Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Carlo Campogalliani

[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 Campogalliani was born in Concordia sulla Secchia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy on October 10, 1885. He was an Italian screenwriter, actor and film director. Campogalliani began as an actor during the early silent period, first appearing as the Fool in Giuseppe De Liguoro's adaptation of King Lear made for Milano Films in 1910. After roles in a number of major silent films, including Luigi Maggi's “Satana” (Satan, 1912) and Mario Caserini's “Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei” (The Last Days of Pompeii, 1913), he played the lead in Edoardo Bencivenga's “Napoleone, epopea napoleonica” (Napoleon, 1914), before graduating to directing on “Il violino di Ketty” (Ketty's Violin, 1914), in which he also acted with his wife, Letizia Quaranta. He directed his wife in another half a dozen crime thrillers and made several of the Maciste films before founding his own production company, Campogalliani Film, in 1920. In 1922 he and Quaranta moved to South America, where he made films in Argentina and Brazil while also touring with his own theater company. Having returned to Europe in 1927, he worked in Germany for several years before returning to Italy at the beginning of the sound era. Before retiring from the industry altogether in the early 1960s, he produced two well-respected sword-and-sandal epics, “Maciste nella valle dei re” (Son of Samson, 1960) and “Ursus” (Ursus, Son of Hercules, 1961). His last film, “Rosmunda e Alboino” (Sword of the Conqueror, 1961), was a historical adventure fantasy set in the early Middle Ages.

Carlo Campogalliani died in Rome on August 10, 1974 at the age of 88.

Carlo appeared in only one Euro-western the 1913 silent film “Il bersaglio vivente” (The Human Target) 1913

CAMPOGALLIANI, Carlo (aka C. Campogalliani) [10/10/1885, Concordia sulla Secchia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy – 8/10/1974, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – director, writer, film editor, film actor, married to Letizia Quaranta (Letizia Beatrice Giuseppina Angela Quaranta) [1892–1977] (1921-1974), founded Campogalliani Film [1920].

The Human Target – 1913 (Walter)