From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western actors ~ Giancarlo Crestini

[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.] 

Giancarlo Crestini is/was an Italian character actor. He only has one film credit and that was for the Spaghetti western “Ci risiamo, vero Provvidenza?” (Another Try, Eh Providence?) in 1973.

I can find no biographical information on him. 

CRESTINI, Giancarlo [Italian] – film actor.

Another Try, Eh Providence? – 1973

Sweet Revenge

 

Dulce Venganza – Spanish title

Sweet Revenge – English title

 

A 2024 Spanish film production [Almanzora Video Production (Almeria)]

Producer: Martin Michiels

Directors: Martin Michiels, Armin Lautz.

Story: Martin Michiels

Screenplay: Martin Michiels

Cinematography: Andy Arche [color]

Music: various

Running time: 37 minutes

Cast:

Ruby Poker - Ine Koster

Rosa - Lucia Toscano

White Feather - Isabel Rebolledo

Lucky Dollar – Frederic Bret

Lakota Chief – Armin Lautz

José – Miguel Morales M.

Sheriff – Manuel Jose Olaya Muñoz

Banker – Peter Hill

Bank tellers – Jose Diaz Suarez, Cristóbal López Expósito

Rapist - José Fernández Mexcua

Poker player – Daniel Jose Ibarra

Madam Kitty – Mariela Gomez de Ell

Indians – Steven Eduardo Miranda Romero, Dorian Valentin Miranda Vilchez, Dereck Nicolas Miranda Vilchez, Marisol Climent

With: Silvia Bret, Carol Siewright, David Hubbard, Bob van Denderen, Shirley Angel, Eddie J. Murphy, Remy Pernet, Christina Carlier, Ronny van Düren, Molly Beth Jenkinson, José Martinez Galero, Rocio Martinez, José David Martinez, Peggy van Asseldonk, Alicia Lennon, Rosario Sabil, Marisol Clement, Vicky Miles, Carsten Grünwald

In the small town of Bisbee, Arizona, a murder takes place at the saloon, in the presence of Ruby Poker, who happens to be a related to the murdered man. Ruby Poker her niece Rose, the dead man’s husband and White Feather seek revenge together and chase down the killer and it becomes an adventure they never imagined.

 

Film link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38wD_yJW3iA

Who Are Those Singers & Musicians ~ Rocky Roberts

 

Charles ‘Rocky’ Roberts was born on August 23, 1940, in Tanner, Alabama, He was an Italian rhythm and blues singer known for always wearing dark sunglasses. He is said to have introduced soul music to Italy and set fashion trends for Italian youths in the 1960s.

He was the fourth child of a modest family. He was fatherless at the age of eight; He began to work very young, practicing various trades. Moving to Miami, Florida, he enlisted in the United States Navy and embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Independence in Boca Chica Key West. Here he had some success in boxing, to the point of winning four championships in the welterweight category, in the various stages of U.S. naval missions abroad. However, during a match, a blow to the jaw and left eye seriously injured him, forcing him to abandon boxing and to wear dark glasses which, in addition to covering the scar, gave him the artistic look that distinguished him in the following years.

He first got interested in singing after listening to a country-oriented musician named Doug Fowlkes, whose band the Airdales (US-navy slang for Navy pilots) used to perform on the ship where Roberts was stationed. Fowlkes, impressed by Roberts' voice, eventually agreed to let him sit in with the band.

Roberts won a singing competition while on shore leave in Juan-les-Pins, France, and chose to stay in Europe after retiring from the Navy in 1962.

Roberts had a stint in France performing at ORTF television show Les raisins verts and achieved some success with an early version of "T-Bird" and "Monkiss".

In 1965 Renzo Arbore and Gianni Boncompagni invited Roberts to Rome to record the theme of their Radio Show, Bandiera Gialla. The song, "T-Bird", was a hit in the Italian charts and Roberts settled in Rome.

In 1967, Roberts had a major Italian hit, "Stasera mi butto", which sold 3.7 million copies and won the Festivalbar. The song's success led to a 1967 motion picture of the same title, starring Roberts. He appeared subsequently in several other Italian films.

Roberts sang the Luis Bacalov-written theme song from the 1966 film, “Django.” Quentin Tarantino reused the recording as the opening theme for his 2012 film “Django Unchained”. Roberts also sang the main theme song “Can Be Done” for the 1972 Spaghetti western “It Can be Done” starring Bud Spencer and Jack Palance.

Rocky Roberts died of lung cancer in Rome on January 14, 2005, at the age of 64.

ROBERTS, Rocky (Charles Roberts) [8/23/1941, Tanner, Alabama, U.S.A. – 1/14/2005, Rome, Lazio, Italy (lung cancer)] – boxer, singer, actor, married to Katia Roberts         (19??-2005) father of Randy Roberts.

Django – 1966 [sings “Django” English version]

It Can be Done... Amigo! – 1972 [sings: “Can be Done”]

From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western actors ~ Mimmo Crao

[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.]

Domenico Crao was an Italian character actor who billed as Mimmo Crao appeared in six films between 1972 and 1978. He was probably best remembered for playing the role of the Yeti in 1977’s “Yeti – Il gigante del 20º secolo” (Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century), directed by Frank Kramer (Gianfranco Parolini) and as the disciple Thaddeus in “Jesus of Nazareth”.

Sadly, I can find no biographical information on him.

His only Spaghetti western appearance was in “Il grande duello” (The Grand Duel) in 1972 as a bouncer.

CRAO, Mimmo (Domenico Crao) [Italian] – film, TV actor.

The Grand Duel – 1972 (bouncer)

The Half-Breed in Bad Segeberg: Fight for gold and soul

Karl May & Co.

June 20, 2025

[Donna and Charles Leveret, aka Sonja Kirchberger and Francis Fulton-Smith (Photo: KARL MAY & Co./Margref)]

The Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg presented a first glimpse of the play of "Halbblut" about a week before the premiere.

This year's production tells the story of Ik-Senanda (Sascha Hödl), whose father was white but who was raised to hate whites by his cruel grandfather Tokvi-Kava (Joshy Peters). He is part of the entanglement surrounding the railroad village of Firwood Camp. Both the Comanches and the married couple Donna and Charles Leveret (Sonja Kirchberger and Francis Fulton-Smith) want to see it destroyed: because they want their land back, also because they suspect a vein of gold is in the area and want to claim it for themselves.

There are also other subplots: Majesty (Harald Wieczorek) has a bonanza plan, Professor Timpe (Stephan Tölle) is looking for an inheritance swindler, Dr. Hartley (Alexis Kara) wants to sell hair-growth products, and Sally Ann (Alina Arenz) wants to become a singer.

Amidst all this confusion, Winnetou (Alexander Klaws) and Old Shatterhand (Bastian Semm) try to save the lost soul of Ik-Senanda and convince him that not all white people are evil.

The team led by director Nicolas König still has a lot of catching up to do before the premiere on June 28, as the northern German weather literally ruined two days of rehearsals.