Ettore Manni

Dark, rugged and exceedingly good-looking, Italian actor 'Ettore Manni' (qv) was a familiar presence in Neopolitan romancers and costumers. He also gave added stature to a number of peplum films and spaghetti westerns of the 1960s. On screen from 1952, he appeared in over 100 films in his close to three-decade career. Popular in his native country, he played opposite Italy's most scintillating leading ladies in his early movies -- 'Sophia Loren' (qv), 'Eleonora Rossi Drago' (qv) and 'Gianna Maria Canale' (qv), to name a few, often playing the continental lover.Manni was born on May 6, 1927, in Rome, Italy, and came to films in 1952 with _Mädchenhandel (1952)_ (qv) [Frustrations] starring Rossi-Drago in which he was third billed. In 1952 and 1953 he was handed prime leads and supports in the 'Carlo Ponti' (qv)/'Dino De Laurentiis' (qv) productions of _The Three Pirates (1952)_ (qv) [The Three Pirates], _Brothers of Italy (1952)_ (qv), _The Devil Is a Woman (1953)_ (qv) and _The Ship of Condemned Women (1953)_ (qv) the last two co-starring 'Kerima' (qv) and 'May Britt' (qv). Ponti also paired Manni opposite his sultry-eyed wife 'Sophia Loren' (qv) in _Two Nights with Cleopatra (1954)_ (qv) playing Marc Antony to Loren's Cleopatra.Other strong roles followed for Manni. He played the brother of 'Anthony Quinn' (qv)'s _Attila (1954)_ (qv), and was reunited with Rossi-Drago in both _A Woman Alone (1956)_ (qv) and _Le Amiche (1955)_ (qv), as well as with both 'Kerima' (qv) and 'May Britt' (qv) in _Fatal Desire (1953)_ (qv). The quality of Manni's films declined into the late 50s and 60s but he found himself quite busy in such lowbudget fare as _The Warrior and the Slave Girl (1958)_ (qv), _The Pirate of the Black Hawk (1958)_ (qv) and _Zehn Gewehre warten (1959)_ (qv). He also appeared opposite lovely 'Linda Cristal' (qv)'s Cleopatra in _Legions of the Nile (1959)_ (qv) and the equally fetching 'Debra Paget' (qv) as _Cleopatra's Daughter (1960)_ (qv).Sword-and-sandal spectacles became the rage during this time and Manni took full advantage with supporting roles in _Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961)_ (qv) starring 'Reg Park' (qv) as the muscular titan, _Hercules and the Masked Rider (1963)_ (qv), _Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964)_ (qv) and _Die Giganten von Rom (1964)_ (qv) with 'Richard Harrison' (qv) as the muscled hero. Manni also jumped on the "spaghetti western" bandwagon years later with appearances in the films _Ringo and His Golden Pistol (1966)_ (qv), _For a Few Extra Dollars (1966)_ (qv), _The Stranger Returns (1967)_ (qv), _Johnny Colt (1966)_ (qv), _And Now I Recommend My Soul to the Lord (1968)_ (qv), _I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death (1969)_ (qv) and _Stranger That Kneels Beside the Shadow of a Corpse (1970)_ (qv).Outside of Italy, Manni, who grew stockier in later years, could be found playing priests and officer parts. He appeared as Jason in a couple of the popular French "Angelique" series with _Unbezähmbare Angélique (1967)_ (qv) and _Angelique and the Sultan (1968)_ (qv). Manni also lent support to a number of imported American/British male leads past their prime who found headlining work in Italy. These included _The Valiant (1962)_ (qv) starring 'John Mills' (qv), _Attack of the Normans (1962)_ (qv) starring 'Cameron Mitchell' (qv), _Gold for the Caesars (1963)_ (qv) starring 'Jeffrey Hunter' (qv); _War of the Zombies (1964)_ (qv) starring 'John Drew Barrymore' (qv), _The Battle of El Alamein (1969)_ (qv) with 'Frederick Stafford' (qv), and in _Bali (1970)_ (qv) with 'John Steiner' (qv). A supreme showcase role came his way during this period when he appeared opposite 'Jeanne Moreau' (qv) in _Mademoiselle (1966)_ (qv).In the early 1970s, Manni met gorgeous Austrian-born actress 'Krista Nell' (qv), who had leads and second leads in French and Italian films. Although they did not marry, they became longtime companions. They showed up together in the films _Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End (1970)_ (qv) _Versatile Lovers (1970)_ (qv) and _Karzan, il favoloso uomo della jungla (1972)_ (qv). Sadly, Nell was diagnosed with leukemia and lost her battle against the disease in Rome in 1975. She was only 28.The grief-stricken Manni suffered from chronic depression following her death but continued to work in Italy, appearing in _Risking (1976)_ (qv), _Oh, Serafina! (1976)_ (qv), _The Rip-Off (1977)_ (qv), _Silbersattel (1978)_ (qv), _Der eingebildete Kranke (1979)_ (qv), _The Truth on the Savolta Affair (1980)_ (qv), along with many TV projects.Much now has been said over the controversy of the actor's untimely death on July 27, 1979 in Rome. It was originally believed that the 52-year-old Manni, an avid gun collector, accidentally shot himself in the groin while cleaning or handling a gun. It is now believed he committed suicide. His final film, 'Federico Fellini' (qv)'s _City of Women (1980)_ (qv) in which he supported 'Marcello Mastroianni' (qv), was released posthumously.::Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]