Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich; 15 July 1935) is a retired Croatian-Italian actor. He found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns, where he was often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson. He is perhaps best known for his lead role as Sartana, starting with the first official film If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death and starring in three sequels as this character.
After appearing in Space: 1999 (1975) as Tony Cellini in the episode "Dragon's Domain", Garko concentrated more on television, theatre, and TV commercials. Although established in Europe, he remained little known in America. In an interview, Garko mentioned that he had turned down the lead role in Pretty Baby (1978) with Brooke Shields.
Garko continued to appear regularly on Italian television well into the new millennium. He played Tancredi Lombardi in 52 episodes of the 2016-2017 teen sitcom Maggie & Bianca: Fashion Friends.
Gordon Mitchell was an American actor and bodybuilder who made about 200 B movies.
Sartana is a series of Spaghetti Western films which follows the adventures of the title character, a gunfighter and gambler who uses mechanical gadgets and seemingly supernatural powers to trick his rivals. The series features five official entries: If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968), I am Sartana, Your Angel of Death (1969), Sartana's Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay and Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming. The first film was directed by Gianfranco Parolini, with the remaining four directed by Giuliano Carnimeo. Sartana is portrayed by Gianni Garko in all films in the series except for Sartana's Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, in which he was portrayed by George Hilton.
George Hilton was a Uruguayan actor well known for his many spaghetti Western performances. Sometimes credited as Jorge Hilton, he appeared in over 20 Euro-Westerns as well as several giallo and action films.
Luis Induni was an Italian film actor of the 1950s 1960s and 1970s.
If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death is a 1968 Spaghetti Western film directed by Gianfranco Parolini. The film stars Gianni Garko, William Berger, Fernando Sancho and Klaus Kinski, and features a musical score by Piero Piccioni.
Gianfranco Parolini was an Italian film director. He is often credited as Frank Kramer. Among his films are The Sabata Trilogy, several sword and sandal films, most of the Kommissar X films and a number of Spaghetti Westerns.
Federico Boido, was an Italian film actor who appeared in many horror films, Spaghetti Westerns, and sword and sandal movies. He also acted in the Sadistik photo novels and related his experiences in the film The Diabolikal Super-Kriminal.
Blood at Sundown is a Spaghetti Western film directed by Alberto Cardone. The film is notable as the primary inspiration for the Sartana film series, starring Gianni Garko as a antiheroic incarnation of the villainous character he previously portrayed in Blood at Sundown.
Ivano Staccioli was an Italian film actor.
Ettore Manni was an Italian actor, active in film and television from 1952 and 1979. He was a popular leading man during the 1950’s and ‘60s, when he was a star of the peplum genre. In the following decade, he primarily played supporting roles, with his last appearance in Federico Fellini's City of Women (1980).
Luciano Pigozzi, also known professionally as Alan Collins, was an Italian character actor. A long-time staple of Italian genre cinema, Pigozzi was noted for his resemblance to Peter Lorre and appeared in such films as Human Cobras, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman, Blood and Black Lace, Libido and perhaps his goriest role in Baron Blood.
Luciano Rossi was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 67 films between 1966 and 1987.
Franco Ressel was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1961 and 1985.
Django is a fictional character who appears in a number of Spaghetti Western films. Originally played by Franco Nero in the 1966 Italian film of the same name by Sergio Corbucci, he has appeared in 31 films since then. Especially outside of the genre's home country Italy, mainly Germany, countless releases have been retitled in the wake of the original film's enormous success.
Giorgio Ardisson, best known as George Ardisson, was an Italian actor.
Giuliano Carnimeo was an Italian director and screenwriter, sometimes credited as Anthony Ascott or Antony Ascot.
Aldo Addobbati was an Italian film producer. In 1968 he produced Gianfranco Parolini's Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte, a western starring Gianni Garko, William Berger, Fernando Sancho and Klaus Kinski. He followed this by producing another of Parolini's and Kinski's in 1969 with the war picture 5 per l'inferno and he also co-produced the western Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino with Paolo Moffa. The film was directed by Giuliano Carnimeo and starred Gianni Garko.
Gianni Rizzo (1925–1992) was an Italian film actor. Between 1944 and 1986 he appeared in over seventy films and television productions, in a variety of supporting roles.
Raffaele "Raf" Baldassarre was an Italian film actor.
Fortunato Arena was an Italian stuntman and actor who appeared in more than one hundred films from 1954 to 1989.
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