Voices of the Spaghetti Western - “$5.00 for Ringo”

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 “$5.00 for Ringo”

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

Sheriff Lester Sands - Julio Pérez Tabernero (S) Rafael Navarro

Mayor Aldo Rudell – Alberto Farnese (S) Joaquín Díaz

Simon – Miguel Gila (S) Miguel Gila

Sara – Vicky Lagos (S) Irene Mir

Miriam Grady – Maria Pia Conte (S) Roser Cavallé

Kenny – Gaspar Gonzalez (S) Miguel Ángel Valdivieso

Bobby Kidd – Javier Conde (S) Dionisio Macías

Rafael Navarro  (1912 – 1993)

Rafael Navarro García was born in Alicante Spain in 1912. He was a Spanish actor, who participated in 29 films from 1930 to 1982 and countless television series. His last television role was in 1983 in Golden Rings as Don Andrés. His work as a dubbing actor stands out, developing his career mainly in Barcelona. He became one of the references in dubbing, both as an actor and as a director, being one of the pioneers. Its debut was in 1935. Possibly, he was the first voice of Humphrey Bogart in Spain before the redubbing arrived (he corresponded with Humphrey Bogart himself). Among his most outstanding works in dubbing, we can mention: Charlton Heston in “Ben-Hur”, Cary Grant in “North by Northwest”, Robert Mitchum in “With Him Came the Scandal”, Paul Newman in “Cat on a Tin Roof” and Henry Fonda in “War and Peace”. In addition, he was the regular voice of Glenn Ford, Robert Taylor, Charlton Heston, Joseph Cotten, etc. Because of the dubbing, it is difficult to appreciate his voice in many films; Even so, he had one of the most characteristic and nuanced voices that Spanish dubbing has ever given.

Navarro died in Barcelona, Spain on June 2, 1993. He was 80.