Bud Spencer

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For the American sprinter, see Emerson Spencer.
Bud Spencer
Bud Spencer cropped 2009.jpg
Spencer in December 2009
Born Carlo Pedersoli
(1929-10-31)31 October 1929
Naples, Italy
Died 27 June 2016(2016-06-27) (aged 86)
Rome, Italy
Other names Bud Tibi
Occupation Actor, filmmaker
Years active 1951–2010
Height 194 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Spouse(s) Maria Amato (m. 1960–2016)
Children 3

Bud Spencer (born Carlo Pedersoli; 31 October 1929 – 27 June 2016) was an Italian actor, filmmaker and professional swimmer. He is known for action-comedy roles with his long-time film partner Terence Hill. A successful swimmer in his youth, he obtained a degree in law and registered several patents. Spencer also became a certified commercial airline and helicopter pilot, and supported and funded many children's charities, including the Spencer Scholarship Fund.[2]

Spencer and Hill appeared in, produced and directed over 20 films together.

Early life[edit]

Son of Alessandro Pedersoli and Rosa Facchetti, Carlo Pedersoli was born on 31 October 1929 in Santa Lucia, a historical rione in Naples[3] and in the same building as the writer Luciano De Crescenzo. Pedersoli started school in 1935, along with De Crescenzo. He played several sports and showed an aptitude for swimming, winning prizes. In 1940, due to his father's work, he moved to Rome, where he attended high school and joined a swimming club. He finished school before his seventeenth birthday with the highest marks and enrolled at the Sapienza University of Rome, where he studied chemistry. In January 1947, the family moved to South America[4] and Pedersoli discontinued his studies. From 1947 to 1949, he worked in the Italian consulate in Recife, Brazil,[5] where he learned fluent Portuguese.

Swimming and water polo career[edit]

Carlo Pedersoli
Carlo Pedersoli 1950.jpg
Carlo Pedersoli in 1950
Personal information
National team  Italy
Born (1929-10-31) October 31, 1929 (age 86)
Naples, Italy
Died June 27, 2016(2016-06-27) (aged 86)
Rome
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 125 kg (276 lb) (125 kg)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle, water polo
Club Società Sportiva Lazio Nuoto

Pedersoli was back to Italy in 1949 to play water polo in Rome for Società Sportiva Lazio Nuoto and won the Italian swimming championships in freestyle and mixed relay teams. As a professional swimmer in his youth, Spencer was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute. He achieved this on 19 September 1950 in Salsomaggiore, when he swam the 100 m in 59.5 s.[6] In 1949 he made his international debut and a year later he was called up for the European championships in Vienna where he swam in two finals, fifth in the 100 m and fourth in the relay 4 × 200 m.

In the 1951 Mediterranean Games in Alexandria (Egypt), he won a silver medal in the same 100 m freestyle event.[1][7] Pedersoli participated in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m freestyle (58.8 s heats, 58.9 s semi final).[8] Four years later, in Melbourne, he also entered the semi-finals in the same category (58.5 s heat, 59.0 s semi final).[1][9]

In the summer of 1960 he participated in the Olympic Games in Rome.

As a water polo player, he won the Italian Championship in 1954 with S.S. Lazio[1] and the gold medal at 1955 Mediterranean Games in Barcelona with the Italian national team. His swimming career ended abruptly[clarification needed] in 1957.[citation needed]

On 17 January 2005, he was awarded the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation.[10] On 24 January 2007, he received swimming and water polo coach diplomas from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli.[11]

Acting career[edit]

Pedersoli massive physique was noted by cinematography.

Pedersoli's first film role was in Quel fantasma di mio marito, an Italian comedy shot in 1949 and released in 1950.

In 1951 he played a member of the Praetorian Guard in Quo Vadis, a famous epic film shot in Italy made by MGM and directed by Mervyn LeRoy.[2] Later he played occasionally in minor pieces, the best known of which was Mario Monicelli's movie A Hero of Our Times, with Alberto Sordi. In 1954 he played, with Raf Vallone, in the war film Human Torpedoes.

During the 1950s and part of the 1960s, Spencer appeared in some Italian films but "his career was strictly minor league until the late 1960s."[2]

In 1960, after the Summer Olympic games, Pedersoli married Maria Amato, daughter of the famous Italian film producer Giuseppe Amato[12] (La dolce vita), but initially he was not interested in cinema; nevertheless he signed a contract with RCA Records to write lyrics for famous Italian singers, such as Ornella Vanoni and Nico Fidenco and some soundtracks. In the following years, his son Giuseppe was born (1961), followed by Christiana (1962), his contract with RCA expired and his father-in-law died (1964). This situation made Pedersoli to change his life, becoming a producer of documentaries for the national public broadcasting company RAI.

In 1967 film director Giuseppe Colizzi offered him a role in God Forgives... I Don't!, but initially he refused, asking more money to play. The conversation with the film director had not gone particularly well then, because Pedersoli had not yet grown the beard and was poor at horseriding. Despite that, the director could not find anyone else with his physical structure, so after some time he recalled the guy, offering him the role with the economic conditions that Pedersoli had requested. On the set, he met another unknown young actor, Mario Girotti (Terence Hill). The film director asked the two actors to change their names, deeming them to be too Italian-sounding for a Western movie: Pedersoli chose Bud Spencer to pay homage to Spencer Tracy as well as his favorite beer, Budweiser.[13]

Spencer had met his future film partner, Terence Hill, on the set of Hannibal in 1959. They went on to become a film duo. While Hill's characters were agile and youthful, Spencer always played the "phlegmatic, grumpy strong-arm man with a blessed, naive child's laughter and a golden heart".[14] Overall, Hill and Spencer worked together on over 20 films, including (named using their most common U.S. titles):

  1. Hannibal (1959), as Carlo Pedersoli together with Mario Girotti
  2. God Forgives... I Don't! (1967), first time as Bud Spencer together with Terence Hill
  3. Ace High (1968)
  4. Boot Hill (1969)
  5. They Call Me Trinity (1970)
  6. Blackie the Pirate (1971)
  7. Trinity Is Still My Name (1971)
  8. All the Way, Boys (1972)
  9. Watch Out, We're Mad (1974)
  10. Two Missionaries (1975)
  11. Crime Busters (1976)
  12. Odds and Evens (1978)
  13. I'm For the Hippopotamus (1979)
  14. Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure (1981)
  15. Go For It! (1983)
  16. Double Trouble (1984)
  17. Miami Supercops (1985)
  18. Troublemakers (1994)

Films with Spencer alone include:

  1. The Five Man Army (1969)
  2. The Fifth Day of Peace (1969)
  3. It Can Be Done Amigo (1972)
  4. Flatfoot (1973)
  5. They Call Him Bulldozer (1978)
  6. The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (1979)
  7. Everything Happens to Me (1980)
  8. Banana Joe (1982)
  9. Bomber (1982)
  10. Superfantagenio (1986)

Many of these have alternative titles, depending upon the country and distributor. Some have longer Italian versions that were edited for release abroad. These films gathered popularity for both actors, especially in Europe.[2] In an interview, Spencer said: "Terence is like a brother to me, and like brothers we don't always agree, and he can be a pain in the neck sometimes." [laughs] "... our relationship I suppose is reflected in our movies, but he can always count on me as I can on him. We always enjoyed working together, probably why we made so many films together."[citation needed]

The main dubber of Bud Spencer in Italy is Glauco Onorato who, with his characteristic voice, successfully enriched the character of Bud Spencer. Sergio Fiorentini dubbed Spencer in Troublemakers, To the Limit (1997) and the series of Detective Extralarge, (1991–93) while in the movie Everything Happens to Me the dubber is Ferruccio Amendola.[citation needed]

Spencer wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his movies. His feature film career slowed down after 1983, shifting more toward television. In the 1990s, he acted in the Television action-drama Extralarge. His autobiography was published by Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf in 2011. In addition, Spencer also published a recipe book including his favorite dishes.[15]

Political career[edit]

In 2005, he entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as regional counselor in Lazio for the Forza Italia party. Spencer stated: "In my life, I've done everything. There are only three things I haven't been – a ballet dancer, a jockey and a politician. Given that the first two jobs are out of the question, I'll throw myself into politics."[2] The opposition criticised him for engaging in "politica spettacolo" ("showbiz politics").[2]

Personal life[edit]

Spencer married Maria Amato in 1960, with whom he had three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972). After appearing in Più forte, ragazzi!, Spencer became a jet airplane and helicopter pilot.[2] He established Mistral Air in 1984, an air-mail company that also transports pilgrims, but later sold it to Poste Italiane.[16]

Death[edit]

Spencer died aged 86 on 27 June 2016 in Rome. As son Giuseppe Pedersoli stated, his father "died without pain in presence of his family and his last word was 'grazie'".[17] He was survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.[13]

Filmography[edit]

Title Date Role
Quo Vadis (as Carlo Pedersoli) 1951 Imperial Guard
Siluri umani (English title: Human Torpedoes) (as Carlo Pederzoli) 1954 Magrini
Un Eroe dei nostri tempi (English title: A Hero of Our Times) (as Carlo Pedersoli) 1955 Fernando
Il Cocco di mamma (English title: Mamma's Boy) (as Carlo Pedersoli) 1957 Oscar
A Farewell to Arms (as Carlo Pedersoli) 1957 Carabiniere
Annibale (English title: Hannibal) (as Carlo Pedersoli) 1960
Dio perdona... Io no! (English title: God Forgives... I Don't!) 1967 Hutch Bessy
Oggi a me... domani a te! (English title: Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die) 1968 O'Bannion
Al di là della legge (English title: Beyond the Law) 1968 James Cooper
Ace High (Italian title: I Quattro dell'Ave Maria) 1968 Hutch Bessy
Dio è con noi (English title: The Fifth Day of Peace) 1969 Cpl. Jelinek
Un Esercito di cinque uomini (English title: The Five Man Army) 1969 Mesito
La Collina degli stivali (English title: Boot Hill) 1969 Hutch Bessy
Lo chiamavano Trinità (English title: They Call Me Trinity) 1970 Bambino
Il corsaro nero (English title: Blackie the Pirate) 1971 Skull
...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità (English title: Trinity Is Still My Name) 1971 Bambino
4 mosche di velluto grigio (English title: Four Flies on Grey Velvet) 1971 Godfrey "God"
Torino nera (English title: Black Turin) 1972 Rosario Rao
Più forte, ragazzi! (English title: All the Way Boys) 1972 Salud
Si può fare... amigo (English title: It Can Be Done Amigo) 1972 Hiram Coburn
Una Ragione per vivere e una per morire (English title: A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die) 1972 Eli Sampson
Anche gli angeli mangiano fagioli (English title: Even Angels Eat Beans) 1973 Charlie Smith
Piedone lo sbirro (English title: Flatfoot) 1973 Inspector "Flatfoot" Rizzo
Porgi l'altra guancia (English title: Two Missionaries) 1974 Father/Padre Pedro
Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo (English title: Watch Out, We're Mad) 1974 Ben
Piedone a Hong Kong (English title: Flatfoot in Hong Kong) 1975 Inspector "Flatfoot" Rizzo
Il soldato di ventura (English title: Soldier of Fortune) 1976 Hector Fieramosca
Charleston 1977 Charleston
I due superpiedi quasi piatti (English title: Crime Busters) 1977 Wilbur Walsh
Piedone l'africano (English title: Flatfoot in Africa aka The Knock-Out Cop) 1978 Inspector "Flatfoot" Rizzo
Lo chiamavano Bulldozer (English title: They Called Him Bulldozer) 1978 Bulldozer
Pari e dispari (English title: Odds and Evens) 1978 Charlie Firpo
Uno sceriffo extraterrestre – poco extra e molto terrestre (English title: The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid) 1979 Sceriffo Scott (Sheriff Hall)
Piedone d'Egitto (English title: Flatfoot in Egypt) 1979 Inspector 'Flatfoot' Rizzo
Io sto con gli ippopotami (English title: I'm for the Hippopotamus) 1979 Tom
Chissà perché... capitano tutte a me (English title: Everything Happens to Me) 1980 Sheriff Hall
Occhio alla penna (English title: Buddy Goes West) 1981 Buddy
Chi trova un amico, trova un tesoro (English title: Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure) 1981 Charlie O'Brien
Cane e gatto (English title: Cat and Dog) 1982 Sergeant Parker
Banana Joe 1982 Banana Joe
Bomber 1982 Bud Graziano
Nati con la camicia (English title: Go for It) 1983 Doug O'Riordan alias Mason
Double Trouble (Italian title: Non c'è due senza quattro) 1984 Greg Wonder/Antonio Coimbra de la Coronilla y Azevedo
Miami Supercops 1985 Steve Forest
Superfantagenio (USA title: Aladdin) 1986 Genie
Big Man (TV Series) 1988–1989 Jack Clementi
Extralarge (TV Series) 1990–1993 Jack "Extralarge" Costello
Un piede in paradiso (English title: Standing in Paradise aka Speaking of the Devil) 1991 John "Bull" Webster
Botte di Natale (English title: The Fight Before Christmas aka Troublemakers) 1994 Moses
Noi siamo angeli (English title: We Are Angels) (Mini TV Series) 1997 Orso
Fuochi d'artificio (English title: Fireworks) 1997 The blind singer
Al limite (English title: To the Limit) 1997 Elorza
Hijos del viento (English title: Sons of the Wind) 2000 Quintero
Tre per sempre (English title: 3–4 Ever) 2002 Bops
Cantando dietro i paraventi (English title: Singing Behind Screens) 2003 Il vecchio capitano
Padre Speranza (English title: Father Hope) (TV) 2005 Padre Speranza
Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling (English title: Murder Is My Business, Honey) 2009 Pepe
I delitti del cuoco (TV Series) 2010 Carlo Banci

Writer[edit]

  • Banana Joe (1982, credited as Carlo Pedersoli)
  • Big Man (credited as Carlo Pedersoli)
    • La Fanciulla che ride (1988) (TV)
    • Diva (1989) (TV)
    • Boomerang (1989) (TV)
  • Extralarge (credited as Carlo Pedersoli)
    • Ninja Shadow (1993) (TV)
    • Diamonds (1993) (TV)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Carlo Pedersoli. sports-reference.com
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bud Spencer on imdb.com[unreliable source?]
  3. ^ Ilaria Galateria (2015-04-16). "Pronto, parlo con Bud Spencer?" (in Italian). 
  4. ^ "Carlo Pedersoli: Cartão de imigração". familysearch.org (in Portuguese). 
  5. ^ Edgar Welzel (2012-06-21). "Meu encontro com Bud Spencer". revistabula.com (in Portuguese). Bula Revista. 
  6. ^ "Italian swimming records". agendadiana.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2007. 
  7. ^ Mediterranean Games, 1951. agendadiana.com
  8. ^ Helsinki 1952 official report. la84foundation.org.
  9. ^ Melbourne 1956 official report. la84foundation.org.
  10. ^ Fomiconi e Pedersoli Caimano d'Oro. federnuoto.it (17 January 2005) (Italian)
  11. ^ Coach Spencer Le foto più belle. federnuoto.it (30 January 2007) (Italian)
  12. ^ "Bud Spencer :" Totò è diventato uno scenziato di tutto ciò"". libero.it (in Italian). 
  13. ^ a b http://www.euronews.com/2016/06/27/italian-actor-and-filmmaker-bud-spencer-dies-at-the-age-of-86/
  14. ^ Translated from German: pflegmatischen, bärbeißigen Haudrauf mit dem selig-naiven Kinderlächeln und dem goldenen Herzen Tagesspiegel
  15. ^ Bud Spencer at Schwarzkopf&Schwarzkopf
  16. ^ Mistral Air
  17. ^ "Cinema, è morto Bud Spencer, il grande buono del cinema italiano". La Repubblica. June 27, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016. 

External links[edit]


Authority control
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