Huge Italian actor Bud Spencer (1929) with his trademark black beard was the popular star of many Spaghetti Westerns and low-budget action films of the late 1960s and 1970s. In 18 films he co-starred with his long time film partner Terence Hill. In his youth, Spencer (then: Carlo Pedersoli) was also the first Italian to swim 100 m in less than a minute. He also has a degree in law, and he has registered several patents.
![Bud Spencer]()
German autograph card by BRAVO.
![Bud Spencer, Terence Hill]()
With Terence Hill. German autograph card by BRAVO.
![Bud Spencer]()
Italian postcard. Promotional card for Io Sto Con Gli Ippopotami/I'm for the Hippopotamus (Italo Zingarelli, 1979).
Bud Spencer was born Carlo Pedersoli in Santa Lucia, a historical part of the city of Naples, in 1929.
He was educated as an attorney and holds a Juris Doctor degree, but Carlo was bitten by the acting bug. His first film role was that of a member of the Praetorian guard in the MGM epic Quo Vadis (Mervyn Leroy, 1951), shot in Italy.
During the 1950s, he appeared in minor parts in various films made for the Italian market, including Un eroe dei nostri tempi/A Hero of Our Times (Mario Monicelli, 1955) with Alberto Sordi.
Pedersoli was also a successful swimmer. In 1950, he was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute (59.5 s). In the 1951 Mediterranean Games, he won a silver medal in the same 100 m freestyle event.
He participated in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m freestyle (58.8 s heats, 58.9 s semi final). Four years later, in Melbourne, he also entered the semi-finals in the same category (58.5 s heat, 59.0 s semi final).
As a water polo player, he won the Italian Championship in 1954, with S.S. Lazio. His swimming career ended abruptly in 1957.
He appeared in some more Italian films such as Annibale/Hannibal (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1959) starring Victor Mature, but his film career stayed minor league.
![Bud Spencer]()
Italian postcard by Alterocca, Ferni.
![Mario Girotti (Terence Hill)]()
Terence Hill. Italian postcard by Alterocca, Ferni.
In 1967 Carlo Pedersoli changed his screen name to Bud Spencer. Reportedly he chose this pseudonym to pay homage to Hollywood star Spencer Tracy as well as his favourite Czech American beer, Budweiser. Other sources report that he found it funny to call himself ‘Bud’ despite his weight and his height at 1.94 m.
With Terence Hill a.k.a. Mario Girotti, he appeared in the Spaghetti Western Dio perdona... Io no!/God Forgives... I Don't! (Giuseppe Colizzi, 1967).
Their pairing was a coincidence while a foot injury had forced lead actor Peter Martell (Pietro Martellanza) off the picture. Terence Hill took over the part of the pistolero Cat Stevens, and the rest is history.
Their dual outings made both stars famous, particularly in Europe. At IMDb, reviewer Benjamin Gauss calls it one of their best films: “Although the movie has many gags and humorous parts, God Forgives... I Don't! is not one of the usual Spencer/Hill comedies, but a pretty brutal and rather serious Spaghetti Western”. However, it wasn’t their first film together, because both had also appeared in Annibale/Hannibal (1959).
After the success of Dio perdona... Io no! followed such westerns as I quattro dell'Ave Maria/Ace High (Giuseppe Colizzi, 1967) with Eli Wallach, and La collina degli stivali/Boot Hill (Giuseppe Colizzi, 1969) with Woody Strode.
Then they played two brothers in Lo chiamavano Trinità.../They Call Me Trinity (Enzo Barboni a.k.a. E.B. Clucher, 1970), a comedic spoof of the Spaghetti Western genre. The enormous success lead to the sequel ...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità/Trinity Is STILL My Name! (Enzo Barboni, 1971) with Harry Carey Jr.
Most of these films have alternate titles, depending upon the country and distributor. Some have longer Italian versions that were edited for release abroad. Hill and Spencer also appeared together in other action genres, such as in the pirate adventure Il corsaro nero/Blackie the Pirate (Lorenzo Gicca Palli, 1971), the action film ...Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo!/Watch Out, We're Mad (Marcello Fondato, 1974) with Donald Pleasence, and another actioner I due superpiedi quasi piatti/Crime Busters (Enzo Barboni, 1977).
Practically all of Spencer's roles have him playing a bearded, balding, and brawny omnipotent who usually ends a fist fight by striking a hammer-like blow on the top of his opponent's head.
![Bud Spencer and Terence Hill in Trinity is still my name (1971)]()
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for Continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità/Trinity is still my name (Enzo Barboni a.k.a. E.B. Clucher, 1971) with Terence Hill.
![Bud Spencer]()
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 53189.
![Bud Spencer and Baldwin Dakile in Piedone l'africano (1978)]()
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 43 157. Photo: publicity still for Piedone l'africano/The knock-out cop (Steno, 1978) with Baldwin Dakile.
Bud Spencer also appeared solo in many films. He played in the Spaghetti Westerns Oggi a me... domani a te!/Today It's Me (Tonino Cervi, 1968) starring Brett Halsey aka Montgomery Ford, and Un esercito di cinque uomini/The Five Man Army (Don Taylor, Italo Zingarelli, 1969) with Peter Graves.
He made a rare entry in the horror genre in 4 mosche di velluto grigio/4 Flies on Grey Velvet (Dario Argento, 1971) with Mimsy Farmer. Then Spencer played a dramatic role as a man innocently kept in prison in Torino nera/Black Turin (Carlo Lizzani, 1972) with Françoise Fabian as his wife.
Later films include the action-packed potboilers Piedone lo sbirro/Piedone, the cop (Steno, 1973), and Lo chiamavano Bulldozer/They Call Him Bulldozer (Michele Lupo, 1978) with Raimund Harmstorf. Spencer also wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his films.
His feature film career slowed down after 1983, shifting more toward television. He also became a jet airplane and helicopter pilot in 1972. He established Mistral Air in 1984, an air-mail company that also transported pilgrims. He later sold it to Poste Italiane to buy a textile mill that produced clothes for children. He also has registered several patents.
In the 1990s he acted on TV in the comic action series Extralarge (Enzo G. Castellari, 1990-1993) and Noi siamo angeli/We Are Angels (Ruggero Deodato, 1997), both with Philip Michael Thomas, best known from the 1980s TV hit Miami Vice.
His final film with Terence Hill was Botte di Natale/Troublemakers (Terence Hill, 1994).
In 2005, Pedersoli entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as regional counsellor in Lazio for the centre-right Forza Italia party. That same year he was awarded with the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation. Two years later, he received swim and water polo coach diplomas from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli.
Bud Spencer continues to appear on TV. Recently he could be seen in the Italian Giallo-comedy television series I delitti del cuoco/Recipe for Crime (Alessandro Capone, 2010) and in an episode of the American comedy series Ninja the Mission Force(2013) .
Since 1960, Carlo Pedersoli is married to Maria Amato. They have three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972).
Trailer of I quattro dell'Ave Maria/Ace High (1968). Source: spencerhilltrailer (YouTube).
Trailer of ...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità/Trinity Is STILL My Name! (1971). Source: spencerhilltrailer (YouTube).
Trailer of Non c'è due senza quattro/Double Trouble (1984, Enzo Barboni). Source: spencerhilltrailer (YouTube).
Sources: Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
German autograph card by BRAVO.
With Terence Hill. German autograph card by BRAVO.
Italian postcard. Promotional card for Io Sto Con Gli Ippopotami/I'm for the Hippopotamus (Italo Zingarelli, 1979).
Bitten By the Acting Bug
Bud Spencer was born Carlo Pedersoli in Santa Lucia, a historical part of the city of Naples, in 1929.
He was educated as an attorney and holds a Juris Doctor degree, but Carlo was bitten by the acting bug. His first film role was that of a member of the Praetorian guard in the MGM epic Quo Vadis (Mervyn Leroy, 1951), shot in Italy.
During the 1950s, he appeared in minor parts in various films made for the Italian market, including Un eroe dei nostri tempi/A Hero of Our Times (Mario Monicelli, 1955) with Alberto Sordi.
Pedersoli was also a successful swimmer. In 1950, he was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute (59.5 s). In the 1951 Mediterranean Games, he won a silver medal in the same 100 m freestyle event.
He participated in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m freestyle (58.8 s heats, 58.9 s semi final). Four years later, in Melbourne, he also entered the semi-finals in the same category (58.5 s heat, 59.0 s semi final).
As a water polo player, he won the Italian Championship in 1954, with S.S. Lazio. His swimming career ended abruptly in 1957.
He appeared in some more Italian films such as Annibale/Hannibal (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1959) starring Victor Mature, but his film career stayed minor league.
Italian postcard by Alterocca, Ferni.
Terence Hill. Italian postcard by Alterocca, Ferni.
God Forgives... I Don't!
In 1967 Carlo Pedersoli changed his screen name to Bud Spencer. Reportedly he chose this pseudonym to pay homage to Hollywood star Spencer Tracy as well as his favourite Czech American beer, Budweiser. Other sources report that he found it funny to call himself ‘Bud’ despite his weight and his height at 1.94 m.
With Terence Hill a.k.a. Mario Girotti, he appeared in the Spaghetti Western Dio perdona... Io no!/God Forgives... I Don't! (Giuseppe Colizzi, 1967).
Their pairing was a coincidence while a foot injury had forced lead actor Peter Martell (Pietro Martellanza) off the picture. Terence Hill took over the part of the pistolero Cat Stevens, and the rest is history.
Their dual outings made both stars famous, particularly in Europe. At IMDb, reviewer Benjamin Gauss calls it one of their best films: “Although the movie has many gags and humorous parts, God Forgives... I Don't! is not one of the usual Spencer/Hill comedies, but a pretty brutal and rather serious Spaghetti Western”. However, it wasn’t their first film together, because both had also appeared in Annibale/Hannibal (1959).
After the success of Dio perdona... Io no! followed such westerns as I quattro dell'Ave Maria/Ace High (Giuseppe Colizzi, 1967) with Eli Wallach, and La collina degli stivali/Boot Hill (Giuseppe Colizzi, 1969) with Woody Strode.
Then they played two brothers in Lo chiamavano Trinità.../They Call Me Trinity (Enzo Barboni a.k.a. E.B. Clucher, 1970), a comedic spoof of the Spaghetti Western genre. The enormous success lead to the sequel ...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità/Trinity Is STILL My Name! (Enzo Barboni, 1971) with Harry Carey Jr.
Most of these films have alternate titles, depending upon the country and distributor. Some have longer Italian versions that were edited for release abroad. Hill and Spencer also appeared together in other action genres, such as in the pirate adventure Il corsaro nero/Blackie the Pirate (Lorenzo Gicca Palli, 1971), the action film ...Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo!/Watch Out, We're Mad (Marcello Fondato, 1974) with Donald Pleasence, and another actioner I due superpiedi quasi piatti/Crime Busters (Enzo Barboni, 1977).
Practically all of Spencer's roles have him playing a bearded, balding, and brawny omnipotent who usually ends a fist fight by striking a hammer-like blow on the top of his opponent's head.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: publicity still for Continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità/Trinity is still my name (Enzo Barboni a.k.a. E.B. Clucher, 1971) with Terence Hill.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 53189.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 43 157. Photo: publicity still for Piedone l'africano/The knock-out cop (Steno, 1978) with Baldwin Dakile.
Extralarge
Bud Spencer also appeared solo in many films. He played in the Spaghetti Westerns Oggi a me... domani a te!/Today It's Me (Tonino Cervi, 1968) starring Brett Halsey aka Montgomery Ford, and Un esercito di cinque uomini/The Five Man Army (Don Taylor, Italo Zingarelli, 1969) with Peter Graves.
He made a rare entry in the horror genre in 4 mosche di velluto grigio/4 Flies on Grey Velvet (Dario Argento, 1971) with Mimsy Farmer. Then Spencer played a dramatic role as a man innocently kept in prison in Torino nera/Black Turin (Carlo Lizzani, 1972) with Françoise Fabian as his wife.
Later films include the action-packed potboilers Piedone lo sbirro/Piedone, the cop (Steno, 1973), and Lo chiamavano Bulldozer/They Call Him Bulldozer (Michele Lupo, 1978) with Raimund Harmstorf. Spencer also wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his films.
His feature film career slowed down after 1983, shifting more toward television. He also became a jet airplane and helicopter pilot in 1972. He established Mistral Air in 1984, an air-mail company that also transported pilgrims. He later sold it to Poste Italiane to buy a textile mill that produced clothes for children. He also has registered several patents.
In the 1990s he acted on TV in the comic action series Extralarge (Enzo G. Castellari, 1990-1993) and Noi siamo angeli/We Are Angels (Ruggero Deodato, 1997), both with Philip Michael Thomas, best known from the 1980s TV hit Miami Vice.
His final film with Terence Hill was Botte di Natale/Troublemakers (Terence Hill, 1994).
In 2005, Pedersoli entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as regional counsellor in Lazio for the centre-right Forza Italia party. That same year he was awarded with the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation. Two years later, he received swim and water polo coach diplomas from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli.
Bud Spencer continues to appear on TV. Recently he could be seen in the Italian Giallo-comedy television series I delitti del cuoco/Recipe for Crime (Alessandro Capone, 2010) and in an episode of the American comedy series Ninja the Mission Force(2013) .
Since 1960, Carlo Pedersoli is married to Maria Amato. They have three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972).
Trailer of I quattro dell'Ave Maria/Ace High (1968). Source: spencerhilltrailer (YouTube).
Trailer of ...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità/Trinity Is STILL My Name! (1971). Source: spencerhilltrailer (YouTube).
Trailer of Non c'è due senza quattro/Double Trouble (1984, Enzo Barboni). Source: spencerhilltrailer (YouTube).
Sources: Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.