Tony Kendall (actor)
Encyclopedia
Tony Kendall is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- died 28 November 2009, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
model turned film actor with over 50 film credits that reflect the trends of popular European cinema in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Biography and filmography
Born as Luciano Stella, Kendall was formerly a model for Italian FumettiFumetti
Fumetti is an Italian word which refers to all comics. In English, the term refers specifically to photonovels or photographic comics, a genre of comics illustrated with photographs rather than drawings. Italians call these fotoromanzi...
, comics done in photographs.
He changed his name to Tony Kendall at the suggestion of Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....
in the fashion of many Italian actors whose films were shown in countries outside of Italy in the days when European films proliferated. Stella made his film debut in Femminie Tre Volte in 1959 but didn't make another appearance until he used his new name of Tony Kendall in Brennus, Enemy of Rome
Brennus, Enemy of Rome
Brenno il nemico di Roma is a 1963 film about the sack of Rome in 387 BC....
(1963) one of the sword and sandal
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
craze of films popular in the early 1960s.
Kendall is most famous for his various teamings with Brad Harris
Brad Harris
Bradford Harris is an American actor, stuntman, and executive producer. He appeared in a variety of roles in over 50 films, mostly in European productions. He is a member of the Stuntman's Hall of Fame.- Life and career :...
, with the two predating Terence Hill
Terence Hill
Terence Hill is an Italian actor. He is best known for starring in multiple action and western films together with his longtime filmpartner Bud Spencer.-Biography:...
and Bud Spencer
Bud Spencer
Bud Spencer is an Italian actor, filmmaker and former swimmer . He is known for past roles in spaghetti westerns together with his long time filmpartner Terence Hill...
as a popular and prolific action team. In the derivative world of the European cinema of the 1960s, Kendall and Harris first teamed up in two sauerkraut western films "inspired" by the successful German Karl May
Karl May
Karl Friedrich May was a popular German writer, noted mainly for adventure novels set in the American Old West, and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East . In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America...
Winnetou
Winnetou
Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May in German, including the sequels Winnetou I through Winnetou IV....
series with Harris as a Lex Barker
Lex Barker
Lex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...
clone and Kendall as a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
"Chief Black Eagle" in Pirates of the Mississippi
Pirates of the Mississippi
Pirates of the Mississippi was an American country music group. It was founded in 1987 by Rich Alves , Bill McCorvey Jimmy Lowe , Pat Severs , and Dean Townson...
(1963) and Black Eagle of Santa Fe
Black Eagle of Santa Fe
The Black Eagle of Santa Fe or Die Schwarzen Adler von Santa Fe is a 1965 West German and Italian western film directed by Alberto Cardone and Ernst Hofbauer.-Story:...
(1965).
With the international success of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
films and the German Jerry Cotton
Jerry Cotton
Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of crime novels by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland.- Overview :...
series, Kendall became best known for his role as private detective Joe Walker in the seven films of the Eurospy Kommissar X
Kommissar X
Kommissar X or Commissioner X is a German crime fiction series of books from the Pabel Moewig publishing house. "Kommissar X" is a private detective named Joe Louis Walker who was a counterpart of the German crime fiction FBI Special Agent Jerry Cotton...
series where he played opposite Brad Harris
Brad Harris
Bradford Harris is an American actor, stuntman, and executive producer. He appeared in a variety of roles in over 50 films, mostly in European productions. He is a member of the Stuntman's Hall of Fame.- Life and career :...
in the role of New York Police
New York Police
New York Police may refer to:*New York City Police Department *New York State Police *Port Authority Police Department...
Captain
Police captain
- France :France uses the rank of capitaine for management duties in both uniformed and plain-clothed policing. The rank comes senior to lieutenant and junior to commandant....
Tom Rowland. The popularity of Batman (TV series)
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
led to Harris and Kendall appearing in The Three Fantastic Supermen (1967) the first in a long series that interestingly enough had stunt work performed by a young Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
(“The Three Fantastic Supermen in the Orient”).
Kendall has prominently appeared in other varieties of European cinema in the 1960s such as Giallo
Giallo
Giallo is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
(The Whip and the Body
The Whip and the Body
The Whip and The Body is a 1963 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava.-Plot:The story concerns a cruel, domineering man who returns to his castle home and resumes his sado-masochistic relationship with his sister-in-law whom he vigorously flogs...
(1963)), spaghetti westerns (as Django
Django (character)
Django is a character which appears in a number of spaghetti western films.He appeared in thirty-one films in all.-Appearances:* Django * Django, this bullet for You * Django strikes first * Django the last slaughter...
in Django Against Sartana (1970) and Gunman of 100 Crosses (1971)), and crime movies such as Machine Gun McCain
Machine Gun McCain
Machine Gun McCain is a 1969 Italian crime film directed by Giuliano Montaldo based on the 1961 novel Candyleg by Ovid Demaris. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* John Cassavetes - Hank McCain* Britt Ekland - Irene Tucker...
(1969).
In the 1970s Kendall's name appeared in European versions of women in prison (The Big Bust Out(1972)) zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Eyes of the Blind Dead (1973) and films inspired by The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
(Corleone/Father of the Godfathers (1977)). Aside from an appearance in Alex l'ariete (2000), Kendall's last film role was in On the Dark Continent in 1993.