Giuliano Gemma – actor

Talented Roman became award winning film star

Giuliano Gemma (left) with fellow Italian actor Alberto Sordi
pictured in a scene from the film Venezia, la luna e tu

Actor, stuntman and sculptor Giuliano Gemma was born on this day in 1938 in Rome.

He started working in the film industry as a stuntman but was then offered a real part in the film Arrivano i titani, The Titans Arrive, by director Duccio Tessari.

After this his career took off and he appeared in Luchino Visconti’s Il Gattopardo, The Leopard, as Garibaldi’s General.

Gemma starred in many spaghetti westerns, such as A Pistol for Ringo, Blood for a Silver Dollar, Wanted and Day of Anger. He sometimes appeared in the credits of the films under the name Montgomery Wood.

For his portrayal of Major Matiss in Valerio Zurlini’s The Desert of the Tartars, he won a David di Donatello award.

Gemma had many other film roles, often appeared on Italian television and also worked as a sculptor.

His daughter, Vera Gemma, also became an actor.

Giuliano Gemma died in October 2013 following a car accident near Rome. He was taken to a hospital in Civitavecchia but pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.

Travel tip:

Cinecittà in Rome, the hub of the Italian film industry, is a large studio complex to the south of the city, built during the fascist era under the personal direction of Benito Mussolini and his son, Vittorio. The studios were bombed by the Allies in the Second World War but were rebuilt and used again in the 1950s for large productions, such as Ben Hur. These days a range of productions, from television drama to music videos, are filmed there and it has its own dedicated Metro stop.

Bernini's Fontana del Tritone

Travel tip:

One of the most stunning sights in Rome is the Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini in Rome’s centro storico - the historic centre - which was sculpted by Bernini between 1642 and 1643 and has remained intact over the centuries as the square’s centrepiece.

Home