Actor Henry Silva, who marked an era with a succession of famous villains, died Wednesday (9/14) of natural causes at a Hollywood Veterans Hospital in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 95. .
With more than 130 roles in movies and series, he rarely played the good guys, but he always stole the show from the heroes.
The New Yorker trained at the Actors Studio made his big screen debut in 1952 as a bandit in “Viva Zapata!”, An Elia Kazan western starring his classmate Marlon Brando. And he went on to be a gunfighter in many other classic westerns of the decade, such as “Rescue the Bandits” (1956), “Duel in the Ghost Town” (1958), “On the Road of the Outcasts” (1958), “Lo stigma of cruelty “(1958) and” At the crossroads of rascals “(1959).
His transition to the role of gangster occurred in the original version of “The Eleven” (1960), where he played one of the thieves in Frank Sinatra’s gang. Two years later, the two ended up on opposite sides in the comedy “The Three Sergeants” and the thriller “The Rules of Evil,” one of the best spy films ever made, about a plot to assassinate a politician and establish a dictatorship in the United States – led, of course, by Silva.
He was still an evil half-brother of Jerry Lewis in the comedy “Cinderella Without Shoes” (1960) and played several roles that would now have him canceled, including an Indian cartoon in “The Three Sergeants” (1962), a “yellow face” Asian “in” The Return of Mr. Moto “(1964) and an Arab terrorist in” The Man with the Deadly Lens “(1982).
But he was also stereotyped as a mobster. The reason was the success of his role as Johnny Cool in William Asher’s film of the same name, translated in Brazil as “O Mensageiro da Vingança” (1963). The character was an American gangster who befriends a mobster and has the task of eliminating his enemies in New York. With many massacres, the film became famous for its fascination with violence, without even sparing its co-star Elizabeth Montgomery (before becoming “The Enchantress”).
Subsequently, Silva made several Mafia films in Italy, also becoming a powerful “The Big Boss” (1972).
The actor spent much of the 1970s working in Italian cinema, focused on the United States only to play Kane, the antagonist of space hero Buck Rogers in the 1979 series pilot. But after a few series and feature films, like the visionary “The Man with the Deadly Lens”, which basically foresaw the 9/11 attack and the false pretext for the invasion of Iraq, has returned to Italy. This time, to play the action movie villains bad enough to become a cult, especially the sci-fi “Escape from the Bronx” (1983) – “inspired” by “Escape from New York” (1981).
This trashy experience earned him an invitation to play himself in the comedy “As Amazonas da Lua” (1986), by John Dante. He also enjoyed small roles in the comedies “A Freaky Rally” (1984), with Burt Reynolds, and “The Crazy Gold Rush” (1984), with the drag queen Divine, before reprising the traditional villain roles. , facing Chuck Norris in “Code of Silence” (1985), Steven Seagal in “Nico, Barefoot” (1986) and comic detective “Dick Tracy” (1990).
Silva also voiced the villain Bane in the Batman cartoons of the 90s and said goodbye with very famous films in the last part of his career: “The End of Violence” (1997), by Win Wenders, and “Ghost Dog. : Relentless Killer “(1999), by Jim Jarmusch.
His last screen appearance was 21 years ago, in a small tribute figure in the 2001 remake of “The Eleven” in 2001, directed by Steven Soderbergh.
On Twitter, singer Deana Martin, daughter of Dean Martin, with whom Silva also worked on the original “Eleven Men and a Secret”, called the actor “one of the nicest, kindest and most talented men I’ve ever had the pleasure of. to call mine. ” friend”.
Silva was married from 1966 to 1987 to Ruth Earl – an actress-dancer who appeared with her identical twin sister Jane in Las Vegas shows and in films such as “Irma la Douce” and “Satan’s Partner” – and they had two children, Michael and Scott.
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
