Gian Maria Volontè
Gender: Male
Born: 9th April 1933
Died: 6th December 1994
Movies: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, L'armata Brancalone, Le Cercle Rouge, Open Doors, A Bullet for the General, The Mattei Affair, The Working Class Goes to Heaven, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Faccia a faccia, Sacco e Vanzetti, Funes, un gran amor, Christ Stopped at Eboli, Operación Ogro, Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, We Still Kill the Old Way, Bandits in Milan, Todo modo, The Death of Mario Ricci, The Abyss, Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis, Lucky Luciano, Many Wars Ago, The Witch, Girl with a Suitcase, Pestalozzi's Mountain, The Moro Affair, A cavallo della tigre
Gian Maria Volonté (9 April 1933 – 6 December 1994) was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (credited in the USA as "Johnny Wels") and For a Few Dollars More.
Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957. He had a brief career as a television and theatre (Shakespeare, Goldoni) actor, before concentrating on his film career.
He made his debut in 1960 in with Sotto dieci bandiere, directed by Duilio Coletti. Just four years later, Volonté played "Ramón Rojo" in A Fistful of Dollars (1964), and "El Indio" in For a Few Dollars More (1965), both for cash reasons as he did not consider either role seriously. Both films were directed by the then-unknown Sergio Leone, and Volonté's roles in them would bring him his greatest recognition from American audiences. He also played the memorable role of the Bandito-turned-guerrilla, El Chucho, in A Bullet for the General (1966).
His performances as memorable but neurotic characters, or as a gifted leader of brigands or revolutionaries, together with the unexpected, worldwide success of the films, gave him international fame. Volonté had
(This is information generated from a Wikipedia article, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.)
Internet Movie Database