William Berger

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William Berger (actually Wilhelm Thomas Berger ; born January 20, 1928 in Innsbruck , † October 2, 1993 in Los Angeles , California ) was an Austrian actor who was mainly seen in spaghetti westerns and other genre films.

Life

Berger grew up in a wealthy family of doctors who fled to the United States from northern Italy, where they were on vacation, at the outbreak of World War II. He graduated from Columbia University , where he was also a member of the athletics team and participated in the eliminations for the 1948 Olympic Games . After three years of military service, u. a. in Korea, and after marrying Marjorie, he turned to acting (after a short time working for IBM ); he first worked on Broadway , where he played regularly and successfully in plays until the late 1950s.

After an unsuccessful attempt, accompanied by marital problems, to establish himself in Hollywood in film, he returned to New York City and took part in a European tour. His new partner Carol Lobrivaco was also part of the ensemble that performed in London, Munich and Rome and also experimented with drugs. In Italy, Berger was hired in 1965 for a role in the American film Colonel by Ryan's Express . After a short return to the States, he shot again in Italy; Break Up was directed by Marco Ferreris . Berger stayed in Italy and many roles, especially westerns , followed, including Face to Face (1967), Sartana - Pray for Your Death (1968), Sabata (1969) and Keoma (1975). In the course of his career he has appeared in over a hundred films.

In the early 1970s, Berger and his wife were in an Italian prison for drug possession for some time, where Carolyn died. After his release in March 1971, he continued his acting career. Two more marriages followed. The significantly aged actor was seen in numerous, mostly commercially oriented works until his death from cancer in 1993. Four of his children (from just as many marriages) are or were also active in acting.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Enrico Lancia, Fabio Melelli: Dictionnaire del cinema italiano. Attori stranieri del nostro cinema. Gremese 2006, pp. 29/30