François de Paule in Nice, the Centre du spectacle, the École Dullin, the Centre d'art dramatique de la rue Blanche, and the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique (CNSAD) in Paris, from which he graduated with a first prize and two second prizes. He joined the Comédie-Française as a pensionnaire on September 1960, immediately following his conservatory studies, and quickly established himself in the ensemble, interpreting roles in works by masters such as Molière, Racine, Corneille, Shakespeare, and modern authors like Jean Giraudoux, Samuel Beckett, and Jean-Claude Grumberg. Notable performances included Alceste in Le Misanthrope (which he also directed in 1988–1990 and 1996–1997), Burrhus in Britannicus, Mithridate in Mithridate, and supporting roles like Oronte in “L'École des femmes” and Le Bret in “Cyrano de Bergerac”. His directing credits at the Comédie-Française encompassed acclaimed stagings of “Cinna ou la clémence d'Auguste” (2000–2001), “Les Femmes savants” (1998–2000), and “Le Misanthrope”, blending classical rigor with innovative interpretations.

Beyond theater, Eine appeared in French cinema and television, with roles in films such as “Elle s'appelait Sarah” (2010) directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, “Requiem” (2002) by Hervé Renoh, and “Notre musique” (2004) by Jean-Luc Godard, as well as TV adaptations including ‘Le Capitaine Fracasse’ (1968) and episodes of ‘Nestor Burma’. In his later years, after retiring from the troupe in 2004, he continued contributing through occasional readings and tributes at venues like the Studio-Théâtre and Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, including performances of texts by Victor Haïm and Roland Barthes. Eine was honored as a Knight of the Legion of Honour, Officer of the National Order of Merit, and Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters; he also published memoirs, Des étoiles plein les poches... (2012), chronicling his journey from immigrant child to theater artisan, and a collection of short stories, Humeurs variables (2017).

Simon Eine died in Nice, France on September 30, 202,0 at the age of 84.

EINE, Simon (Simon Israël Eine) [8/8/1936, Paris, Île-de-France, France – 9/30/2020, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France] – director, film, TV actor awarded Knight of the Legion of Honor, awarded Officer of the National Order of Merit, awarded Officer of Arts and Letters.

Another Man, Another Chance – 1977 (Francis’ friend)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ L. C. MacBean

Ludovic Charles MacBean was a Scottish-born British film director and screenwriter known for his contributions to early British silent cinema in the 1910s. Born on February 1, 1875 in Partick, Lanark, Scotland, he relocated to London in childhood and later entered the emerging film industry around 1914, initially as a scriptwriter before advancing to directing.  

 He collaborated with producer G.B. Samuelson at Isleworth Studios and co-directed several early films, establishing himself as a figure in Britain's nascent motion picture scene.

MacBean's credits include writing and directing numerous shorts and features between 1914 and 1920, such as “Deadwood Dick's Vengeance” (1915), “Trapped by the London Sharks” (1916), “The Real Thing at Last” (1916), “Forgive Us Our Trespasses” (1919), “Bladys of the Stewpony” (1919), and “The Dawn of Truth” (1920). Notable among his projects was “The Real Thing at Last”, a satirical spoof on Macbeth adaptations written by J.M. Barrie for the Shakespeare tercentenary. Beyond filmmaking, he authored the 1922 technical manual Kinematograph Studio Technique, which offered practical guidance on scenario writing, lighting, camera work, and studio practices for those in the kinematograph industry.

MacBean died on February 15, 1929 in Tonbridge Wells, Kent, England at the age of 54. His work reflects the experimental and transitional nature of British cinema during its formative silent era.

L. C. MacBean directed the film series “The Adventures of Deadwood Dick” with Fred Paul in 1915.

MacBEAN, L.C. (Ludovic Charles McBean) [2/1/1875, Partick, Lanark, Scotland, U.K. – 2/15/1929, Tonbridge Wells, Kent, England, U.K.] – director, writer, married to Ida Esther Wood (1905-1929) father of three children.

The Adventures of Deadwood Dick – 1915 (co)

     Deadwood Dick and the Mormons – 1915

     Deadwood Dick's Detective Pard - 1915

     Deadwood Dick's Red Ally - 1915

     Deadwood Dick Spoils Brigham Young – 1915

     Deadwood Dick's Vengeance - 1915

     How Richard Harris Became Known as Deadwood Dick – 1915

 

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Julius Evans

Julius Evans was an American writer and producer known for his contributions to mid-20th-century films. Born on July 22, 1907, in Manhattan, New York, he worked on projects including ''The Adventures of Mark Twain'' (1944), ''Sword of the Avenger'' (1948), and ''Rain for a Dusty Summer'' (1971). His career spanned several decades in Hollywood, focusing on writing and producing for motion pictures, though detailed biographical information remains limited in available sources.

Evans died on July 21, 1981, in Los Angeles, California a day before his 74^th birthday.

Julius Evans wrote the screenplay for one Spaghetti western, “Miguel Pio” (Guns of the Revolution) with G.B. Buscemi in 1969.

EVANS, Julius [7/22/1907, Manhattan, New York, U.S.A. – 7/21/1981, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.] – producer, writer, actor, married to Joan Hathaway

Guns of the Revolution – 1969 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Derk Roche

Derk Roche is a pseudonym of Dirk Roche and is a German producer, director, writer, cinematographer, film actor. He was born in Berlin in 1970. He’s produced and directed five films between 2018 and 2024. He's also appeared in six of these films as an actor.

As Derk Roche he’s directed five Euro-westerns: “Execution!” in 2018, “Un bastardo una ciudad y los Muertos” (A Bastard, a City and the Dead) and “Un hombre, un ciudad, y un Ave Maria” both in 2019 (most likely different versions of the same film), “One Shot Jack” in 2022 and “¡Tu último duelo, amigo mío!” (The Hunters are the Hunted) in 2024.

ROCHE, Derk (aka Dirk Roche) [1970, Berlin, Berlin, Germany -      ] – producer, director, writer, cinematographer, film actor, married to actress Martina Heinsohn-Rausch.

Execution! – 2018

A Bastard, a City and the Dead – 2019

One Mam, One City, One Hail Mary – 2019

One Shot Jack – 2022 [as Dirk Roche]

The Hunters are the Hunted - 2024

A Brief(ish) History of the Spaghetti Western [Part 1 of 2]

By David F Walker

Aug 10, 2026

Mention “spaghetti western” to most people—at least in America—and three things come to mind: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Sergio Leone’s epic western The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach, has become the seminal example of the spaghetti western (or the Eurowestern—for those looking to be more politically correct). For many people this is  all they know of a genre that barely existed in the United States, and to these uniformed audiences, spaghetti westerns consist of Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, its two predecessors—A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More—and not much else.

The reality is that spaghetti westerns were an incredibly popular genre of film that spanned more than two decades and spawned more than 600 films. These films redefined the traditional westerns genre, and ultimately impacted cinema in ways that transcended the American cowboy movie, effecting cinema on a global level. European-westerns would transform American television stars and character actors into worldwide superstars, and would bolster the careers of Italian artists like composer Ennio Morricone, director Sergio Corbucci, cinematographer Enzo Barboni, and actor Franco Nero, to name a few. For more than ten years, European casts and crews—mostly, but not exclusively Italian—would crank out the larger-than-life adventures of gunslingers like Django, Sartana, Trinity, and Sabata, which would go on to thrill audiences in Europe and all over the world.

The mythology of the old west and the folklore of the cowboy are among the few things that are uniquely American. Likewise, as an art form, the western is considered by some to be the only genre of film that was totally American, portraying a lifestyle completely foreign to anyone outside North America. Perhaps this is why Europeans became so taken by the adventures of the old west, first in the form the written word, and then in the form of the moving picture. Just as Americans thrilled to the adventures of Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid, so did Europeans.

European filmmakers had tried their hand in crafting westerns as early as the silent era of film. One of the first true spaghetti westerns was The Girl of the Golden West, produced in 1911, and based on Giacommo Puccini’s opera, La fanciulla del West. Joë Hamman, using the name Arizona Bill made several French-produced westerns between 1907 and 1913, including the 1910 film Pendaison à Jefferson City. Yet by and large, the western remained a predominantly American produced film genre for practically sixty years; despite the fact that influential western directors like John Ford and Fritz Lang were actually Europeans.

American films, including westerns, went unseen in Italy under the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini, who was keenly aware of the power of film as propaganda. After Italy’s defeat in World War II, the floodgates opened for American movies. Westerns proved especially popular with Italian audiences, while in America the genre was losing popularity by the mid-1950s, having been replaced by the adventures of cowboys playing out on popular television shows like Gunsmoke and Bonanza. The television western had effectively killed off its older cinematic brother, and by the early 1960s, after thriving for nearly six decades, the western was essentially a dead genre.

Despite the declining popularity of the western in the United States, the genre remained popular in Europe. European producers took it upon themselves to give audiences what was in demand, making their own westerns and Spanish-produced Zorro films. Throughout the mid 1950s and early 60s Spanish, German and Italian filmmakers produced several dozen Eurowesterns, including Savage Guns (1961), The Treasure of Silver Lake (1962), and Gunfight at Red Sands (1963).

Everything changed drastically in 1964, when director Sergio Leone made A Fistful of Dollars, a low budget, re-make of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai film Yojimbo. Leone cast the lead actor of television’s Rawhide, Clint Eastwood, as a mysterious stranger who takes advantage of two feuding families, creating a template for dozens of other films that would soon follow. A Fistful of Dollars was a grim, dirty, violent, and unglamorous look at western mythology, and as such, it was totally revisionary. European audiences responded with favor to this new look at an age-old genre, which for the first time in sixty years seemed completely new. Critics were quick to blast Leone’s twisted view of the traditionally American art form; at best it was an oddity, a cinematic joke, at worst it was blasphemy. And because Leone and many of his partners in cinematic crime were Italian, his film, and those like it were soon labeled “spaghetti westerns,” a derisive term that would eventually be embraced by fans of the stylish genre.

A glimpse at the origin of A Fistful of Dollars also offers a glimpse at the complex origins of the spaghetti western. This is a genre that has roots in two nations that had been at war with the United States during World War II, and in the years following the conflict would embrace the cultural mythology of the American western, reconfiguring that mythology to suit their own cultural needs. In the case of Japan, the American western was adapted and incorporated into the samurai films by Kurosawa, which in turn helped to place Japanese cinema into the global cinematic landscape. In Italy, both the Japanese samurai movie and the American western were then adapted into the new mythology of the spaghetti western, which was less reflective of culture—as was the case with the samurai film—and more reflective of socio-political leanings. As the samurai film used the template of the American western to craft tales of Japanese warriors, the spaghetti western used the template of the American western to craft tales of outlaws and gunslingers that were often infused with leftist, populist, and Marxist ideologies.

The spaghetti western genre was made up largely of low-budget films—most shot in a matter of weeks—that catered to working class Italian audiences. These audiences loved plenty of action and violence, were legendary for talking through boring parts of the movie and known to walk out before a film was over. But despite a target audience that was easy to please and not all that critical, the filmmakers responsible for spaghetti westerns were often working their own socio-political viewpoints into many of these movies. The result would be a genre that was influenced by a generation of writers and directors very critical of oppressive government forces, colonialism, and corrupt law enforcement that were part of the global socio-political revolution that was taking place in the 1960s.

Prior to the emergence of the low-brow westerns coming out of southern Italy, Italian cinema was known for the high-brow contributions of northern Italian filmmakers to the global film market. The political leanings of Marxists filmmakers like Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gillo Pontecorvo, or pioneers of the Italian neorealist movement like Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini committed to capturing life as it was on film, and not some fantasy of the exceptional, resulted in a powerful cinematic revolution in Italy during the late 1940s and into the 1960s. These filmmakers and their films—who were oppressed under the rule of fascism—went on to define Italian cinema but were not the exclusive of Italian cinema. Likewise, the same socio-political and creative realities that informed the most revered and well-known Italian directors also impacted Sergio Leone and his spaghetti western brethren—filmmakers like Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Sollima, and Damiano Damiani. Working within a genre already dismissed as lowbrow and working class, and even more derided for not being American, these filmmakers and many others turned out politically charged tales of outlaw gunslingers that at times were riddled with Marxist influences.

Spaghetti Western locations: - Fort Jackson

Fort Jackson Hoyos de Manzanares

By Jose Luis de Vicente

Fort Jackstone is a decoration emulated by classic wooden walls that used the ejercito de los Estados Unidos en las guerras que mantuvieron con México y con las tribes norteamericanas en le siglo XIX, como fuertes para tropas destacadas en territorios non conquistados.

As the majority of films from the West are one of the fundamental elements, it was decided in 1964 to raise Fort Jackstone three metros to the west of the main decoration, Golden City, to complete the recording scenarios.

[Fort Jackson in 1965]

[Fort Layout (Cubero, Galicia, Spain)]

 The fort featured several functional buildings, stables, and watering troughs; it measured 30 by 30 meters, with palisades standing 5 meters high.

The first movie filmed at the fort was *El séptimo de caballería* (1965), shot the year after its construction. Various other productions were filmed there while it was active, including *Héroes a la fuerza* (1966) and *Dos caraduras en Texas* (1965).

In 1968, the fort was demolished to make way for a new film set: a Chicago-style street designed for gangster movies.

Spaghetti westerns using this location:

Gli eroi del West (Heroes of Fort Worth) - 1963

El séptimo de caballería (Charge of the 7^th) – 1964

Dos Caraduras en Texas” (Fistful of Knuckles) - 1965

Special Birthdays

Friedrich Schoenfelder [voice actor] would have been 110 today but died in 2011.