That of Carlo Pedersoli, aka Bud Spencer, it was a double life: swimmer and Italian champion in the 1950s, then internationally renowned actor from the 1960s. The story of the “grumpy” giant born in Naples and who became a myth of Italian cinema has traveled around the world, like his western films, and even today his name is a symbol of Italianness. For over a decade his success he was linked to that of his colleague and friend Terence Hill, whom he met by chance on the set and became his sidekick in over eighteen films. Screenwriter, television producer but also singer and musician (he wrote the lyrics for “Cleopatra” by Nico Fidenco and “Every evening” by Ornella Vanoni), Bud Spencer’s life had many colors and facets, making him a key figure of history of Italian cinema.
Swimming, the Olympics and the Italian record
At 16, after having traveled the world with his parents for work reasons, Bud Spencer, born Carlo Pedersoli, returned to Italy and joined the Lazio Nuoto team. He was tall, thin and good-looking but above all athletically prepared thanks to his passion for boxing and rugby, and he immediately showed off in the pool. In 1950 he entered the history of I swim Italian as the first Italian athlete to have dipped under a minute in the 100 meters freestyle; record then surpassed a year later, when Pedersoli further improved his time, dropping to 58”9. In his sporting career Bud Spencer collected seven Italian titles and became Italian champion in the relay, but in his palmares there are also two Olympic medals obtained in London ’48 and Rome ’60. It is precisely thanks to his imposing and statuesque physique forged by swimming that he was noticed by some film directors who in the 1950s offered him some minor parts, which paved the way for him to success.
The meeting with Terence Hill and the successful partnership
Carlo Pedersoli’s career changed radically with the film “God forgives, i do not!” from 1967, one of many in the spaghetti-western saga. The actor had already made seven films with supporting roles, but when he was chosen to be the protagonist of the film directed by Giuseppe Colizzi, his life changed definitively. The actor had to film “God forgives…I don’t!” alongside Peter Martell, another emerging actor of the time, but the evening before leaving for Almeria – where the film was to be shot – the man had an accident and fractured his foot. Director Colizzi found himself having to replace Martell in a hurry and thus hired Mario Girotti, who already had a fair amount of experience in westerns.
Carlo and Mario met on set and Colizzi immediately understood that the couple would have great success. “Since that day we have been united and this thing has been a miracle. The miracle of the union of these two characters. We have never argued. We were the first to give life to the comic western“, Bud Spencer said in 2015 when talking about the first meeting with his friend and colleague Terence Hill.
1967 marks the beginning of a great cinematic rise for the couple formed by Terence Hill and Bud Spencer (who changed their name with the first poster “God forgives, i do not!“) and who later shot another eighteen films together.
