Tony Kendall

Tony Kendall

1936-08-22 – 2009-11-28 (age 73) Rome, Lazio, Italy
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Biography

Tony Kendall (22 August 1936 – 28 November 2009) was an Italian model turned film actor with over 50 film credits that reflect the trends of popular European cinema in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Born as Luciano Stella, Kendall was formerly a model for Italian Fumetti, comics done in photographs.

He changed his name to Tony Kendall at the suggestion of Vittorio De Sica in the fashion of many Italian actors whose films were shown in countries outside of Italy in the days when European films proliferated. Stella made his film debut in Femmine Tre Volte in 1959 but didn't make another appearance until he used his new name of Tony Kendall in Brennus, Enemy of Rome (1963) one of the sword and sandal craze of films popular in the early 1960s.

Kendall is most famous for his various teamings with Brad Harris, with the two predating Terence Hill and Bud Spencer as a popular and prolific action team. In the derivative world of the European cinema of the 1960s, Kendall and Harris first teamed up in two sauerkraut western films "inspired" by the successful German Karl May Winnetou series with Harris as a Lex Barker clone and Kendall as a Native American "Chief Black Eagle" in The Pirates of the Mississippi (1963) and Black Eagle of Santa Fe (1965).

With the international success of the James Bond films and the German Jerry Cotton series, Kendall became best known for his role as private detective Joe Walker in the seven films of the Eurospy Kommissar X series where he played opposite Brad Harris in the role of New York Police Captain Tom Rowland. The popularity of Batman (TV series) led to Harris and Kendall appearing in The Three Fantastic Supermen (1967) the first in a long series that had stunt work performed by a young Jackie Chan (“The Three Fantastic Supermen in the Orient”).

Kendall has prominently appeared in other varieties of European cinema in the 1960s and 1970s such as Giallo horror (The Whip and the Body, 1963), spaghetti westerns (as Django in Django Against Sartana, 1970, and Gunman of 100 Crosses, 1971), crime movies such as Machine Gun McCain (1969), and adventure films such as Oil! (1977). He also appeared in European versions of women in prison (The Big Bust Out, 1972), zombie horror (Return of the Blind Dead, 1973), and films inspired by The Godfather (Corleone, 1978). Aside from an appearance in Alex l'ariete (2000), Kendall's last film role was in On the Dark Continent in 1993.

Source: Article "Tony Kendall (actor)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Photos

Known For

Cop or Hood
Cop or Hood

1979

as Inspector Rey

Le Guignolo
Le Guignolo

1980

as Fredo

The Whip and the Body
The Whip and the Body

1963

as Cristiano Menliff

Machine Gun McCain
Machine Gun McCain

1969

as Pete Zacari

Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick
Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill
Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill

1966

as Kommissar X

Yeti: The Giant of the 20th Century
Corleone
Corleone

1978

as Salvatore Sperlazzo

Closed Circuit
Closed Circuit

1978

as Roberto Vinci

Attack of the Blind Dead
Attack of the Blind Dead

1973

as Jack Marlowe

Django Challenges Sartana
The Pirates of the Mississippi
The Pirates of the Mississippi

1963

as Schwarzer Adler

Tales of Erotica
Tales of Erotica

1973

as Bitto Ranieri (segment "The Trick") / Fra' Luce (segment "The Miracle")

Attila Scourge of God
Attila Scourge of God

1982

as Serpicio

Island of Lost Girls
Island of Lost Girls

1969

as Kommissar X

The Three Fantastic Supermen
Oil
Oil

1977

as Tony

Black Eagle of Santa Fe
Black Eagle of Santa Fe

1965

as Chief Black Eagle

Kill Me Gently
Kill Me Gently

1967

as Kommissar X