Italian actor and filmmaker Bud Spencer, a cult favourite for his comedic spaghetti Western parodies, died on Monday at age 86.
“My father died peacefully at 18:15 and did not suffer from pain, he had all of us next to him and his last words were ‘Thank you’,” his son and film producer Giuseppe Pedersoli said in a note to media. Pedersoli could not be immediately reached for additional comment.
Born Carlo Pedersoli in the southern city of Naples, he was known to his public as the “big friendly giant” of the screen due to his height and weight.
He played in action and comedy films in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly working at the side of his friend Terence Hill.
Often cast as a cowboy or policeman, his biggest successes included 1970’s “They Call Me Trinity”, a parody of Spaghetti Western movies, a successful 1971 sequel “Trinity I Still My Name”, the “Flatfoot” films and “A friend is a Treasure.”