Bud Spencer

Carlo Pedersoli, better known as Bud Spencer (Naples, October 31, 1929 - Rome, June 27, 2016), was an actor, screenwriter, Italian film producer, singer and composer. He was also an Italian swimming champion and participated in two Olympic Games. He is mainly known for his performances in films of the spaghetti western genre, in which he formed a duet with Terence Hill, also an Italian actor.

Biography

Carlo Pedersoli was born on October 31, 1929 in Borgo Santa Lucia, Campania (Naples), Italy. In 1947 his family emigrated to South America and Carlo abandoned his chemistry studies at La Sapienza University in Rome. In Buenos Aires (Argentina) he was a librarian; In Montevideo (Uruguay) he practiced as a librarian for years, and worked at the local Italian consulate. Back in Italy, he joined the national swimming team and participated in the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. In 1957 he returned to South America and worked on the construction of the Venezuela-Colombia section of the San Cristóbal-La Pan-American highway. cold. This experience allowed him to "find himself again in the limits and in his potential". Later he became part of a car dealership in Caracas until 1960.

In 1960, he married Maria Amato, with whom he had three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972). He spoke six languages.

Sports honors list

Carlo Pedersoli (Bud Spencer) at the age of 20 competing in 50 meters butterfly, in 1950.

At the age of 20, in 1949, he began swimming for the SS Lazio club, and became Italian champion of the 100-meter freestyle, a title he would win seven consecutive times. He was the first Italian swimmer to lower the wall of the minute in the 100 freestyle (September 19, 1950 in Salsomaggiore – with a mark of 59.5). He was an Olympic semifinalist in Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956, and a member of the "Settebello" of the 50s in water polo.

From 1949 to 1956 he was a seven-time Italian champion in the 100-meter freestyle. He represented Italy at the 1951 Mediterranean Games (where he won two silver medals), at the 1955 Mediterranean Games (he won the gold medal with the Italian water polo team), at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games. During his stay in Venezuela, he participated with the national team in the III Gran Colombiano Swimming Championship, held in Caracas, in 1959.

Film career

His first film appearance was in Quo Vadis? (1950), playing a guard for the Roman Empire. He changed his name to Bud Spencer in 1967 because he liked Spencer Tracy and Budweiser beer. With that name, he starred in his first film with fellow Italian actor Terence Hill, in the film God forgives... I don't (1967), from which both starred in two sequels. The leading couple of spaghetti westerns achieved their first great success with They Called Her Trinidad (1971), which, although set in the Wild West, already exemplified the artistic paths they followed. then his career would unfold: humorous cinema with cathartic endings based on blows, and with a duality in the characters based on the expeditious force and direct action of Bud against the audacious and manipulative Terence. This film was followed by They kept calling him Trinidad (1972) and, thirdly, And later they called him the Magnificent (1972) which, due to the title, generated the idea erroneously, that it was a trilogy.

Others

Carlo Pedersoli was also the author of the songs for some of the films in which he participated as an actor.

His passion for aeronautics led him to obtain a private pilot's license, both for a small plane and a helicopter. In 1981 he founded the cargo airline Mistral Air, which now belongs to the Italian Post.

In 2009 he made a television commercial for Bancaja, which was accompanied by the song Born to be alive. Its style is reminiscent of the films recorded in the seventies together with Terence Hill, as was the case with Two Supercops.

In 2010 he received, together with Terence Hill, the David de Donatello Award, awarded by the Italian Film Academy, for his artistic career.

Death

He passed away at his home in Rome at 6:15 p.m. on Monday, June 27, 2016. According to his son Giuseppe Pedersoli, his last word was "Thank you."

Filmography

Solo

Giuliano Gemma and Bud Spencer in a frame Also angels eat beans.

Co-starring Terence Hill

Terence Hill and Bud Spencer in a frame of one of his titles together.