George Eastman (actor)

George Eastman

Born Luigi Montefiori
(1942-08-16) August 16, 1942
Genoa, Italy
Years active 1966-present

George Eastman (born Luigi Montefiori; August 16, 1942) is an Italian B-movie actor and screenwriter well known for his frequent collaborations with notorious director Joe D'Amato. He is perhaps most famous for his role as the insane, cannibalistic serial killer Nikos Karamanlis in the gory 1980 horror film Anthropophagus: The Grim Reaper. He also played a similar role in its 1981 spiritual successor, Absurd. Both films were directed by D'Amato and written by Eastman.

Career

Eastman was born in 1942 in Genoa, Italy and studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and at the Drama School held of Alessandro Fersen.[1] He took his Americanized alias "George Eastman" when he was cast as a "heavy" in many spaghetti westerns made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1972 he performed the villain in the movie The Call of the Wild together with Charlton Heston (directed by Ken Annakin).

Eastman later became a regular performer in many movies directed by Joe D'Amato, for whom he also became a screenwriter. He co-wrote Red Coat with Joe D'Amato in 1975. [1]

He was a very familiar face in Italian B-cinema in the early 1980s, being generally cast as the villain, thanks to his height (he is 6'9" tall) and his dark and menacing looks and exaggerated acting style. He co-starred in many Italian futuristic sci-fi films such as Bronx Warriors, The New Barbarians, Endgame, Ironmaster, 2020 Texas Gladiators and After the Fall of New York. His most famous movie is the gory horror film Anthropophagous, directed by Joe D'Amato in 1980. He also starred in D'Amato's Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, Porno Holocaust and Absurd.

Two of his greatest major villain roles were in Rabid Dogs (1974) and Blastfighter (1984). He appeared in Paramount's 1985 biblical film King David as Goliath for David's childhood flashback. In 1986, he performed as Stefano in the movie Regalo di Natale, directed by Pupi Avati. He also wrote and directed the sci-fi film Metamorphosis in 1990.

Eastman quit acting in the late 1980s to concentrate on his writing assignments. He is now a decently-rated author in Italian television and only holds occasional roles. In 2003, he was one of the main characters in the movie La rivincita di Natale directed by Pupi Avati.

Partial filmography

Screenplays

References

  1. 1 2 Roberto Poppi. I registi: dal 1930 ai giorni nostri. Gremese Editore, 2002. ISBN 8884401712.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.