Voices of the Spaghetti Western ~ “Gunmen of the Rio Grande”

 As we know most of the Euro-westerns were co-productions from Italy, Spain, Germany and France which incorporated British and American actors to gain a worldwide audience. The films were shot silent and then dubbed into the various languages where they were sold for distribution. That means Italian, Spanish, German, French and English voice actors were hired to dub the films. Even actors from the countries where the film was to be shown were often dubbed by voice actors for various reasons such as the actors were already busy making another film, they wanted to be paid additional salaries for dubbing their voices, the actor’s voice didn’t fit the character they were playing, accidents to the actors and in some cases even death before the film could be dubbed.

I’ll list a Euro-western and the (I) Italian, (S) Spanish, (G) German and (F) French, (E) English voices that I can find and once in a while a bio on a specific voice actor as in Europe these actors are as well-known as the actors they voiced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we’ll cover – “Gunmen of the Rio Grande”

[(I) Italian, (S) Spanish, (G) German, (F) French, (E) English]

 

Wyatt Earp/Laramie – Guy Madison (S) Angel Maria Baltanas, (G) Stefan Gossler, (F) Marc Cassol

Pancho Bogan – Fernando Sancho (S) Francisco Sánchez, (G) Andreas Mannkopff, (F) ?

Jennie Lee – Madeleine Lebeau (S) Ana María Saizar, (G) ?, (F) Madeleine Lebeau

Zack Williams – Gérard Tichy (S) Jesús Nieto. (G) ?, (F) Edmond Bernard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angel Maria Baltanas  (1929 – 1979) 

Ángel María Baltanás was born on November 18, 1929 in San Sebastián, Spain. He began his career on the radio, in his hometown, San Sebastian, reading poetry and presenting programs, but very quickly he moved to Madrid where he began working at "Oro Films"; In a short time, he was already doubling the big stars. Despite his short life (he died at the age of 49), Baltanás was recognized as one of the greatest dubbing actors in all of history. This was assured by most of his co-workers. His deep voice, masculine and with a somewhat metallic timbre, was perfect for the stars; the same from Hollywood (Paul Newman and Kirk Douglas), as from Europe (Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni). It's not just that he mastered the timing, it's that he perfectly captured the nuances of every sentence, the intent behind every pause and every glance. Angel María lent his voice to actors such as: Marlon Brando, James Dean, David Niven, James Cagney, Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, William Holden, Robert Mitchum, Marcello Mastroianni, Glenn Ford, James Mason, Yull Brynner, Gregory Peck, Charles Boyer, Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi, or Mel Brooks, among many others.

 

Ángel María Baltanás died on October 13, 1979 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.