TRIBUTE TO GIULIANO GEMMA (1938-2013)-OMAGGIO A GIULIANO GEMMA- MUSIC:CLAUDIO COLLINO
Giuliano Gemma was born in
Rome on
2 September 1938, grew up in
Reggio Emilia but came back to Rome with his parents in
1944. While he was playing on the grass he found a
WW II bomb that exploded and today the signs of injury are still visible on his face. He practiced many sports in his life, boxing, gymnastics, tennis etc
. In the early years of his youth he discovered a great passion for the cinema, he knew the most important
Italian actors and his idle
Burt Lancaster and decided to start acting. In the beginning, he worked as stunt-man, then the director,
Duccio Tessari, gave him the first role as protagonist in the film "Arrivano i Titani". However, his first big opportunity came with the important Italian director,
Luchino Visconti, where he played the role of the "
General". This was followed by important roles in "
Angelica", and the first spaghetti western films where he often worked under the name of
Montgomery Wood. Then he played his most important roles in
Il deserto dei Tartari and il Prefetto di
Ferro. He won important prizes like
Festival of Karlovy Vary and the Grolla d'Oro in San
Vincent Festival.
Gemma later went on to star in spaghetti westerns, where he enjoyed great success playing the hero in films such as
A Pistol for Ringo (
Una pistola per Ringo),
Blood for a Silver Dollar (
Un dollaro bucato) and
Day of Anger (
I giorni dell'ira). He was sometimes credited as Montgomery Wood. Giuliano Gemma's career survived the demise of the genre, and he remained active on
Italian television.
Gemma had played in a variety of movies, including art-house offerings such as
Valerio Zurlini's
Desert of
Tartars (Il deserto dei tartari) in
1976. The same year, Gemma won a
David di Donatello, the Italian equivalent of the
Oscar, for his portrayal of
Major Matiss in Desert of
Tartars.[1]
Gemma was also starring in a web comic named "Man
Born Again" (
2012) by Eclypsed
Word.[2]
His daughter,
Vera Gemma, is also an actress. Giuliano Gemma also worked as a sculptor.
On 1
October 2013, Gemma died following a car accident near Rome. He was taken to a hospital in
Civitavecchia and pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. Two other passengers, a man and his son, were also injured in the accident.
Venezia, la luna e tu (
1958) di
Dino Risi
Arrangiatevi! (
1959)
Io amo
...tu ami (
1961)
Arrivano i titani (1962)
Il Gattopardo (1962)
Shéhérazade (
1963)
Il giorno più corto (1963)
Maciste l'eroe più grande del mondo (1963)
I due gladiatori (1963)
Angelica (
1964)
La rivolta dei pretoriani (1964)
Una pistola per Ringo (1964)
Erik il vikingo (1964)
Adiós gringo (
1965)
Angelica alla corte del re (1965)
Un dollaro bucato (1965)
La ragazzola (1965)
Il ritorno di Ringo (1965)
Arizona Colt (1966)
Per pochi dollari ancora (1966)
Kiss Kiss...
Bang Bang (
1967)
I lunghi giorni della vendetta (1967)
Wanted (1967)
I giorni dell'ira (1967)
Sons of Satan (
1968)
A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof (1968)
Sundance and the Kid (
1969)
Blow Hot, Blow Cold (1969)
The Price of Power (1969)
When Women Had Tails (
1970)
Ben and Charlie (
1972)
The Master Touch (1972)
Even Angels Eat Beans (
1973)
Somewhere Beyond Love (
1974)
Anche gli angeli tirano di destro (
1974)
Il bianco, il giallo, il nero (1974)
Africa Express (
1975)
Safari Express (1976)
Il deserto dei Tartari (1976)
Il prefetto di ferro (
1977)
California (1977)
Closed Circuit (1978)
Corleone (1978)
Il grande attacco (1978)
Sella d'argento (1978)
A Man on His Knees (
1980)
The Warning (1980)
Ciao nemico (
1981)
Tenebre (
1982)
Claretta (
1984)
Tex e il signore degli abissi (
1985)
Speriamo che sia femmina (
1986)
Rally (1986)
Melancholy of
Florence (
1990)
Non ci sono più uomini (
1991)
Un bel di vedremo (
1996)
Un uomo per bene (
1999)
La donna del delitto (
2000)
Giovanna la pazza (
2001)
To Rome With Love (2012)