Celebrity Biographies
Giuliano Gemma
Giuliano Gemma triumphed as the protagonist of various representative films of the spaghetti western. The actor died at the age of 75 as a result of a traffic accident, in Civitavecchia (Rome), on October 1, 2013. Gemma collided head-on with another vehicle driven by a man and his son, who are out of danger.
Born in the Italian capital on September 2, 1938, Giuliano Gemma practiced boxing in his youth, and later worked as a firefighter. Later, he entered the world of cinema as a specialist.
He had a small role in the entertaining comedy Venice, the moon and you , by Dino Risi , where he played a gondolier, a companion of the protagonist, the great Alberto Sordi , with whom he appeared in a dance sequence. Later he became a Roman officer who accompanied Messala in Ben-Hur (1959) , where he did not even appear in the credits, and appeared in Boccaccio 70 , as Hercules, and in Luchino Visconti ‘s The Leopard , as a general from Garibaldi.
Starting in the mid-60s, he triumphed in the spaghetti western after A Gun for Ringo , from 1965, so popular that he would shoot a sequel, The Return of Ringo . He co-starred with Lee Van Cleef in The Day of Wrath , and was one of the leads in Sergio Corbucci ‘s The White, Yellow, or Black , which also starred Eli Wallach . In his film California, from 1977, a very young Miguel Bosé participated .
He also delved into other genres such as when he shot the adventure film Erik the Viking (1965) , by Mario Calino, the gangster comedy Angels Also Eat Beans , alongside Bud Spencer , or the horror film Tinieblas (Tenebre) , by Dario Argento .
At the end of his career, he took part in Juana la loca , by Vicente Aranda , where he was a nobleman, the lord of Veyre. In 2012 he played a hotel manager in Woody Allen ‘s To Rome with Love .
In addition to being an actor, he was fond of sculpting. “Sculpture”, he commented, “is a passion that I have cultivated since I was a child. I have been lucky enough to meet great artists such as Attardi, Tommei, Ferroni and Robazza, but perhaps it is an activity that also suits me because I am good at crafts It is probably something hereditary: I descend from a family of artisans, my father was a barber and my grandfather was a shoemaker”.
Giuliano Gemma is survived by his wife, Baba Richerme , and their two daughters, Giuliana Gemma and Vera Gemma, also an actress.