Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Axel Anderson

 [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.]

Axel Levy was born in Berlin, Germany on December 11, 1929. Being a Jewish family they escaped the Holocaust in 1936 by emigrating to Paraguay. Due to political instability in Paraguay, Anderson's family soon moved to Argentina. Anderson started acting as a teenager, working at the Teatro Alemán Independiente, a small theater troupe mainly composed of German expatriates who performed in German.

During the 1950s, Anderson moved his young family to Bogotá, Colombia where he worked in theater. The family later moved to the Dominican Republic. During his time in the Dominican Republic, Anderson reportedly clashed with the politics of the Rafael Trujillo regime, being forced to emigrate one more time. He and his family settled in Puerto Rico where they have remained ever since.

As Axel Anderson he made his debut in Puerto Rican television with a sitcom named ‘Qué Pareja’, a local version of ‘I Love Lucy’. He also performed in theater and other television productions. The actor quickly established himself as a leading man, landing several leading roles in local novelas or soap operas. Early in his career, he starred in a novela titled ‘Cuando los hijos condenan’ in which Anderson and co-star Marta Romero shared the first on-screen kiss in the history of Puerto Rican television.

Anderson also starred in one of the first major motion pictures produced in Puerto Rico, “Maruja”. His film career continued with roles in Spanish and U.S. films, including “Battle of the Bulge” (1965) and “Bananas” (1971). He also participated in the Spanish dubs of several Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s as well as of many American TV shows.

In his last 20 years, Anderson remained one of the leading actors in Puerto Rico and continually acted in major local and international productions, including a small role as the bank director in the Sylvester Stallone thriller “Assassins".

Anderson (lyrics) and Tony Croatto (music) co-wrote Agüeybaná, a song dedicated to the memory of the most important Taino "Cacique" of the pre-colonial Puerto Rico, recorded by Nelly y Tony and later by Haciendo Punto En Otro Son, which became a major hit in the 1970s.

Axel’s only Euro-western was as McNamara in 1965’s “Finger on the Trigger” starring Rory Calhoun and James Philbrook.

Axel Anderson died on December 16, 2012, in San Juan, Puerto Rico one week after his 83^rd birthday.

ANDERSON, Axel (Axel Levy) [12/11/1929, Berlin, Berlin, Germany - 12/16/2012, San Juan, Puerto Rico (cancer)] – producer, lyricist, theater, film, TV, voice actor.

Finger on the Trigger - 1965 (McNamara)

Bud Spencer Bratwurst

 

Bud Spencer Rostbratwurst "Bacon-Cheese" & Ham-Krakauer "Tex-Mex" - Two for the grill and pan!

Bud Spencer Freisteller Bud Spencer was celebrated for great film successes worldwide and enjoys absolute cult status, especially in Germany.

In his many hit roles in the comedic spaghetti westerns, Bud Spencer struck mercilessly - also in culinary terms, such as in the famous sausage-eating contest in the cult film "Watch Out, We’re Mad.

In line with this tradition, we are delivering two new Bud Spencer promotional items in strong flavors for the 2023 barbecue season: while beans, corn and jalapeños give the "Tex-Mex" ham and Krakauer a resounding taste, the grilled sausage makes a difference with the heavenly combination of bacon and cheese for a jubilant hallelujah!

As with all Metten Grill items, it also applies here that they are handmade without added flavor enhancers and colorings, lactose-free (except for the cheese variant) and gluten-free and in natural casings.

                                     "We'll let beer and sausages decide!"

We continue our search for locations for “Bad Man’s River”

 The Mexican army arrives on the shoreline, but the Ariel is sailing away down the Rio Grande. The Mexican General Duarte sends the bandit Canales to follow the boat from both sides of the river and tells him if he is caught on the American side, he will disown him and his men.

This scene was filmed in Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, Spain and the Manzanares River.

For a more detailed view of this site and other Spaghetti Western locations please visit my friend Yoshi Yasuda’s location site: http://y-yasuda.net/film-location.htm and Captain Douglas Film Locations http://www.western-locations-spain.com/

Special Birthdays

 Michael Herbig (producer, director, screenwriter, actor) is 55 today.

Spaghetti Western Trivia ~ Guy Calloway and Tuco

 

In the 1969 Spaghetti western “Bullets Over Dallas” starring Carlos Quiney there’s a scene in the jail and on the wall, you can clearly see a wanted poster for Guy Calloway (Jose Terron), the famous outlaw that Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) goes after in Tucumcari. The poster in “Bullets Over Dallas” shows a picture of Tuco (Eli Wallach) in 1966’s “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

[Thanks to Michael Ferguson for the “Bullets Over Dallas” screen capture.]

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Kurt Andersen

 [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.]

Kurt Anderson, sometimes billed as Andy Andersen was born in Denmark on January 23, 1924. "Bakkens Andy" with the bourgeois name Kurt Andersen was trained as a stucco artist as a young man and produced friezes, sculptures, paintings and posters. He also worked for periods as a bicycle smith and printing worker. After first having a dance school, he and Bent Stoltzer formed the duo Ben & Andy, who in the 1950s as comedy artists traveled the world with crazy comedy of an international class. In the late 1950s, they were engaged to Stefansen's variety show Montmartre at Dyrehavsbakken as musical clowns and comedians. Andy performed in many places at Bakken, including "The White Horse", "Showboat" and "Bakkens Købmand". He had a versatile career as both clown and actor and was often used in films as a stuntman. Together with his wife Jytte he bought and ran "De 4 Ege" at Dyrehavsbakken, where he clowned with his original comedy routines for guests every evening. He could also perform with festive attire, and both played and sang. Among other things, he mimed to tapes of the great opera stars and especially with "Figaro, Figaro". "De 4 Ege" became the gathering place for people who really wanted to have fun at Bakken. Andy took over the management of the holiday parties after Professor Tribini 1972-1975 - in the first two seasons together with actor Louis Miehe-Renard. For health reasons, he had to sell "De 4 Ege" a few years before his death. In 1980 he was awarded the Bakken Honorary Award.

Kurt Andersen died in Klampenborg, Denmark on December 29, 1989, at the age of 65.

ANDERSEN, Kurt (aka Andy) [1/23/1924, Denmark - 12/29/1989, Klampenborg, Denmark] – clown, comedian, dancer, singer, stuntman, film actor, married to Jytte Andersen half of the comedy team of Bena and Andy with Bent Stoltzer owned the “De 4 Ege” entertainment club, awarded Bakken Honorary Award [1980].

Gold for the Tough Guys of the Prairie – 1971 (line dancer)

Rome Remembers Ciccio Ingrassia

 

On the twentieth anniversary of the death of Ciccio Ingrassia, the IV municipality dedicates two days to the memory of the Sicilian actor who lived and died in Rome, in the area of Monti Tiburtini

On 28 and 29 April 2023 Municipio IV of Rome remembers Ciccio Ingrassia the Sicilian actor, who lived and died in Rome in 2003, with events dedicated to him.

The two days fall on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the death of the Parlemitan actor who lived several years in the territory of the fourth municipality. The events dedicated to Ingrassia will be attended by the son of the actor Giampiero Ingrassia.

Below is the program of initiatives:

Friday, April 28 at 11:00 am in via dei Monti Tiburtini 509, home of the actor, there will be the posting of a commemorative plaque.

Saturday, April 29 instead at 18:00 at the Falconi room (via Edoardo d'Onofrio 60) will be held the screening of the film: "Così inguaiammo il cinema Italiano" - The true story of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia.

For the realization of the two initiatives together with the municipality IV have collaborated the Association "L'isola che non c'è" and the A.I.C.