Rik Battaglia
| Rik Battaglia | |
|---|---|
 Sophia Loren and Battaglia in The River Girl (1954) | |
| Born |
Caterino Bertaglia 18 February 1927 Corbola, Rovigo, Veneto, Italy |
| Died |
27 March 2015 (aged 88) Corbola, Veneto, Italy |
| Occupation | Actor |
Rik Battaglia (byname of Caterino Bertaglia; 18 February 1927 – 27 March 2015) was an Italian film actor. He was born at Corbola, near Rovigo, Veneto.
He used mainly the stage name of Rik Battaglia although alternate names he used for his films were also Rick Austin, Riccardo Battaglia and Rick Battaglia. He would go on to appear in over 100 films from the 1955 to 1999. He went to sea at the age of 17 and worked on a freighter. He was discovered in a bar and producer Carlo Ponti hired him on the spot and signed to his first film in 1955's The River Girl, directed by Mario Soldati and opposite Sophia Loren, playing a cigarette smuggler who has a tempestuous love affair with a young and sexy Sophia Loren (Ponti's wife). He then played the title role in Pietro Francisci's 1956 historical movie Roland the Mighty.
He then took two years of drama classes and appeared in a number of historical and peplum films, such as The Mighty Crusaders (1958, Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia), Hannibal (1959, Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Edgar G. Ulmer), Caesar the Conqueror (1962, Tanio Boccia), and A Queen for Caesar (1962, Piero Pierotti). He was also seen in the Hollywood adventure Raw Wind in Eden (1958, Richard Wilson). He also played in Esther and the King (1960), From a Roman Balcony (1960, by Mauro Bolognini) and in the biblical epic Sodom and Gomorrah (1962, by Robert Aldrich). He also appeared in adventure films such as Attack of the Moors (1959, Mario Costa), The Conqueror of the Orient (1960, Tanio Boccia), The Lion of St. Mark (1963, Luigi Capuano) and Sandokan the Great (1963, Umberto Lenzi), and horror films such as Nightmare Castle (1965, Mario Caiano).
He became a regular in the Karl May films, and in Spaghetti westerns and adventure films. Some of these included Old Shatterhand (1963), Die Pyramide des Sonnengottes (1965), Das Vermächtnis des Inka (1965), Winnetou and Old Firehand (1966), Black Jack (1968), The Valley of Death (1968), Duck, You Sucker! (1971), The Call of the Wild (1972), White Fang (1973), Challenge to White Fang (1974) and A Man Called Blade (1977). His other films included 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1971), Treasure Island (1972, as Captain Smollett), the Agatha Christie adaptation Ten Little Indians (1974), the Sergio Leone co-produced western A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975), and Vincente Minnelli's A Matter of Time (1976). Battaglia also appeared in Deported Women of the SS Special Section (1976), Suor Emanuelle (1977), Il prefetto di ferro (1977), Return of the 38 Gang (1977), Zappatore (1980) and Don Bosco (1988). His last feature film was Buck ai confini del cielo (1991) and he retired from films in 1999.
Selected filmography
- The Conqueror of the Orient (1960)
- Freddy in the Wild West (1964)
- Winnetou and Old Firehand (1966)
- The Valley of Death (1968)