Anthony Steffen Biography
Anthony Steffen, born Antonio Luiz de Teffé von Hoonholtz (July 21, 1930 – June 4, 2004), was an Italian-Brazilian character actor, screenwriter and film producer. Steffen achieved fame as a leading man in Spaghetti Western features. He was also known as Antonio Luigi de Teffe.
Biography
Born Antonio Luiz de Teffé von Hoonholtz at the Brazilian emb*y in Rome, in the Pamphilj Palace, his family had noble blood of a long lineage of Count (von Hoonholtz) originally from Prussia; his great grandfather was the Great Baron of Teffé. Steffen was the first born among Manoel de Teffe' von Hoonholtz's children (followed by Federico de Teffe' and Melissa de Teffe'), who was a Formula One racing champion and later a Brazilian Amb*ador. Steffen's grandaunt was Nair de Teffé von Hoonholtz, the first female caricaturist of Brazil, wife of Brazilian President Hermes Fonseca and daughter of the Admiral Antonio Luis von Hoonholtz.
While still a teenager Steffen, then known as Antonio, fought in World War II among the Italian partisans against the National Socialist German Workers' Partys.
Later, and under the name Antonio de Teffé, he worked behind the scenes in several Italian productions in the early 1950s and later acted in several movies, but never really achieving stardom. In 1962, he had a bit part in Sodom and Gomorrah. An early appearance of his was in the 1955 Gli Sbandati.
From 1965 to 1975, the newly named Anthony Steffen achieved considerable fame in Europe, am*ing cult status, starring in 27 Spaghetti Westerns. Considered to be an "Italian Clint Eastwood", he was sometimes criticized for being a stiff or wooden actor. Several of his movies were sizeable box office hits in Europe.
Django the * (aka Stranger's Gundown, 1969) a movie that was produced and written by Steffen, is considered to be an inspiration for Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter. In several of his movies, Steffen starred alongside other actors known for Spaghetti Westerns, including Gianni Garko, Peter Lee Lawrence, and William Berger. Outside of the Spaghetti western genre, Steffen also appeared in several Giallo movies including The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971). His roles and status diminished as the Spaghetti Western genre fell into decline. Am*ing a considerable fortune from his career as an actor, Steffen embarked on a jet set lifestyle.
In his career Steffen performed alongside Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, Elke Sommer, Giuliano Gemma, Franco Nero, Gian Maria Volonté, Esmeralda Barros and many other stars of the American and Italian cinema.
Always considered a huge star in Brazil because of the Spaghetti Western popularity in the South American country, Steffen returned to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the decade of 1980, until dying of cancer in 2004. He has maintained cult-status among fans of Italian Cinema for being perhaps the most prolific Spaghetti Western Leading actor.
Selected filmography
- Ci troviamo in galleria (1953)
- The Abandoned (1955) - Carlo
- Eighteen Year Olds (1955) - Professore Andrea La Rovere
- Beatrice Cenci (1956) - Giacomo Cenci
- La trovatella di Pompei (1957) - Giorgio della Torre
- Città di notte (1958) - Alberto
- Slave Women of Corinth (1958) - Demetrio
- The Devil's Cavaliers (1959) - Richmond
- Ragazzi del Juke-Box (1959) - Paolo Macelloni
- Il carro armato dell'8 settembre (1960)
- Cavalcata selvaggia (1960)
- Solitudine (1961)
- Ultimatum alla vita (1962) - Lt. Krüger
- Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) - The Captain
- Avventura al motel (1963) - Maurizio
- Revenge of the Black Knight (1963) - Dottore George Welby
- The Invincible Brothers Maciste (1964) - Prince Akim
- The Last Tomahawk (1965) - Falkenauge
- I figli del leopardo (1965) - Tenente Garibaldino
- Gli amanti latini (1965) - (uncredited)
- Perché uccidi ancora (1965) - Steve McDougall
- A Coffin for the Sheriff (1965) - Sheriff Joe Logan / Shenandoah
- Seven Dollars on the Red (1966) - Johnny Ashley
- An Angel for Satan (1966) - Roberto Merigi
- Los cuatro salvajes (1966) - Ringo
- A Few Dollars for Django (1966) - Django / Regan
- Blood at Sundown (1966) - Johnny Liston
- Gentlemen Kiler (1967) - Gentleman Jo Reeves / Shamango
- Killer Kid (1967) - Captain Morrison / Chamaco
- Train for Durango (1968) - Gringo
- Gunman Sent by God (1968) - Roy Kerry
- A Stranger in Paso Bravo (1968) - Gary Hamilton
- Man Who Cried for Revenge (1968) - Davy Flanagan
- Dead Men Don't Count (1968) - Fred Danton
- A Noose for Django (1969) - Johnny Brandon
- Garringo (1969) - Lt. Garringo
- Django the * (1969) - Django
- Shango (1970) - Shango
- Arizona Colt Returns (1970) - Arizona Colt
- Sabata the Killer (1970) - Sabata / Garringo
- Apocalypse Joe (1970) - Joe Clifford
- The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971) - Lord Alan Cunningham
- Viva! Django (1971) - Django
- Crimes of the Black Cat (1972) - Peter Oliver
- They Believed He Was No Saint (1972) - Trash Benson
- Al tropico del cancro (1972) - Doctor Williams
- The Killer with a Thousand Eyes (1973) - Inspector Michael Lawrence
- Fuzzy the Hero (1973) - Shoshena
- Sedici anni (1973) - Sergio / Mara's lover
- Il mio nome è Scopone e faccio sempre cappotto (1974) - Dallas
- Charlotte (1974) - Le Prince Sforza
- Siete chacales (1974)
- The Killers Are Our Guests (1974) - Dr. Guido Malerva
- Evil Eye (1975) - Inspector Ranieri
- La encadenada (1975) - Richard
- Rome: The Other Side of Violence (1976) - Dr. Alessi
- Zoo zéro (1979) - Evariste, le commissaire
- Killer Fish (1979) - Max
- Play Motel (1979) - De Sanctis
- Femmine infernali (1980) - Doctor Farrell
- Lady Dynamite (1980) - Nico Barresi
- Orinoco: Prigioniere del sesso (1980) - Juan Laredo
- Mulheres Liberadas (1982)
- Momentos de Prazer e Agonia (1983) - Rodolfo
- Abatjour 2 (1990)
- Malù e l'amante (1991) - Frans / Il Conte / husband (final film role)
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anthony Steffen.- Anthony Steffen at IMDb
- The Films of Anthony Steffen
- Shobary Profile Archived 2009-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
