Gian Maria Volonté

Gian Maria Volonté

Known for

Acting

Born

April 9, 1933

Birthplace

Milano, Lombardia, Italy

Died

December 6, 1994 (aged 61)

Biography

Gian Maria Volonté (9 April 1933 – 6 December 1994) was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (credited in the USA as "Johnny Wels") and For a Few Dollars More.

In Italy and much of Europe, he was notable for his roles in high-profile social dramas depicting the political and social stirrings of Italian and European society in the 1960s and 1970s, including four films directed by Elio Petri - We Still Kill the Old Way (1967), Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1971), The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971) and Todo modo (1976). He is also recognized for his performances in Jean-Pierre Me...

Best known work

A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars
1964
For a Few Dollars More
For a Few Dollars More
1965
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
1970
Le Cercle Rouge
Le Cercle Rouge
1970
For Love and Gold
For Love and Gold
1966
The Working Class Goes to Heaven
The Working Class Goes to Heaven
1971
Sacco & Vanzetti
Sacco & Vanzetti
1971
Slap the Monster on Page One
Slap the Monster on Page One
1972
One Way or Another
One Way or Another
1976
Many Wars Ago
Many Wars Ago
1970

Filmography

  1. 2024

    Volonté: The Man of a Thousand Faces

    as Self (archive footage)

  2. 2022

  3. 2021

    We Are Cinema

    as Self (archive footage)

  4. 2019

    Zénon the Rebel

    as Self (archive footage)

  5. 2017

    Forgotten Activism

    as Self (archive footage)

  6. 2015

    Spanish Western

    as The Indian (archive footage)

  7. 2005

  8. 2005

    Elio Petri: Notes About a Filmmaker

    as Self (archive footage)

  9. 2004

  10. 2002

  11. 1995

    Ulysses' Gaze

    In Memory Of

  12. 1993

    Banderas, the Tyrant

    as Tirano Banderas

  13. 1993

    Funes, a Great Love

    as El tano Bérgami

  14. 1991

    A Simple Story

    as Carmelo Franzò

  15. 1990

    Open Doors

    as Giudice Vito Di Francesco

  16. 1990

    Tre colonne in cronaca

    as Alberto Landolfi

  17. 1989

  18. 1988

    The Abyss

    as Zenone

  19. 1987

  20. 1987

    Chronicle of a Death Foretold

    as Dr. Cristo Bedoya

  21. 1986

    The Moro Affair

    as Aldo Moro

  22. 1983

    The Death of Mario Ricci

    as Bernard Fontana

  23. 1982

    The Charterhouse of ParmaTV

    as Count Mosca (6 episodes)

  24. 1981

  25. 1981

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