Bud Spencer, the popular Italian actor who starred in innumerable spaghetti Westerns and action-packed potboilers during the 1960s and 1970s, was born Carlo Pedersoli on October 31, 1929, in Naples. The first Italian to swim the 100-meter freestyle in less than a minute, Spencer competed as a swimmer on the Italian National Team at the Olympic Summer games in both Helsinki, Finland, in 1952 and Melbourne, Australia, in 1956. He was also an Olympic-class water polo player. Educated as an attorney, he was bitten by the acting bug and appeared as a member of the Praetorian Guard in his first movie, MGM's epic _Quo Vadis . Spencer announced his new career at a "Felliniesque" press conference at a Rome hotel, at which he hardly moved and had little to say except homilies about upholding family values. Spencer sat between two Forza Italia handlers, and according to one major Italian newspaper, "From one moment to the next, you expected this mountain of a man to grab the heads of the two presenters and smack them together in his usual style, as he has been seen doing countless times on the big screen and television." The audition proved to be a flop: Spencer lost the seat, and Berlusconi's party was swept from power in 2006.
Holds a Juris Doctor degree.
Competed for Italy in the swimming competition at the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games.
Children: Giuseppe Pedersoli , Christine and Diamy Spencer.
Carlo Pedersoli changed his name to Bud Spencer in 1967. He chose that name because he is a big fan of Spencer Tracy and because of his favorite American beer.
Hes a Jet Airplane and Helicopter pilot (he became an flying geek after shooting ...Pi forte ragazzi! ), and owned an air transports company.
Was personally recruited by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand as a candidate of the moderate right-oriented party "Forza Italia" for the regional elections 2005 in Rome. He lost.
Was the first Italian to swim 100 m. Freestyle in less than a minute
Appeared in 18 films with frequent co-star Terence Hill , including the popular Trinity series of comedic Westerns.
His 78th birthday on October 31st 2007 was greatly celebrated in Berlin with about 100 guests and a big Tiramisu pie. Bud Spencer was shooting for his new movie Mord ist mein Geschft, Liebling by Sebastian Niemann , starring Rick Kavanian , at this time in Berlin. German comedians Oliver Kalkofe and Oliver Welke (famous for the Wixxer movies) announced themselves to take the chance to congratulate him personally.
He only dubbed himself (for the Italian versions) in these films: Piedone a Hong Kong , Il soldato di ventura , Piedone lafricano , Piedone dEgitto , Occhio alla penna , Fuochi dartificio , Cantando dietro i paraventi & Padre Speranza . For his other films he was dubbed by Glauco Onorato (in 30 films), Sergio Fiorentini (in 4 films) and Ferruccio Amendola (in Oggi a me... domani a te! .
Supports Napoli.
(November 2009) Joined the UNESCO Charity Gala in Dsseldorf/Germany.
Although Italian was his first language, he was dubbed for the Italian versions of most of the films he appeared in. This was due primarily to his strong Neapolitan accent, which was considered inappropriate for Westerns and action films.
Outside of his home country of Italy, he, along with co-star Terrence Hill , enjoyed major cult status in several European and South American countries, mainly Germany and Hungary. They are widely considered national favorites and some of the most popular actors of all time, their movies are broadcast on numerous television stations multiple times a year and you can even buy official merchandise, as well as various products named after them. In Germany, their popularity can be mostly attributed to the comical dubbing their movies received, which liberally reinterpreted the original dialogue and inserted a number of jokes. In other, primarily Eastern European territories, they mostly became popular due to the wide availability and constant reruns of their films. Spencers passing in 2016 was a top headline in these countries.
