Tony Russel is a former film, stage, and television actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

. He is noted for having worked extensively in the 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...

 film industry in the mid-1960s, and for his work as a voice actor where he was the founder and president of the English Language Dubbers

Dubbing (filmmaking)

Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...

 Association (ELDA) in Italy. He was one of several American actors who turned down the lead of A Fistful of Dollars

A Fistful of Dollars

A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...

.

After making Burt Topper

Burt Topper

Burt Topper was an American film director and screenwriter best known for cult films aimed at teenagers.Born in Coney Island, New York, Topper moved to Los Angeles at the age of 8, and served in the United States Navy during World War II...

's War is Hell, he went to Italy first appearing in the title role of La leggenda di Fra Diavolo

Fra Diavolo

Fra Diavolo , is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous Neapolitan guerrilla leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples, proving an “inspirational practicioner of popular insurrection”. Pezza figures prominently in folk lore and fiction...

. He then appeared in several 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"...

 and Eurospy films. Russel played Zorro

Zorro

Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....

 in Behind the Mask of Zorro

Behind the Mask of Zorro

Behind the Mask of Zorro or E Zorro cabalga otra vez is a 1965 Italian western film directed by Ricardo Blasco.-Cast:*Tony Russel ... Patriciao / Alfonso / Zorro*María José Alfonso ... Manuela*Roberto Paoletti...

; he had originally tested for the role of Walt Disney

Walt Disney

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

's Zorro but lost out to Guy Williams. Among Russel's starring roles are parts in the sci-fi epics Wild, Wild Planet

Wild, Wild Planet

Wild, Wild Planet is a 1965 Italian science fiction horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti and written by Renato Moretti and Ivan Reiner. Tony Russel stars as Commander Mike Halstead. Also featured are Lisa Gastoni, Franco Nero and Massimo Serato...

and its sequel

Sequel

A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

, War of the Planets filmed concurrently. He left Italy for America in 1967.