Claudio Cassinelli (13 September 1938 – 13 July 1985) was an Italian film, stage and television actor. Allonsanfan-1974-Cassinelli cropped

Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6363694

Life and career

Born in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

to Giuseppina Tafani and Antonio Cassinelli, a well known opera singer, he had two sisters, Paola Cristina and Loretta. Cassinelli began his career in theater, later dedicating himself to film and television work. His film career is divided equally between auteur films (with, among others,

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani Paolo Taviani (; 8 November 1931 – 29 February 2024) and Vittorio Taviani (; 20 September 1929 – 15 April 2018), collectively referred to as the Taviani brothers, were Italian film directors and screenwriters who collaborated on numerous fi ...

Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani (born 12 January 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature film ''Il portiere di notte'' ('' The Night Porter''). Her films have historical concerns ...

Pasquale Festa Campanile Pasquale Festa Campanile (28 July 1927 – 25 February 1986) was an Italian screenwriter, film director and novelist, best known as a prominent exponent of the ''commedia all'italiana'' genre. Life and career Born at Melfi, in the prov ...

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mereghett ...

) and genre films, especially

poliziotteschi ''Poliziotteschi'' (; : ''poliziottesco'') constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as ''polizieschi all'italiana'', ''I ...

and

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

s. Cassinelli died in

Page, Arizona Page is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States, near the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 7,247. History Page was founded in 1957 as a housing community for workers and their f ...

during the filming of a scene in

Sergio Martino Sergio Martino (born 19 July 1938) is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre. Martino is the brother of the late producer Luciano Martino (who died in 2013). They collaborated frequently in their ...

's ''

Vendetta dal futuro ''Vendetta dal futuro'' (, also known as ''Hands of Steel'') is an Italian science fiction film directed by Sergio Martino. The film stars Daniel Greene, George Eastman and John Saxon. Plot An evil industrialist (John Saxon) has created a cyb ...

''. He was on a helicopter that crashed into the

Navajo Bridge Navajo Bridge is the name of twin steel spandrel arch bridges that cross the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon National Park (near Lees Ferry) in northern Coconino County, Arizona, United States. The newer of the two spans carries vehicular t ...

due to pilot error. He was 46 and left three children: Sebastiano, Filippo and Giovanni.

Selected filmography

* '' China Is Near'' (1967) - Furio * ''

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

'' (1968) * '' The Devil Is a Woman'' (1973) - Rodolfo Solina * ''

Flavia the Heretic ''Flavia the Heretic'' (Italian: ''Flavia, la monaca musulmana'', lit. "Flavia, the Muslim nun") is a 1974 Italian-French nunsploitation film directed by Gianfranco Mingozzi. Plot Set in Apulia during Ottoman invasion of Otranto, the film tel ...

'' (1974) - Abraham * '' What Have They Done to Your Daughters?'' (1974) - Insp. Silvestri * ''

Allonsanfàn ''Allonsanfàn'' () is a 1974 Italian historical drama film written and directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. The title of the film, which is also the name of a character, comes from the first words () of the French Revolutionary anthem ''La Mar ...

'' (1974) - Lionello * ''

La nottata ''La nottata'' () is a 1974 Italian film directed by Tonino Cervi. Plot The film is set in Milan, where Susy and Angela meet in a club bathroom. There, they take possession of a ring forgotten by a lady. After going to movie, they meet Vito, ...

'' (1975) - Davide * '' Killer Cop'' (1975) - Commissario Matteo Rolandi * '' The First Time on the Grass'' (1975) - Hans * '' The Suspicious Death of a Minor'' (1975) - Paolo Germi * ''

Free Hand for a Tough Cop ''Free Hand for a Tough Cop'' (), also known as ''Tough Cop'', is an Italian poliziottesco-action film directed in 1976 by Umberto Lenzi and the second entry into the Tanzi/Moretto/Monnezza shared universe. In this movie Tomas Milian plays for the ...

'' (1976) - Antonio Sarti * '' A Matter of Time'' (1976) - (uncredited) * '' Bloody Payroll'' (1976) - Raul Montalbani * '' Blood and Diamonds'' (1977) - Guido Mauri * ''

Slave of the Cannibal God ''Slave of the Cannibal God'' (Italian title: ''La montagna del dio cannibale'', literally ''The Mountain of the Cannibal God'') is a 1978 Italian horror film starring Ursula Andress and Stacy Keach, with English dialogue, that was filmed in Sri ...

'' (1978) - Manolo * ''

Island of the Fishmen An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

'' (1979) - Lt. Claude de Ross * ''

Avalanche Express ''Avalanche Express'' is a 1979 adventure thriller film starring Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw, Maximilian Schell and Linda Evans, and produced and directed by Mark Robson. The plot is about the struggle over a defecting Soviet general. The screen ...

'' (1979) - Col. Molinari * '' The Great Alligator River'' (1979) - Daniel Nessel * '' The Good Thief'' (1980) - Jesus * ''

Lion of the Desert ''Lion of the Desert'' (alternative titles: ''Omar Mukhtar'' and ''Omar Mukhtar: Lion of the Desert'') is a 1981 epic film, epic historical film, historical war film about the Second Italo-Senussi War, starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leade ...

'' (1980) - Prisoner Escort Guard (uncredited) * ''Roma dalla finestra'' (1982) - Carlo * ''

Grog Grog is a term used for a variety of alcoholic beverages. Origin and history Popularization of rum and invention of grog Following Invasion of Jamaica, England's conquest of Jamaica in 1655, rum gradually replaced beer and brandy as the drink ...

'' (1982) - Commissario * '' Scorpion with Two Tails'' (1982) - Paolo Domelli * ''Notturno'' (1983) - The Contacter * ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' (1983) - Zeus * ''Unguided Tour'' (1983) * '' Warriors of the Year 2072'' (1984) - Cortez * '' Murder Rock'' (1984) - Dick Gibson * ''

The Adventures of Hercules ''The Adventures of Hercules'' () also known as ''Hercules II: The Adventures of Hercules'' is the 1985 sequel to the 1983 film '' Hercules''. It was written and directed by Luigi Cozzi and has bodybuilder-turned-actor Lou Ferrigno reprising ...

'' (1985) - Zeus * ''

'' (1986) - Peter Howell

References

External links

* 1938 births 1985 deaths Accidental deaths in Arizona Male actors from Bologna Italian male film actors Italian male stage actors Italian male television actors Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1985 Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents in the United States 20th-century Italian male actors {{Italy-screen-actor-stub