Bud Spencer, together with friend and colleague Terence Hill, made entire generations laugh and smile. His interpretations have marked the different moments of the happiest seasons of Italian cinema. A cult figure, an icon of freedom and a man loved all over the world. Bud Spencer passed away on June 27, 2016. In his honor, in Budapest, a natural park was named after him and in 2017, also in the Hungarian capital, a bronze statue of the sculptor Szandra Tasnadi was erected on the Corvin Promenade that represents him. A bean-based dish and the Italian rock group was dedicated to him Bud Spencer Blues Explosion it is called this in reference to the actor. A small article to make homage to the gentle giant of Italian cinema on the anniversary of his death.
Bud Spencer: the beginnings
Bud Spencer, aka Carlo Pedersoli, was born in Napoli the 31 October 1929. In 1940 he left the Neapolitan capital with his family and moved to Rome where he became passionate about swimming and excelled in his studies. He graduated with honors and enrolled in the faculty of chemistry. However, he will have to abandon his studies for a new family transfer. The goal this time is the Brazil and Bud Spencer devotes his energies to various jobs. Finally he manages to return to Rome and enrolls again at the university, without ever graduating. The satisfactions come in the sports field. In 1952, thanks to his passion for swimming, he competed for the Italian colors at Helsinki Olympics. His sculptural physique was noticed in the cinematic environment to the point that he was hired for the role of a Roman guard in the film Quo Vadis?. In 1960 he participated in the Olympics of Roma and in the same year he married Maria Amato. Signs a contract with the RCA music label as the author of lyrics for the likes of Ornella Vanoni and Nico Fidenco.
The meeting with Mario Girotti, or Terence Hill
In 1967 he got his first leading role in God forgives, i do not!, cult film that also marks the meeting with Mario Girotti. On this occasion, the two actors are advised to change their names and adopt appropriate ones for a western film. Bud Spencer is born, in honor of the actor Spencer Trady and in homage to Budweiser beer. Girotti, for his part, chooses from a list of invented names. The result is a consecration, an explosive couple and an eternal friendship. Bud Spencer and Terence Hill make 18 films together.
Without ever stopping
Bud Spencer does not stop, experiments with a solo career and dabbles in other film genres. How not to mention 4 gray velvet flies from 1971 directed by Dario Argento? Or again, Black Turin by Carlo Lizzani from 1972? And the tetralogy of Big Foot o Singing behind the screens di Ermanno Olmi? The Time, in 1999, declared him as the most famous Italian actor in the world, he received the David di Donatello career in 2010 together with Terence Hill and in 2008 the honor of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In 1975 he obtained the helicopter pilot license for Italy, the USA and Switzerland. With Lorenzo DeLuca he writes his biography and a book in which he mixes gastronomy and philosophy. Carlo Pedersoli knew six languages and in his films he told the changes in Italian history. Carlo had a very personal philosophy. His was an exceptional philosophy of life that had its roots in Neapolitan culture. The purest one, the most sincere one, that of not giving a damn. "Futtetenne. Because the problems, the real ones, are few; only death is an irremediable thing, the rest is always fixed. "
