Biography

Spencer was born on 31 October 1929 in Santa Lucia, a historical rione of the city of Naples. From 1947 to 1949 he worked in the Italian consulate in Recife (Brazil), where he learned fluent Portuguese. He changed his screen name in 1967, choosing to pay homage to Spencer Tracy as well as his favorite beer, Budweiser.

Swimming and water polo career

A professional swimmer in his youth, Spencer was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute. He achieved this on 19 September 1950, when he swam the 100 m in 59.5 s.

In the 1951 Mediterranean Games, he won a silver medal in the same 100 m freestyle event.

Spencer participated in the 1952 Summer Olympics 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.

On 17 January 2005 he was awarded with the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation.

On 24 January 2007, he received from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli, swim and water polo coach diplomas.

Acting career

Spencer's first movie role was in Quel fantasma di mio marito, an Italian comedy shot in 1949 and released in 1950. Then he played a member of the Praetorian Guard in Quo Vadis, a film shot in Italy, in 1951. During the 1950s and part of the 1960s, Spencer appeared in some Italian films but "his career was strictly minor league until the late 1960s."

Spencer met his future film partner, Terence Hill, on the set of Hannibal in 1959. They went on to work together on over 20 films, including (named using their most common US titles):

1. Hannibal (1959), as Carlo Pedersoli together with Mario Girotti
2. God Forgives... I Don't! (1967), first time as Bud Spencer together with Terence Hill
3. Ace High (1968)
4. Boot Hill (1969)
5. They Call Me Trinity (1970)
6. Blackie the Pirate (1971)
7. Trinity Is Still My Name (1971)
8. All the Way, Boys (1972)
9. Watch Out, We're Mad (1974)
10. Two Missionaries (1975)
11. Crime Busters (1976)
12. Odds and Evens (1978)
13. I'm For the Hippopotamus (1979)
14. Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure (1981)
15. Go For It! (1983)
16. Double Trouble (1984)
17. Miami Supercops (1985)
18. Troublemakers (1994)

Films with Spencer alone include:

1. The Five Man Army (1969)
2. The Fifth Day of Peace (1969)
3. It Can Be Done Amigo (1972)
4. Flatfoot (1973)
5. They Call Him Bulldozer (1978)
6. The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (1979)
7. Everything Happens to Me (1980)
8. Banana Joe (1982)
9. Bomber (1982)
10. Superfantagenio (1986)

Many of these have alternative titles, depending upon the country and distributor. Some have longer Italian versions that were edited for release abroad. These films gathered popularity for both actors, especially in Europe.

The main dubber of Bud Spencer in Italy is Glauco Onorato who, with his characteristic voice, successfully enriched the character of Bud Spencer. Sergio Fiorentini dubbed Spencer in Troublemakers, To the Limit (1997) and the series of Detective Extralarge, (1991-93) while in the movie Everything Happens to Me the dubber is Ferruccio Amendola.

Spencer also wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his movies. His feature film career slowed down after 1983, shifting more toward television. In the 1990s, he acted in the TV action-drama Extralarge. His autobiography was published by Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf in 2011.

Personal life

Spencer married Maria Amato in 1960, with whom he had three children: Giuseppe (1961), Christine (1962) and Diamante (1972). After appearing in Più forte, ragazzi!, Spencer became a jet airplane and helicopter pilot. He established Mistral Air in 1984, an air-mail company that also transports pilgrims, but later sold it to Poste Italiane to buy a textile mill that produced clothes for children.

Career in politics

In 2005, he entered politics, unsuccessfully standing as regional counselor in Lazio for the Forza Italia party. Spencer has stated: "In my life, I've done everything. There are only three things I haven't been - a ballet dancer, a jockey and a politician. Given that the first two jobs are out of the question, I'll throw myself into politics." The opposition criticised him for engaging in "politica spettacolo" ("showbiz politics").

Filmography

Title	Date	Role
Quo Vadis (as Carlo Pedersoli)	1951	Imperial Guard
Siluri umani (English title: Human Torpedoes) (as Carlo Pedersoli)	1954	Magrini
Un Eroe dei nostri tempi (English title: A Hero of Our Times) (as Carlo Pedersoli)	1955	Fernando
Il Cocco di mamma (English title: Mamma's Boy) (as Carlo Pedersoli)	1957	Oscar
A Farewell to Arms (as Carlo Pedersoli)	1957	Carabiniere
Annibale (English title: Hannibal) (as Carlo Pedersoli)	1960
Dio perdona... Io no! (English title: God Forgives... I Don't!)	1967	Hutch Bessy
Oggi a me... domani a te! (English title: Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die)	1968	O'Bannion
Al di là della legge (English title: Beyond the Law)	1968	James Cooper
Ace High (Italian title: I Quattro dell'Ave Maria)	1968	Hutch Bessy
Dio è con noi (English title: The Fifth Day of Peace)	1969	Cpl. Jelinek
Un Esercito di cinque uomini (English title: The Five Man Army)	1969	Mesito
La Collina degli stivali (English title: Boot Hill)	1969	Hutch Bessy
Lo chiamavano Trinità (English title: They Call Me Trinity)	1970	Bambino
Il corsaro nero (English title: Blackie the Pirate)	1971	Skull
...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità (English title: Trinity Is Still My Name)	1971	Bambino
4 mosche di velluto grigio (English title: Four Flies on Grey Velvet)	1971	Godfrey "God"
Torino nera (English title: Black Turin)	1972	Rosario Rao
Più forte, ragazzi! (English title: All the Way Boys)	1972	Salud
Si può fare... amigo (English title: It Can Be Done Amigo)	1972	Hiram Coburn
Una Ragione per vivere e una per morire (English title: A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die)	1972	Eli Sampson
Anche gli angeli mangiano fagioli (English title: Even Angels Eat Beans)	1973	Charlie Smith
Piedone lo sbirro (English title: Flatfoot)	1973	Inspector "Flatfoot" Rizzo
Porgi l'altra guancia (English title: Two Missionaries)	1974	Father/Padre Pedro
Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo (English title: Watch Out, We're Mad)	1974	Ben
Piedone a Hong Kong (English title: Flatfoot in Hong Kong)	1975	Inspector "Flatfoot" Rizzo
Il soldato di ventura (English title: Soldier of Fortune)	1976	Hector Fieramosca
Charleston	1977	Charleston
I due superpiedi quasi piatti (English title: Crime Busters)	1977	Wilbur Walsh
Piedone l'africano (English title: Flatfoot in Africa aka The Knock-Out Cop)	1978	Inspector "Flatfoot" Rizzo
Lo chiamavano Bulldozer (English title: They Called Him Bulldozer)	1978	Bulldozer
Pari e dispari (English title: Odds and Evens)	1978	Charlie Firpo
Uno sceriffo extraterrestre - poco extra e molto terrestre (English title: The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid)	1979	Sceriffo Scott (Sheriff Hall)
Piedone d'Egitto (English title: Flatfoot in Egypt)	1979	Inspector 'Flatfoot' Rizzo
Io sto con gli ippopotami (English title: I'm for the Hippopotamus)	1979	Tom
Chissà perché... capitano tutte a me (English title: Everything Happens to Me)	1980	Sheriff Hall
Occhio alla penna (English title: Buddy Goes West)	1981	Buddy
Chi trova un amico, trova un tesoro (English title: Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure)	1981	Charlie O'Brien
Cane e gatto (English title: Cat and Dog)	1982	Sergeant Parker
Banana Joe	1982	Banana Joe
Bomber	1982	Bud Graziano
Nati con la camicia (English title: Go for It)	1983	Doug O'Riordan alias Mason
Double Trouble (Italian title: Non c'è due senza quattro)	1984	Greg Wonder/Antonio Coimbra de la Coronilla y Azevedo
Miami Supercops	1985	Steve Forest
Superfantagenio (USA title: Aladdin)	1986	Genie
Big Man (TV Series)	1988-1989	Jack Clementi
Extralarge (TV Series)	1990-1993	Jack "Extralarge" Costello
Un piede in paradiso (English title: Standing in Paradise aka Speaking of the Devil)	1991	John "Bull" Webster
Botte di Natale (English title: The Fight Before Christmas aka Troublemakers)	1994	Moses
Noi siamo angeli (English title: We Are Angels) (Mini TV Series)	1997	Orso
Fuochi d'artificio (English title: Fireworks)	1997	The blind singer
Al limite (English title: To the Limit)	1997	Elorza
Hijos del viento (English title: Sons of the Wind)	2000	Quintero
Tre per sempre (English title: 3-4 Ever)	2002	Bops
Cantando dietro i paraventi (English title: Singing Behind Screens)	2003	Il vecchio capitano
Padre Speranza (English title: Father Hope) (TV)	2005	Padre Speranza
Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling (English title: Murder Is My Business, Honey)	2009	Pepe
I delitti del cuoco (TV Series)	2010	Carlo Banci

Writer (1990s)

• Banana Joe (1982)
• Big Man
  • La Fanciulla che ride (1988) (TV)
  • Diva (1989) (TV)
  • Boomerang (1989) (TV)
• Extralarge
  • Ninja Shadow (1993) (TV)
  • Diamonds (1993) (TV)

(in the 1980s, he was credited as Carlo Pedersoli)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]