Bud Spencer, Italian actor known for starring in a number of ‘Spaghetti Western’ films, died on Monday (27 June, 2016) aged 86.
According to his son Giuseppe Pedersoli, Spencer died peacefully at 6:15 PM in his residence at Rome, with his last words being “thank you”.
With a height of 6 feet and 4 inches, Spencer was often called the “big friendly giant” on screen.
Born as Carlo Pedersoli in Naples in 1929, Spencer began his career as a professional swimmer for the Olympics, and was the first Italian to swim the 100-meter freestyle race in a record of one minute.
He left his career in sports and began acting in the 1940s. But it was only in the 1960s that he gained recognition as Bud Spencer, starring in several ‘Spaghetti Western’ films along with his on-screen partner Terence Hill. He changed his name from Carlo Perdersoli to Bud Spencer after the beer brand Budweiser and Hollywood actor Spencer Tracy.
Some of his films were They Call Me Trinity, the highest grossing Italian film, followed by its sequel Trinity Is Still My Name.
In 2005, he entered politics briefly, running under the center-right Forza Italia Party, at the behest of the then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He was also associated with multiple charities for children, including the Spencer Scholarship Fund.
Celebrities and fans of the actor have since taken to Twitter paying tribute to him.
Hungarian fans remembered Bud Spencer at the Italian embassy in Budapest today (Photos by Alfahir.hu) pic.twitter.com/5D49ME9pai
— Mariann Őry (@otmarianna) June 28, 2016
Named after his favorite actor (Spencer Tracy) and beer (Budweiser), thanks for all the laughs #BudSpencer RIP pic.twitter.com/wnqxSFH3ua
— Theo Kingma (@theokingma) June 28, 2016
Ciao #BudSpencer
Ti abbiamo voluto bene in tanti— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) June 27, 2016
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Featured Image Courtesy: bbc.com
