George Eastman (actor)
George Eastman | |
---|---|
Eastman in Django, Prepare a Coffin | |
Born |
Luigi Montefiori August 16, 1942 Genoa, Italy |
Years active | 1966-present |
George Eastman (born Luigi Montefiori; August 16, 1942) is an Italian B-movie actor and screenwriter well known for his frequent collaborations with notorious director Joe D'Amato. He is most famous for his role as the insane, cannibalistic serial killer Nikos Karamanlis in the gory 1980 horror film Antropophagus (aka The Grim Reaper). He also played a similar role in its 1981 follow-up, Absurd. Both films were directed by D'Amato and written by Eastman.
Career
Eastman was born in 1942 in Genoa, Italy and studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and at the Drama School held of Alessandro Fersen.[1] He took his Americanized alias "George Eastman" when he was cast as a "heavy" in many spaghetti westerns made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1972 he played the villain in The Call of the Wild which starred Charlton Heston and was directed by Ken Annakin.
Eastman later became a regular performer in many movies directed by Joe D'Amato, for whom he also wrote many screenplays. Their first work together was Cormack of the Mounties (aka Giubbe Rosse) in 1975.[1]
He was a very familiar face in Italian B-cinema in the early 1980s, being generally cast as a villain, thanks to his towering height (he is 6'9" tall) and his dark and menacing looks. He co-starred in many Italian futuristic sci-fi films such as Bronx Warriors, The New Barbarians, Endgame, Ironmaster, 2020 Texas Gladiators and After the Fall of New York. His most famous movie is the gory horror film Anthropophagous, directed by Joe D'Amato in 1980, in which he played the monster. He also starred in D'Amato's Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, Porno Holocaust and Absurd (aka Anthropophagous 2).
Two of his greatest major villain roles were in Rabid Dogs (aka Kidnapped, 1974) and Blastfighter (1984). He appeared in Paramount's 1985 biblical film King David playing Goliath in David's childhood flashback scene. In 1986, he performed as Stefano in the movie Regalo di Natale, directed by Pupi Avati. He also wrote and directed the sci-fi film Metamorphosis (produced by Joe D'Amato) in 1990, after which he quit acting to concentrate on his screenwriting. He is now a well regarded author in Italian television and only acts occasionally. (In 2003, he returned to acting in La rivincita di Natale, a film directed by Pupi Avati.)
Partial filmography (as an actor)
- The Cobra (1967)
- The Last Killer (1967) a.k.a. Django the Last Killer (see Django)
- The Belle Starr Story (1968) directed by Lina Wertmüller
- Bootleggers (1969)
- Satyricon (1969)
- Chuck Moll (1970)
- Bastard, Go and Kill (1971)
- The Call of the Wild (1972) directed by Ken Annakin
- Ben and Charlie (1972) a.k.a. Amigo, Stay Away
- Baba Yaga (1973)
- Scalawag (1973) directed by Kirk Douglas
- The Three Musketeers of the West
- Rabid Dogs/Semaforo rosso (1974) a.k.a. Kidnapped on DVD, directed by Mario Bava
- Emanuelle's Revenge (1975)
- Cormack of the Mounties (aka Giubbe Rosse) 1975
- Blood and Bullets (1976)
- House of Pleasure for Women (1976)
- Emanuelle Around the World (1977)
- Orgasmo Nero (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato
- Sesso nero/Black Sex (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato
- Hard Sensations (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato
- Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also wrote this film)
- Anthropophagous (a.k.a. The Grim Reaper) (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also wrote & produced this film)
- Porno Holocaust (1981) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also wrote this film)
- Absurd (1981) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also wrote this film)
- 2020 Texas Gladiators (1982) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also wrote this film)
- Caligula: The Untold Story (1982)
- Warriors of fhe Wasteland (1982) a.k.a. The New Barbarians directed by Enzo G. Castellari
- The Bronx Warriors (1982) directed by Enzo G. Castellari
- Ironmaster (1983) directed by Umberto Lenzi
- 2019, After the Fall of New York (1983) directed by Sergio Martino
- Endgame (1983) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also wrote this film)
- Blastfighter (1984) directed by Lamberto Bava
- Detective School Dropouts (1986) directed by Filippo Ottoni
- Hands of Steel (1986) a.k.a. Fists of Steel, a.k.a. Vendetta Dal Futuro, directed by Sergio Martino
- Christmas Present (1986) directed by Pupi Avati
- The Barbarians and Company (1987) directed by Ruggero Deodato
- Delirium/Photos of Joy (1987) directed by Lamberto Bava
- Crystal or Ash, Fire or Wind, as Long as It's Love (1989) directed by Lina Wertmüller
- Metamorphosis/Regenerator (1990) a.k.a. DNA Formula Lethal (Eastman wrote and directed this film)
- Christmas Rematch (2004) directed by Pupi Avati
Screenplays
- Ben and Charlie (1972)
- Giubbe rosse (1974) aka Red Coats, aka Cormack of the Mounties, directed by Joe D'Amato
- Keoma (1976)
- The Great Alligator River (1979) directed by Sergio Martino (Eastman got plot credit only)
- Anthropophagus (a.k.a. The Grim Reaper) (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also produced this film and played the monster)
- Sesso nero/ Black Sex (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato
- Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1980) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also co-starred in this film)
- Porno Holocaust (1981) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman co-starred in this film as well)
- Absurd/Rosso sangue (1981) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman co-starred in this film as the monster)
- 2020 Texas Gladiators (1982) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman co-starred in this film as well)
- Caligula: The Untold Story (1982) directed by Joe D'Amato
- Endgame (1983) directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman co-starred in this film as well)
- Stage Fright (1987 film) (1987) a.k.a. Deliria, directed by Michele Soavi (Eastman has an uncredited role in this film, playing the masked killer)
- Metamorphosis/Regenerator (1990) a.k.a. DNA Formula Lethal (Eastman cameo in this film as well)
- The Son of Sandokan (1998) Made-for-TV movie
References
External links
- George Eastman on IMDb
- Nanarland French B-movie website which reviews several of Eastman's movies