Spaghetti Western star Terence Hill celebrates his 85th birthday. The actor had to learn English quickly after he was contacted by several American studios after his first roles. He fell in love with his English teacher, Lori Zwicklbauer, almost immediately.
On March 29, Italian film actor and director Terence Hill, who formed one of the legendary duos of cinema with Bud Spencer, and who was born Mario Girotti in Venice, celebrates his 85th birthday.
His chemist father was Italian and his mother German, so little Mario learned both languages. During the Second World War, between 1942 and 1945, they lived in the German village of Lommatzsch, near Dresden, where they survived the bombing of the city. It is interesting that today a beach in the village is named after him.
According to his parents, he already knew for sure that he wanted to be an actor at the age of eight, and he already got his first role at the age of twelve. Director Dino Risi discovered the good-looking guy at a swimming competition, and in 1951 he starred in his film Vacation with the Gangster. From then on, he and his mother went to all the castings, and the reward was a few small roles. After graduation, he went to Rome, where he trained in the best acting schools, and also studied classical literature at the university for three years.
Photo: Terence Hill Facebook
He got his first serious role at the age of twenty in the film Hannibal, in which his later inseparable partner, Carlo Pedersoli, also appeared, but they did not have a scene together. In 1962, still under its original name, it appeared in Luchino Visconti's war film, The Panther, which won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Then, thanks to his language skills, German adventure films followed, and he founded his "Wild West" career in four highly successful Winnetou films. He returned to Italy in 1967, where he got the lead role in the film Two Bitten by the Monkey.
Even before the resounding success, he found his soulmate
There were also inquiries from the United States, but in order to accept them, he had to urgently learn English. So he posted an ad, and a beautiful blonde girl—Lori Zwicklbauer—applied. Teacher and student fell in love at first sight, two months later they swore eternal loyalty. Mario changed his name in preparation for his American career, choosing the name Terence Hill from a list put before him. To this day, the legend that he took his wife's name persists, even though it was the other way around, so the woman's name became Lori Hill.
He and Bud Spencer have been slapping each other for decades
In the end, success did not greet him in America: in 1967, he took on the lead role in a spaghetti western instead of a colleague who broke his leg. When he was introduced to his partner, Carlo Pedersoli, he said he thought he could see poorly: he was standing in front of a completely amateur horseman who had never even ridden a horse. (Actually, they already knew each other when they were teenagers, they swam on the same team.) However, Bud Spencer - because he became known by this name - turned out to be an educated, versatile, whole-hearted person, a former national team water polo player, and a talented actor. The film "God forgives me, but I don't" became a worldwide success, the couple received better and better offers one after the other.
Generations have grown up watching the good-natured, but not very sharp-witted, shovel-palmed bearded teddy bear (Bud Spencer) and the nimble, sly, always-smiling slim lad (Terence Hill), in which a huge slap is snapped every half minute. Humor and antics resolve the fight scenes, these films - just to name a few: The Devil's Right and Left Hand, Otherwise we get angry, ...and we get angry again, I'm with the hippos, Treasure that doesn't exist - simultaneously use and parody the effect mechanism of spaghetti westerns.
The two of them filmed crime comedies, entertaining adventure films, and became one of the most popular and successful couples in film history. In fact, they stood out separately: in 1973, Terence Hill played alongside Henry Fonda in the action comedy My Name: Nobody - his favorite film - directed by Sergio Leone. They parted amicably from Bud Spencer in 1985 after 17 films together, but nine years later they were back together in comedy and slapstick in the movie Wrestling Until Christmas.
Photo: Terence Hill Facebook
After a family tragedy, his career took a new direction
The loss of his seventeen-year-old adopted son caused more than three years of ups and downs in the actor's career. He lived in seclusion, almost as a hermit, with his wife and their son born in 1969 on an American farm. Hill could not even go outside for a long time, and then worked day and night to divert his thoughts.
In 1990, as a director and actor, Hill filmed the Lucky Luke series in eight episodes, the Don Matteo series, filmed since 2000, in which he plays a jovial and justice-loving priest, became one of the most popular Italian TV series, the number of episodes is now 220 also exceeds In this series, you can hear your own voice for the first time in your country, because until then it was dubbed. From 2011, he filmed another series entitled Alpine Patrol, which was also shown on one of the Hungarian TV channels.
Even though Terence Hill's blinding blue eyes and brooding gaze enchanted many female viewers, he has been happily married to his wife for more than fifty years - currently - in a quiet Italian town. He does not live the luxurious life of famous stars at all, he has always strictly guarded the sanctity of his private life.
The entire article can be read at hirado.hu
Photo: Terence Hill Facebook
