Bud Spencer

Partnership with Terence Hill

In 1967, film director Giuseppe Colizzi offered him a role in God Forgives... I Don't!. On the set, Pedersoli met Mario Girotti (Terence Hill). (Although Pedersoli appeared in the same movie as Girotti in Hannibal in 1959, they did not meet during filming).^[21] The film director asked the two actors to change their names, deeming them to be too Italian-sounding for a Western movie: Pedersoli chose Bud Spencer, with Bud inspired by Budweiser beer and Spencer by the actor Spencer Tracy.^[22] They went on to become a film duo.

While Hill's characters were agile and youthful, Spencer always played the "phlegmatic, grumpy strong-arm man with a blessed, naive child's laughter and a golden heart".^[23] Overall, Hill and Spencer worked together on 18 films, including (using their most common U.S. titles) the spaghetti Westerns They Call Me Trinity (1970) and its sequel, Trinity Is Still My Name (1971).^[24] Their last teaming, Troublemakers (1994), was also in this genre.

Many of these have alternative titles, depending on the country and distributor. Some have longer Italian versions that were edited for their release abroad. These films gathered popularity for both actors, especially throughout much of Europe and parts of Asia and South America. Because of the duo's huge popularity, many producers wanted to exploit their likeness with visually similar duos. Most notable were Paul L. Smith (adopted name Adam Eden in later years, sometimes credited Anam Eden) and Michael Coby (real name Antonio Cantafora) with at least 6 movies in Bud & Terence-fashion from 1973 to 1977,^[25] and István Bujtor with 6 movies in Piedone-fashion from 1981 to 2008.

In the Italian versions of his films, Spencer was generally dubbed by actor Glauco Onorato due to his thick Naples accent,^[26] although he was voiced by Sergio Fiorentini in Troublemakers, To the Limit (1997) and the Extralarge series (1991–93).^[27][28] For English dubs, Spencer was usually voiced by Robert Sommer, Edward Mannix or Richard McNamara, although he occasionally provided his own voice.^[29][30]

Spencer wrote the complete or partial screenplay for some of his movies. His feature film career slowed down after 1983, shifting more toward television. In the 1990s, he acted in the television action-drama Extralarge. His autobiography was published in 2011. In addition, Spencer also published a recipe book including his favorite dishes.^[31]

Death

Spencer died aged 86 on 27 June 2016 in Rome.^[38] Spencer's son Giuseppe Pedersoli stated that his father "died without pain in presence of his family, and his last word was 'grazie'". He was buried at the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome.^{[39][40][22][41]}

Bud Spencer Festival 2016 in Germany main event was changed from exhibition of 15 year's anniversary of the festival to fan's organized exhibition about his life. ^[42]

Legacy

Spencer posthumously received the America Award in 2018 from the Italy–USA Foundation.^[43]

In Hungary, where his films were hugely popular during the communist regime, a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of Spencer created by sculptor Szandra Tasnádi was unveiled on 11 November 2017 in Budapest, with Spencer's daughters in attendance.^[34][44] The statue's pedestal bears the inscription Mi sohasem veszekedtünk ("We never argued"), a quote from Terence Hill's eulogy referring to their long-lasting friend- and partnership.^[45]

Statue of Bud Spencer on the quay at Livorno from 2019.^[46]

A beat 'em up video game titled Bud Spencer & Terence Hill: Slaps and Beans, closely based on Spencer and Hill's cinematic work, was developed by the Italian firm Trinity Team srls and first published by the German firm Buddy Productions GmbH in 2018.^[47][48][49]

In 2021, the Bud Spencer Museum opened in Berlin.^[50]

In Schwäbisch Gmünd, the open-air bath was renamed to "Bud Spencer Bad" (popular abbreviation "Bud Bad") in 2011, in the presence of Bud Spencer, to honour his participation in an international swimming contest in 1951 in the same bath, where as at that time a world class swimmer won the competition in 100m freestyle, with 59,8 seconds the only one on 100m at that competition with time under one minute.^[34][51]

There is a traditional Bud Spencer and Terence Hill Festival in Germany (from 2001), in Italy (from 2005) and in Hungary (from 2007).^[34][52].

Film

Television

Video games