Trivia: Towering (6'5") black athlete Woody Strode, together with fellow U.C.L.A. All-American Kenny Washington, successfully broke the NFL's "color line" in 1946 when he signed with the L.A. Rams. Strode went on to play with the Canadian Football League, then attracted a TV following as a pro wrestler. Though he'd made an isolated movie appearance in 1941, Strode's film career didn't really take off until the 1950s. At first, little in the way of acting was required; it was enough for him to convey strong, silent dignity in such fleeting roles as the King of Ethiopia in De Mille's The Ten Commandments (1956). Like many other black athletes-turned-actors of the era, Strode was often called upon to play African warriors and tribal chieftains.This he did in a variety of small parts on the 1952 TV series Ramar of the Jungle; as Lothar on an obscure 1954 video version of Mandrake the Magician; and in the 1958 feature film Tarzan's Fight for Life. A close friend of director John Ford, Strode received some of his best acting opportunities in Ford's films of the 1950s and 1960s -- notably Sergeant Rutledge (1960), in which he starred as a black cavalry soldier unjustly charged with rape and murder. He was also well-served in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960) in the role of Draba, the gladiator who refuses to kill Kirk Douglas in the film's pivotal scene. During the 1960s, Strode was a familiar presence in westerns and actioners filmed in the U.S. and Europe. In 1968, he starred in Black Jesus, an Italian-made roman a clef based on the life of African activist Patrice Lumumba. In 1990, Strode published his candid, life-affirming autobiography Coal Dust. Woody Strode continued acting up until his death at age 80, accepting such prominent roles as the Storyteller in Mario Van Peebles' Posse (1993) and Charlie Moonlight in the Sharon Stone/Gene Hackman western The Quick and the Dead (1995).

Trivia: Italian-born actor Eduardo Ciannelli was mostly known for his sinister gangster roles, but he first rose to fame as an opera singer and musical comedy star! The son of a doctor who operated a health spa, Ciannelli was expected to follow his father's footsteps into the medical profession, and to that end studied at the University of Naples. Launching his career in grand opera as a baritone, Ciannelli came to the U.S. after World War I, where he was headlined in such Broadway productions as Rose Marie and Lady Billy. He switched to straight acting with the Theatre Guild in the late 1920s, co-starring with luminaries like the Lunts and Katherine Cornell. Cianelli's resemblance to racketeer Lucky Luciano led to his being cast as the eloquent but deadly gangster Trock Estrella in Maxwell Anderson's Winterset, the role that brought him to Hollywood on a permanent basis (after a couple of false starts) in 1936. He followed up the film version of Winterset with a Luciano-like role in the Bette Davis vehicle Marked Women (1937), then did his best to avoid being typed as a gangster. After inducing goosebumps in Gunga Din (1939) as the evil Indian cult leader ("Kill for the love of Kali!"), Ciannelli did an about-face as the lovable, effusive Italian speakeasy owner in Kitty Foyle (1940)--and was nominated for an Oscar in the process. During the war, the actor billed himself briefly as Edward Ciannelli, and in this "guise" brought a measure of dignity to his title role in the Republic serial The Mysterious Dr. Satan (1945). He returned to Italy in the 1950s to appear in European films and stage productions, occasionally popping up in Hollywood films as ageing Mafia bosses and self-made millionaires. In 1959, he was seen regularly as a nightclub owner on the TV detective series Johnny Staccato. Had he lived, Eduardo Ciannelli would have been ideal for the starring role in 1972's The Godfather, as he proved in a similar assignment in the 1968 Mafia drama The Brotherhood.

Trivia: At the height of his considerable popularity, Terence Hill was one of Italy's highest-paid stars. A tall, handsome blonde of German-Italian heritage, Hill was born Mario Girotti (he used his birth name onscreen until 1968). Hill was born in Venice but spent the WWII years living in Dresden, Germany. When he was 12, Hill was '"discovered" during a swim meet by Italian filmmaker Dino Risi who cast him in Vacanze col Gangster (Holiday for Gangsters) (1951). Through the decade, Hill made occasional film appearances to pay for his education and his interest in motorcycles. He spent three years studying literature at the University of Rome before deciding to become a full-time actor working in films ranging from The Wonders of Aladdin (1961) -- the first Hill film to reach the U.S., albeit a decade after its European release -- and Luchino Viconti's Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) (1963). Afterwards, Hill made action films and Westerns in Germany until 1967 when he returned to Italy and appeared in Dio perdona... lo no! He changed his name from Mario Girotti to Terence Hill in 1969. He came up with his name by combining the name of the author of a Latin book, Terenzio, with the maiden name of his American wife, Lori. Hill gained popularity when he co-starred with Bud Spencer in the comic spaghetti Western They Call Me Trinity (1971) and its sequel, Trinity Is STILL My Name (1972). Hill and Spencer would work together in some 19 films. Hill made two films in Hollywood, March or Die (1976), starring with Gene Hackman, and Mr. Billion (1976), his first undubbed English-speaking role, in which he starred opposite Valerie Perrine. He was not as successful in the U.S. as in Europe, but eventually he made it his permanent residence. Hill had a minor hit in 1981 with Super Fuzz. In 1983, he added directing to his repertoire. Later in the decade, he also started producing features.

Trivia: While attending San Diego's St. Augustine High School, Victor Buono appeared in three plays a year - including the title role in Hamlet! After planning to attend medical school, Buono was rechannelled into an acting career, spending the summer of his 18th year at the municipal Globe Theatre in San Diego, then studying drama at Villanova University. He made his first network TV appearance at age 21, playing bearded poet "Bongo Benny" in an episode of 77 Sunset Strip; this led to 45 TV guest spots over the next three years, during which Buono would later claim he always played "Standard Bad Man 49-B. Buonogenerally played characters much older than himself, his expressive facial features and excess weight helping him pull off the deception. Robert Aldrich cast Buono as the third-rate songwriter who leeches off of faded child star Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962). Davis' was opposed to the casting, insisting that Buono was "grotesque," but after filming finished the actress went up to Buono and apologized for her earlier attitude; even more gratifying to Buono was his Oscar nomination for Baby Jane. Buono's greatest period of TV activity were the years between 1964 and 1970, when he was much in demand to play villains of various nationalities and ethnic origins on the many secret-agent programs of the period. As bad as Buono's bad guys were, he always played them with a rogueish twinkle in the eye just to let the audience know it was all in fun. His best remembered roles during the late 1960s were Count Manzeppi on the adventure series Wild Wild West, and King Tut on the weekly campfest Batman. Also during this period Buono began going the talk-show route, regaling audiences with his self-deprecating poetry, most of it centered on his avoirdupois ("I think that I shall never see / My feet"). These appearances led to nightclub and lecture dates, a popular comedy record album, and a slim volume of poems, It Could Be Verse. In the 1970s and 1980s, Buono's screen characters began to veer away from outright villainy; now he was most often seen as pompous intellectuals or shifty con men. That he could also play straight, and with compassion, was proven by Buono's appearance as President Taft in the TV miniseries Backstairs at the White House, wherein he delivered a poignant tribute to the late Mrs. Taft. Victor Buono was 43 when he died suddenly at his ranch home in Apple Valley, California.