Gianni Rizzo

Gianni Rizzo — Biography

Born Giovanni Rizzo in Brindisi in 1924, Gianni Rizzo died in Rome in 1992. Across a career running from 1944 to 1986 he appeared in more than seventy film and television productions, working mainly as a character and supporting player rather than a lead. A large part of his career was spent in peplum pictures: he played ancient generals and noblemen in films such as Zorro and the Three Musketeers, Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators and Triumph of the Ten Gladiators, and took the role of Emperor Claudius Nero in The Ten Gladiators. He was also part of the Italian western wave, appearing in Adiós, Sabata (released in Turkey as Sabata Dönüyor) and If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death. He turned up regularly in spy and thriller films as well, playing Barrow in Desperate Mission, Williams in Face to Face, and Mayor Christopher Bannington in Run, Man, Run!. He is remembered for playing the villain in the 1967 science-fiction film Mission Stardust, a screen adaptation of the Perry Rhodan series. In 1984 he played a government minister in Tutti dentro, and in 1986 he appeared in the film dubbed into Turkish as Gülün Adı, among the last roles of his career. He died in Rome in 1992.