Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Larry Ludman

Fabrizio De Angelis is an Italian film producer, director, and screenwriter best known for his contributions to low-budget exploitation cinema, particularly in the horror and action genres during the 1970s and 1980s.

De Angelis was born in Rome on November 15, 1940, and entered the film industry after working as a mailman, beginning his production career in the mid-1970s with films in the erotic and adventure genres before shifting toward horror and post-apocalyptic action. He founded the production company Fulvia Film and collaborated extensively with prominent Italian directors, including producing several key works for Lucio Fulci such as “Zombie Flesh-Eaters” (1979), “The Beyond” (1981), and “The House by the Cemetery” (1981), as well as Joe D'Amato's Emanuelle series.

As a director, often under the pseudonym Larry Ludman to appeal to international markets, De Angelis helmed action films like “1990: The Bronx Warriors” (1982) and “Escape from the Bronx” (1983), along with creature features such as “Killer Crocodile” (1989). His work exemplified the fast-paced, commercially driven style of Italian B-movies, contributing to the global popularity of Eurotrash cinema despite often facing distribution challenges due to censorship and violence.

Fabrizio De Angelis as Larry Ludman directed five Spaghetti westerns: “Thunder” (Thunder Warrior) in 1983, “Cane arrabbiato” (Man Hunt) in 1984, “Thunder II” (Thunder Warrior II) in 1985, “Thunder III” (Thunder Warrior III) in 1987 and “Arizona violenta” (Arizona Road) in 1990.

LUDMAN, Larry (aka David Colby, Larry Ludman, Ted Russell) (Fabrizio De Angelis) [11/15/1940, Rome, Lazio, Italy -     ] – producer, production manager, director, writer, songwriter, SFX, actor, founded Fulvia Film, Fulvia CInematografica, Deaf International Films.

Thunder Warrior – 1983

Man Hunt – 1984

Thunder Warrior II – 1985

Thunder Warrior III - 1987

Arizona Road – 1990

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Fred Evans

Frederick William Evans was a prominent British music hall and silent film comedian, best known for creating and portraying the anarchic character Pimple in over 200 short comedies produced between 1912 and the end of World War I. Born Born in Lambeth, London on February 10, 1889, into a family of entertainers in London's Lambeth area, Evans drew from music-hall and circus traditions to develop Pimple as a clownish, rootless chancer who parodied popular films, plays, and historical events through broad burlesque and slapstick gags.2 His films, often scripted and co-directed by his brother Joe Evans, achieved massive popularity in Britain during the 1910s, with Evans polling as one of the top British film stars in contemporary fan votes, though his career declined sharply after the war amid the rise of Hollywood imports and changing tastes.

Evans' early career included stage performances with his family's Florador Quartette and initial film roles as the mishap-prone "Charlie Smiler" for Cricks and Martin starting in 1910, before he and Joe launched their independent Folly Films company in 1912, setting up a studio on Eel Pie Island.2 Notable Pimple shorts, such as Pimple's Battle of Waterloo (1913)—a farcical send-up of epic historical dramas—and the Lieutenant Pimple series mocking adventure serials like Lieut. Daring, exemplified his style of substituting absurdity for drama with punning intertitles, pantomime props, and relentless physical comedy.

 Despite enlisting for an army recruitment tour in 1915 and sustaining an injury that led to his discharge, Evans continued producing films until bankruptcy in 1920, after which he returned to the stage, including wartime revues with his family and a later puppet show collaboration with Joe during World War II. His work, preserved only as a handful of films, mostly fragments, in archives like the BFI National Archive, represents a key chapter in early British screen comedy, influencing a wave of topical clowns while highlighting the era's volatile stardom compared to contemporaries like Charlie Chaplin.

Evans died in St. Germans, Cornwall, England on August 31, 1951 at the age of 62.

Fred Evans was a co-screenwriter on five silent film Euro-westerns: “Cowboy Mad” with Joe Evans in 1912, “The Adventures of Pimple: The Indian Massacre” with Joe Evand in 1913, “Big Chief Little Pimple” with Joe Evans and “Lieutenant Pimple Goes to Mexico” with Joe Evans in 1914 and “Ragtime Cowboy Pimple” – 1915 with Joe Evans in 1915.

EVANS, Fred (aka Pimple) (Frederick William Evans) [2/10/1889, Lambeth, London, England, U.K. – 8/31/1951, St. Germans, Cornwall, England, U.K.] – producer, director, writer, puppeteer, circus performer, actor, grandson of clown Fred Evans, nephew of director, writer, actor Will Evans (William Edward Evans) [1873–1931], brother of director, writer, actor Joe Evans [1891-1967], married to ? father of two daughters, founded Folly Films [1912]

Cowboy Mad – 1912 (co)

The Adventures of Pimple: The Indian Massacre – 1913 (co)

Big Chief Little Pimple – 1914 (co)

Lieutenant Pimple Goes to Mexico – 1914 (co)

Ragtime Cowboy Pimple – 1915 (co)

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Diego River

Diego River is/was an alias for Spaniard Diego Fiume who worked on four films between 1958 and 1986. Diego Fiume as Diego River was a cinematographer on one Spaghetti western: “Okay sceriffo” (Okay Sheriff) in 1964 and was a cameraman/cinematographer on the television series the film was based on ‘Lo sceriffo della valle d’argento’ from 1963-1976.

 RIVER, Diego (Diego Fiume) [Spanish] – writer, cinematographer, cameraman.

Lo sceriffo della valle d’argento (TV) – 1963-1976

Okay Sheriff – 1964