William Berger
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)
- 1961: Paris terminus (Back Street)
- 1964: Colonel von Ryans Express (Von Ryans Express)
- 1966: El Cisco (El Cisco)
- 1966: La grande notte di Ringo
- 1967: Face to Face (Faccia a faccia)
- 1967: The day on which the fish came (The Day the Fish Came Out)
- 1968: Today I ... tomorrow you! (Oggi a me… domani a te)
- 1968: Django speaks the night prayer (Il suo nome gridava vendetta)
- 1968: Sartana - Pray for your death (… Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte)
- 1968: freckles
- 1969: Django and Sartana, the deadly two (Una lunga fila di croci)
- 1969: Sabata (Ehi amico… c'è Sabata, hai chiuso!)
- 1970: The Feared (Sartana nella valle degli avvoltoi)
- 1971: A hallelujah for Camposanto (Gli fumavano le colt… lo chiamavano Camposanto!)
- 1972: Una colt in mano al diavolo
- 1972: Il giustiziere di Dio
- 1972: I, the nun and the swine dogs (Io monaca… per tre carogne e sette peccatrici)
- 1973: … altrimenti vi ammucchiamo
- 1973: Crow (... E il terzo giorno arrivo il Corvo)
- 1973: Damn this America
- 1973: Zorro junior (Il figlio di Zorro)
- 1974: In the shadow of the murderer (La Noche de los asesinos)
- 1975: Parapsycho - Spectrum of Fear
- 1976: Keoma (Keoma)
- 1977: Love letters from a Portuguese nun
- 1977: The man from Virginia (California)
- 1979: The Dead Tasters
- 1979: Santa Lucia
- 1980: The Day of the Cobra (Il giorno del Cobra)
- 1982: Diamond Connection (Diamond Connection)
- 1982: The girl from Trieste (La ragazza di Trieste)
- 1982: Giuseppe Verdi - An Italian Legend (Verdi)
- 1982: He - stronger than fire and iron (La guerra del ferro - Ironmaster)
- 1983: Hercules (Ercole) - Director: Luigi Cozzi
- 1984: Monster Shark (Shark: Rosso nell'oceano)
- 1985: The Adventures of Hercules Part 2 (The Adventures of Hercules)
- 1985: Christopher Columbus
- 1985: Targets
- 1985: Tex and the secret of the grottoes of death (Tex e il Signore degli abissi)
- 1986: The death of Empedocles
- 1986: Tarot
- 1987: Django's return (Django 2: il grande ritorno)
- 1988: Brother from Space (Hermano del espacio)
- 1988: Top Line - The Secret of the Aztec Mountain (Top Line)
- 1989: Maya (Maya)
- 1990: Dr. M.
- 1991: Buck's greatest adventure (Buck ai confini del cielo)
Web links
- William Berger in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Interview on Splatting Image
Individual evidence
- ↑ Enrico Lancia, Fabio Melelli: Dictionnaire del cinema italiano. Attori stranieri del nostro cinema. Gremese 2006, pp. 29/30
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Berger, William |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Berger, Wilhelm Thomas (real name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian actor |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 20, 1928 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Innsbruck , Tyrol |
DATE OF DEATH | 2nd October 1993 |
Place of death | Los Angeles , California |