The death of Henry Silva, the face of American cinema

A day before his birthday, Henry Silva died at the Film and Television Countryside and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, his son Scott confirmed. He died of natural causes, he was 95 years old.

Acclaimed for his many villainous roles, the prolific comedian appeared in a whole series of plays. As the main Johnny Cooley in Sicilian Revenge (1963), he notably starred in John Frankenheimer’s A Crime in the Head (1962), alongside Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Janet Lee, or even in Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – his last film appearance in 2001.

CARRIER START

Born in Brooklyn in 1929 to Sicilian and Spanish parents, Henry Silva decided to drop out of school at age 13 and devote himself to theater while taking drama lessons while washing dishes in a New York hotel. In 1952, he made his first unreleased film appearance in Viva Zapata! By Elia Kazan, with Marlon Brando.

In 1955, when he became a waiter, Henry Silva decided to audition at an actor’s studio. He passed the competition along with four other applicants selected from 2,500 candidates. His career began on Broadway, when the studio offered to play on stage in the play rain hat By Michael V. Gazzo, with colleagues such as Ben Gazzara, Shelley Winters, Harry Guardino and Anthony Franciosa.

Management Hollywood

Taking notice of Hollywood, Henry Silva quickly began his film career starring in various films such as Henry King’s The Bravados, Mel Ferrer’s Green Palaces. But it was primarily in 1963, starring Johnny Cooley Revenge of the Sicilian By William Usher, alongside Sammy Davis Jr. and Elizabeth Montgomery, he will establish himself on the screens and refine his character as a cold and brutal killer.

Then he is often limited to the roles of gangsters and villains. But in 1966, when an Italian producer asked him to play the lead in the spaghetti western Du Sang dans la montagne, he accepted without hesitation. Fate would prove him right as the film was successful at the Spanish, Italian, German and French box offices.

internationally

An important European career then begins for Henry Silva: he is exiled to Italy for a chain of commercial films. It was during this period that he met Fernando Di Leo, who essentially cast him in several mafia roles, most notably The Boss in 1973.

He then returned to the United States in the 80s and racked up a string of genre and B-movies and continued to act in international productions.

Farewell to the stage

Over the next decade, in tribute to him, new writers would offer him mobster roles in films such as Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy, Wim Wenders’ End of Violence, and Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. .

His last appearance was in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven, where he played himself. With more than 140 credits, the actor has left his mark on the world of cinema.