RIP Rolf Becker

 

German film, television and voice actor Rolf Becker died in Hamburg, Germany on December 12^th. He was 90. Becker was born in Leipzig, Danzig Germany on March 31, 1935. He made his German television debut in 1962, appearing in TV movies (playing Charles Lindbergh in a dramatization of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping) and in the 1974 French co-produced anthology Les grands detectives (as Sherlock Holmes in "The Sign of Four," with Roger Lumont as Watson). He appeared over a dozen times on Tatort, including a recurring stint as prosecutor Maurer in the installments with Manfred Krug as investigator Stoever. His film credits include starring roles in “Cardillac” and “Ich liebe dich, ich töte dich” (I Love You, I Kill You), as well as supporting Diane Keaton in “The Little Drummer Girl”. His voice actor career began in the 1980s. He appeared as Noah Curry in the 1980 German western TV film “Der Regenmacher” (The Rainmaker).

From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western actors ~ Emy Della Betta

[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Emy Della Betta is/was an Italian actress who appeared in only 2 films and a television mini-series between 1971 and 1982.

I can find no biographical information about her.

Her two films were both Spaghetti westerns as a Mexican brothel girl in the 1971 film “Il tredicesimo è sempre Giuda” (The Last Traitor) and as a Mexican girl and as Juanita in Tara Poki in 1971.

DELLA BETTA Emy [Spanish] – film actress.

The Last Traitor – 1971 (Mexican brothel girl)

Tara Poki – 1971 (Juanita/Anita)

The documentary Los Jerraos

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OF ALMERÍA

A documentary portrays 'Los Jerraos', the family of specialists from Almería that accumulated 450 productions

[Presentation of the documentary 'Los Herraos' in Fical.- PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OF ALMERÍA]

The Apollo Theatre has been the site chosen for the screening of the documentary about 'Los Jerraos', the family of specialists of long tradition and ethnic Gypsies from Almería that accumulated more than 450 audiovisual productions.

The documentary, directed by the director Rafael Gómez Heredia, commemorates the 75th anniversary of the work made by its members both in the world of cinema, with films and in documentaries, television shows, advertising and television series.

The Gómez family, although better known as 'Los Jerraos', worked as a liaison between film production companies for the hiring of professional staff related to the world of cinema, working the entire family complex in different roles, developing different tasks.

This work by Gómez Heredia has the interpretation of Paco Ardura, Agustín Medina, Juan Muñoz (ex Cruz y Raya), Fernando Esteso and 'Los Jerraos'. It is narrated by the journalist Alfredo Casas and is based on photographs of the family archive, which shows the work of this family in the film industry.

His filmography has titles such as “Twice a Judas”, “100 Rifles”, “Red Sun”, “Marco Anthony and Cleopatra”, “How I Won the War”, “Cristóbal Colón, by Discovery Profession”, “Here Comes Condemor” and “To the East of the West', among others.

The director tells the story of his family in the year in which the 600 years of history of the Gypsy people in Spain are also commemorated. The documentary was awarded the Audience Award, this year 2025, at the Tarazona Comedy Film Festival and the Moncayo

This short film was premiered at the recent Almería Western Film Festival, a film festival that also has the support of the Provincial Council of Almería. Thanks to the collaboration of the 'la Caixa' Foundation with the Almería International Film Festival, this event took place on the penultimate day of the festival itself.

Who Are Those Singers & Musicians? ~ Annarita Spinaci

 

Annarita Spinaci was born in Castelplanio, Anconia, Marche Italy on June 22, 1944. Gifted with a warm and deep timbre of voice and an innate sense of swing, she won the Castrocaro Festival in 1966, singing “E di Mina”, together with Roberta Amadei and thus won the right to participate in the following Sanremo Festival in 1967. She presented herself with a song by Tony Renis, “When I Say I Love You”, paired with the Malagasy group Les Surfs, unexpectedly coming second, a few points from the winning song. The song was a great commercial success, so much so that it triggered the creation of the musical of the same name, released in the same year, which saw Spinaci sing alongside Tony Renis, Lola Falana, Alida Chelli, Enzo Jannacci, Lucio Dalla, Caterina Caselli and others.

She was invited to perform in Japan and South America. In the meantime, she made her debut as a presenter for Radio RAI: she was entrusted with the advertising radio time column Musica espresso. In 1974 she was the first Italian singer to win the Festival of Viña del Mar, Chile, with “Immagina”, a song she had composed a few years earlier with Giancarlo De Bellis. She returned to the same festival in 1976 singing “Días de rosas”, a song by Giorgio Bracardi never released in Italy.

A series of changes of record label and personal choices in private life meant that Annarita began to move away from the world of music and devoted herself exclusively to work as a kindergarten teacher. Her last 45 rpm dates back to 1980 (“Per una volta”).

Spinaci sang the song “Chi non e’ con te” for the soundtrack for 1967’s “Django Kills Silently” starring George Eastman and Liana Orfei

SPINACI, Annarita [6/22/1944, Castelplanio, Anconia, Marche Italy -     ] – actress, singer.

Django Kills Silently – 1967 [sings: “Chi non e’ con te”]

Special Birthdays

Richard Schayer (writer) would have been 145 today but died in 1956.

Peter Lindgren (actor) would have been 110 today but died in 1981.

Don Taylor (director, actor) would have been 105 today but died in 1998.

Kari Sohlberg (cinematographer) is 85 today.

 

Ludmila Senchina (singer actress) would have been 75 today but died in 2018.

Spaghetti Western Trivia - Bang

 

"The Outlaws hunt the Sheriff. The Sheriff hunts the Outlaws. The Renegade plots secretly, ready to take one side or the other. Bullets fly. Who among the gunmen is a Deputy, ready to sacrifice himself for the Sheriff? And who is a merciless Outlaw, willing to kill him? If you want to find out, just draw (your cards)!" (From back of box)

The card game BANG! recreates an old-fashioned spaghetti western shoot-out, with each player randomly receiving a Character card to determine special abilities, and a secret Role card to determine their goal.

Four different Roles are available, each with a unique victory condition:

Sheriff - Kill all Outlaws and the Renegade

Deputy - Protect the Sheriff and kill any Outlaws

Outlaw - Kill the Sheriff

Renegade - Be the last person standing

A player's Role is kept secret, except for the Sheriff. Character cards are placed face up on table, and also track strength (hand limit) in addition to special ability.

There are 22 different types of cards in the draw deck. Most common are the BANG! cards, which let you shoot at another player, assuming the target is within "range" of your current gun. The target player can play a "MISSED!" card to dodge the shot. Other cards can provide temporary boosts while in play (for example, different guns to improve your firing range) and special one-time effects to help you or hinder your opponents (such as Beer to restore health, or Barrels to hide behind during a shootout). A horse is useful for keeping your distance from unruly neighbors, while the Winchester can hit a target at range 5. The Gatling is a deadly exception where range doesn't matter: it can only be used once, but targets all other players at the table!

Information on the cards is displayed using language-independent symbols, and 7 summary/reference cards are included.