A Cowboy from Trastevere [archived newspaper article]

Giuliano Gemma stars in the color film "Tampeko"

Buffalo Volksfreund

June 30, 1967

Just a few years ago, Giuliano Gemma—now Europe's number one Western star—was a complete unknown, even in Rome. His rise to the ranks of international stars happened virtually overnight.

Now twenty-eight years old, this native of Rome—born in Trastevere, the most populous district of the "Eternal City"—was an avid athlete in his youth and remains one today. This stands him in good stead in his film work.

His introduction to the film industry was entirely unromantic. In 1960, while working as a fire safety officer at the Cinecittà studios, his job was to ensure that no one smoked and that all employees adhered to fire safety regulations. He would watch the actors at work out of boredom, until one day he said to himself: "Anything they can do, I can do too."

It was director Ducci Tessari who gave the handsome Giuliano his first break, casting him in a supporting role in the film “I Titani” (The Titans). However, his career stalled again almost immediately. Yet the young man’s ambition had been ignited; he was unwilling to settle for the kind of supporting roles he was subsequently required to play in films like “Maciste and the Queen of the Night” or “Emperor of the Gladiators”.

In 1964, the big breakthrough finally arrived. French director Bernard Borderie helped propel his career to the next level. In his first “Angélique” film, he cast the young Roman in a role—albeit a minor one, so small that Gemma’s name appeared in tiny print on the posters. Yet for Gemma, this role marked the true beginning of his career. The worldwide success of the “Angélique” film brought special attention to the supporting actor Giuliano Gemma—to whom Borderie had given the stage name Montgomery Wood. The immediate result was the lead role in the Wester “A Pistol for Ringo”. The name Montgomery Wood quickly gained a strong reputation and proved to be a major box-office draw. Giuliano Gemma found his ideal professional niche in the burgeoning world of Italian Westerns. After fulfilling a prior commitment to the comedy “La Ragazzola”, directed by Giuseppe Orlandini, he firmly established himself on the path to success.

His second Western was titled “One Silver Dollar/ "A Hole in the Dollar") and was once again a resounding success. Writer-director Duccio Tessari immediately cast his new star in his next Western, “The Return of Ringo”.

These three films established Giuliano’s reputation as the ideal Western hero. He was now in a position to drop his American pseudonym, Montgomery Wood, and revert to the name Giuliano Gemma. In “Adiós Gringo”—directed by George Finley (alias Giorgio Stagnani)—he fought and shot his way across the screen under his own name for the first time. The film’s success proved that it was the actor, not the name, who drew Western fans to the cinema. Giuliano then tried his hand at the related genre of secret agent films with “Kiss Kiss... Bang Bang”—achieving great success there as well.

“Tampeko,” an adventure story set during the final days of the American Civil War, will soon be screened in Germany. Directed by Calvin J. Paget, Giuliano plays the role of Gary Tampeko, a man who fights against injustice and betrayal—and, naturally, triumphs.

Like his predecessors, Giuliano Gemma constantly faces daring physical challenges. He has to fall from a horse, scale steep cliffs, brawl with adversaries, and dodge their bullets. Yet, he never appears clumsy; his on-screen exploits are entirely convincing, even to viewers unaware that he performs his own stunts without a double.