Anthony Steffen
| Anthony Steffen | |
|---|---|
 Steffen in Gunman Sent by God (1968) | |
| Born |
Antônio Luiz de Teffé von Hoonholtz July 21, 1930[1] Rome, Italy[1] |
| Died |
June 4, 2004 (aged 73) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Occupation | Actor, screenwriter, film producer |
Anthony Steffen (July 21, 1930 – June 4, 2004), born Antônio Luiz de Teffé von Hoonholtz, was an Italian Brazilian film actor, screenwriter[1] and film producer[1] who achieved fame as a leading man in Spaghetti Western features.[2]
Early life
Born Antonio Luiz de Teffé von Hoonholtz at the Brazilian embassy in Rome, in the Pamphilj Palace, his family had noble blood of a long lineage of Count (von Hoonholtz) originally from Prussia. His great grandfather was the Great Baron of Tefé. First born among Manoel de Teffe' von Hoonholtz children (Federico de Teffe' and Melissa de Teffe'), a Formula One racing champion and Brazilian Ambassador and his grandaunt was Nair de Tefé von Hoonholtz, wife of Brazilian President Hermes Fonseca, and first caricaturist of Brazil. While still a teenager, Antonio fought in World War II along the partisans against the Nazis.
Early career
Under the name Antonio de Teffé, he worked behind the scenes in several Italian productions in the early 50's and later acted in several movies, but never really achieving stardom. In 1962, he had a bit part in Sodom and Gomorrah.
Career
An early appearance of his was in the 1955 Gli Sbandati.
From 1965 to 1975, the newly named Anthony Steffen achieved considerable fame in Europe, amassing cult status, starring in 27 Spaghetti Westerns. Considered to be an "Italian Clint Eastwood", he was sometimes unfairly criticized for being a stiff or wooden actor. Several of his movies were sizeable box office hits in Europe.
Django the Bastard (aka Stranger's Gundown, 1969) a movie that was produced and written by Steffen, is considered to be an inspiration for Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter. In several of his movies, Steffen starred alongside other Spaghetti Western luminaries such as Gianni Garko, Peter Lee Lawrence, and William Berger. Outside of the Spaghetti western genre, Steffen also appeared in several Giallo movies including The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971). His roles and status diminished as the Spaghetti Western genre fell into decline. Amassing a considerable fortune from his career as an actor, Steffen embarked on a jet set lifestyle.
In his career Steffen performed alongside Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, Elke Sommer, Giuliano Gemma, Franco Nero, Gian Maria Volontè, Esmeralda Barros and many other stars of the American and Italian cinema.
Always considered a huge star in Brazil because of the Spaghetti Western popularity in the South American country, Steffen returned to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the decade of 1980, until dying of cancer in 2004. He has maintained cult-status among fans of Italian Cinema for being perhaps the most prolific Spaghetti Western Leading actor.
Selected filmography
- Beatrice Cenci (1956)
- Ragazzi del Juke-Box (1959)
- Sodom and Gomorrah (1963)
- Why Go On Killing? (1965)
- A Coffin for the Sheriff (1965)
- Blood at Sundown (1966)
- Few Dollars for Django (1966)
- Seven Dollars on the Red (1966)
- An Angel for Satan (1966)
- Gentleman Killer (1967)
- Killer Kid (1967)
- Dead Men Don't Count (1968)
- Train for Durango (1968)
- Gunman Sent by God (1968)
- A Stranger in Paso Bravo (1968)
- No Room to Die (1969)
- Django the Bastard (1969)
- Garringo (1969)
- Arizona Colt Returns (1970)
- Viva! Django (1971)
- The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971)
- Crimes of the Black Cat (1972)
- The Killers Are Our Guests (1974)
- Rome: The Other Side of Violence (1976)
- Killer Fish (1978)
- Play Motel (1979)
References
External links
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