Bud Spencer

Bud Spencer (born Carlo Pedersoli on 31 October 1929) is an Italian actor, filmmaker, former swimmer (he was the first Italian to swim 100m in less than a minute). He is known for his height at 194 cm (6ft 4 1/2in) and his past roles in spaghetti westerns. Growing from a successful swimmer in his youth, he got a degree in law, and has registered several patents.^[1]

Biography

Spencer was born in Santa Lucia, a historical rione of the city of Naples. He married Maria Amato in 1960, with whom he had three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972). He changed his screen name in 1967 reportedly chosen to pay homage to Spencer Tracy as well as his favorite American beer, Budweiser. Other sources report that he found it funny to call himself "bud" despite his weight and his height at 1.94 m^[1].

Swimming and water polo career

A successful 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, when he swam the 100 m in 59.5 s.^[2] In the 1951 Mediterranean Games, he won a silver medal in the same 100m freestyle event.^[3]

Spencer participated in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m freestyle (58.8 s heats, 58.9 s semi final).^[4] Four years later, in Melbourne, he also entered the semi-finals in the same category (58.5 s heat, 59.0 s semi final).^[5] As a water polo player, he won the Italian Championship in 1954, with S.S. Lazio. His swimming career ended abruptly in 1957.

On 17 January 2005 he was awarded with the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation.^[6] On 24 January 2007, he received from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli, swim and water polo coach diplomas.^[7]

Acting career

Spencer's first movie role was that of a member of the Praetorian guard in Quo Vadis, a film shot in Italy, in 1951.^[1] 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."^[1]

Spencer met Terence Hill, with whom he made a large number of Italian Westerns and other films together, including (named using their most common US titles):

1. Hannibal (1959)
2. God Forgives... I Don't! (1967)
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 in solo performance include:

1. The Five Man Army (1969)
2. They Call Him Bulldozer (1978)
3. The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (1979)
4. Everything Happens to Me (1980)
5. Banana Joe (1982)
6. Superfantagenio (1986)

Many of these have alternate 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.^[1]

The main dubber of Bud Spencer in Italy is Glauco Onorato, who with his characteristic voice, successfully enriched the character of Bud Spencer with many particularities. In some movies the dubber is Sergio Fiorentini (Botte di Natale, Al limite and the series of Detective Extralarge). In the movie Oggi a te domani a me the dubber is Ferruccio Amendola

Spencer also wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his movies. His fan base is particularly large in Europe. His feature film career slowed down after 1983, shifting more toward television. In the 1990s he acted in the TV action-drama "Extralarge".

Personal life

After appearing in Più forte, ragazzi!, Spencer became a jet airplane and helicopter pilot^[1]. He established Mistral Air in 1984, an air-mail company that also transports pilgrims, but later sold it to Poste Italiane to buy a textile mill that produced clothes for children.

Career in politics

In 2005, Pedersoli entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as regional counselor in Lazio for the Forza Italia party. Spencer has 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."^[1] The opposition criticised him for engaging in "politica spettacolo" ("showbiz politics").^[1]

Filmography

Writer: 1990s

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

(in the 1980s, he was credited as Carlo Pedersoli)

Image gallery

Pedersoli (right) with the Olympic swimmer Angelo Romani

The Italian water polo team, early 50s

Left to right: Geminio Ognio, Carlo Pedersoli, Sirio Banchelli, Pennecchini

Left to right: Paolo Galletti, Carlo Pedersoli, Angelo Romani, Osvaldo Berti, Giorgio Grilz

Footnotes

External links

• Bud Spencer at the Internet Movie Database
• Budterence.it - Bud Spencer & Terence Hill Italian Website (Italian)
• Spencer & Hill videos
• "Berlusconi picks film cowboy as his sidekick", telegraph.co.uk, 16 February 2005, Bruce Johnston
• Hill & Spencer website (French)
• Carlo Pedersoli at sports-reference.com

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