Michael Coby & Paul Smith

 After the duo of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill had their big breakthrough at the beginning of the 1970s with the two western comedies “They Call Me Trinity and “Trinity is STILL My Name”, the film industry quickly began to copy the new successful concept. Shortly thereafter, a whole series of so-called doppelganger films were created, in which a sporty daredevil type was accompanied by a tall, powerful and bearded giant. These films were then marketed accordingly, so that there was a certain risk of confusion from them. Reason enough to take a closer look at Michael Coby and Paul Smith in particular.

[Courtesy Michael Ferguson]

Probably the best-known doppelganger duo were the USA-born Paul Smith and the Italian Michael Coby born Antonio Cantafora. This duo already had the greatest resemblance of all doppelganger duos from a purely visual point of view, but in addition, numerous stuntmen and supporting actors known from the Spencer/Hill films also provided additional risk of confusion. Paul Smith and Michael Coby starred together in a total of five films in 1974 and 1975. Like the original duo Spencer/Hill, they started with Western comedies “Carambola” and “The Crazy Adventures of Len and Coby”, but later transported their style into present day adventures. In Germany, the two were always called Toby (Coby) and Butch (Smith) in their films, but this was not the case in the originals.

Paul Lawrence Smith was born on June 24, 1936, in Everett, Massachusetts. His first film role was in 1960 in the film “Exodus”, which was shot in Israel. In 1967, he returned to Israel to serve as a volunteer in the Six-Day War. Smith remained in Israel, where he made a few films, became an Israeli citizen, adopted the Hebrew name Adam Eden, and met his second wife, Aviva ‘Eve’ Eden (2006-2012). In 1973, Paul had previously moved to Italy, where he shot the five Spencer/Hill lookalikes alongside Michael Coby. Four years later, in 1977, Smith returned to the U.S.A., where he made further films, including “Midnight Express” (1978), “Popeye” (1980), “Red Sonja” (1985) and “Maverick” (1994). His last appearance was in 1999 in the TV movie ‘D.R.E.A.M. Team’. In February 2006, Paul Smith returned to Israel. Since then, Paul Smith has been living in the small town of Ra'anana. He no longer made films but was a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences and as such is entitled to vote at the Oscars. In addition, he tried to spend more time with his family. He himself has a son Elliott from his first marriage, who still lives in the States. In addition, his wife Eve, also from her first marriage, had a daughter. Smith died on June 25, 2012. 

Michael Coby was born Antonio Cantafora on February 2, 1944, in Crotone, Calabria. After studying acting, he landed his first film role in 1967 in the Italian western “The Dirty Outlaws”. From then on, he could be seen again and again in Italo Westerns. Thanks to an outward resemblance to actor Terence Hill, he was hired in the mid-1970s for the Spencer/Hill lookalike films alongside Paul Smith. For these films he adopted the English-sounding pseudonym Michael Coby, which he abandoned in the mid-1980s. From then on, he reverted to his real name. While his doppelganger partner is drawn to the U.S.A. in his further career, Cantafora remained largely faithful to European film. It was only in 1983 that he was drawn to Brazil for a film “Gabriela, cravo e canela”. In 1987 he even filmed with the great Federico Fellini “Fellini's Intervista”, but the big breakthrough as an actor eluded him. "Simone e Matteo" - director Giuliano Carnimeo expressed this circumstance as follows: "He was a serious actor, a professional who, unfortunately, in his career did not have the luck that he should have deserved." His last appearance was in 2003 as a detective in Dario Argento's serial killer thriller “The Card Player”.