Ed Fury (born Rupert Edmund Holovchik; June 6, 1928 – February 24, 2023) was an American bodybuilder, actor, and model. He is best known for starring in a number of "

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (: pepla), is a subgenre of largely Italy, Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget ...

" films in the 1950s and 1960s. Fury returned to acting in the early 1970s and appeared mostly in small parts in television series.

Early life and career

Rupert Edmund Holovchik was born in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, on June 6, 1928. An orphan, he moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, in the late 1940s and competed in numerous bodybuilding competitions, such as "Mr. Muscle Beach" in 1951 and 1953, coming in third and second respectively. In addition, he worked as a physique model for photographers

Bob Mizer Robert Henry Mizer (March 27, 1922 – May 12, 1992) was an American photographer and filmmaker, known for pushing boundaries of depicting male homoerotic content with his work in the mid 20th century. Biography Bob Mizer's earliest photograph ...

and

Bruce Bellas Bruce Harry Bellas (July 7, 1909 – July 1974) was an American photographer. He was influential in his work with male physiques and nudes. Bellas was well known under the pseudonym Bruce of Los Angeles. History and influence Bruce Harry Bellas ...

, and also made a couple of loops for Mizer's male erotica studio

Athletic Model Guild The Athletic Model Guild, or AMG, was a physique photography studio founded by Bob Mizer in December 1945. During those post-war years, United States censorship laws allowed women, but not men, to appear in various states of undress in what were r ...

(AMG). Fury began his acting career as a stage actor. He appeared in a handful of uncredited parts in films, including as an Olympic team member in '' Gentleman Prefer Blondes'', notable because instead of diving into the pool over star Jane Russell, his foot hit her and she fell into the pool as he dived over her. The accident was kept in the final version of the movie. He received his first bigger role in ''

The Wild Women of Wongo ''The Wild Women of Wongo'' is a 1958 American adventure film directed by James L. Wolcott and starring Jean Hawkshaw, Mary Ann Webb, Cande Gerrard, and Adrienne Bourbeau. The low-budget film features stereotypical portrayals of fictional tropi ...

'' (1958). In 1958, Fury portrayed an Olympic hero in the television series '' Naked City''. After this appearance, Fury found himself out of work for some time. He was arrested in October after being accused of stealing 50 spark plugs from

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

and using them to assault a store detective who had pursued him after he left the store. In the 1960s, Fury travelled to Italy and took advantage of the popularity of "sword-and-sandal" films. Led by

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder and actor. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonist as muscular characters ...

, who starred in ''

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 ...

'' (1958), the popularity of those films allowed Fury to star in films such as ''

Colossus and the Amazon Queen ''Colossus and the Amazon Queen'' (/ ''Queen of the Amazons'') is a 1960 Italian sword and sandal comedy film directed by Vittorio Sala. Cast *Rod Taylor as Pirro * Ed Fury as Glauco *Dorian Gray as Antiope * Daniela Rocca as Melitta *Gianna ...

'' (1960), ''

The Seven Revenges ''The Seven Revenges'' (, also known as ''Ivan the Conqueror'') is a 1961 Italian adventure film directed by Primo Zeglio. It features American actress Elaine Stewart and was filmed in Yugoslavia. Plot The leaders of Circassians and Kyrgyz face ...

'' (1961), and '' Maciste Against the Sheik'' (1962). He also starred as Ursus in the film trilogy '' Ursus'' (1961), '' Ursus in the Valley of the Lions'' (1961), and '' Ursus in the Land of Fire'' (1963), before the popularity of "sword-and-sandal" films waned. ED FURY - WHITE BIKINI

Later life and death

Fury avoided the limelight in later years, but made several public appearances. On September 3, 2001, Fury was honored at Venice Beach by

City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

as part of that year's

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

celebrations. The ceremony for local bodybuilders who had made a mark on the film industry was also attended by

Gordon Mitchell Gordon Mitchell (born Charles Allen Pendleton; July 29, 1923 – September 20, 2003) was an American actor and bodybuilder, known for his starring roles in Italian sword-and-sandal and Spaghetti Western films. Early life Charles Allen Pendleto ...

Mark Forest Lou Degni (January 6, 1933 – January 7, 2022), known professionally as Mark Forest, was an American actor and bodybuilder — widely known as the protagonist in a series of 1960s sword and sandal or ''peplum'' movies — including his ...

Mickey Hargitay Miklós Károly "Mickey" Hargitay (January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006) was a Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder. Born in Budapest, Hargitay moved to the United States in 1947 and eventually became an American citizen. He was married ...

Brad Harris Bradford Harris (July 16, 1933 – November 7, 2017) was an American actor and stuntman. He appeared in a variety of roles in over 50 films, mostly in European productions. He was an inductee in the Stuntman's Hall of Fame. Early life Born i ...

, Richard Harrison, Reg Lewis and

Peter Lupus Peter Nash Lupus Jr. (born June 17, 1932) is an American bodybuilder and actor. He is best known for his role as Willy Armitage on the television series '' Mission: Impossible'' (1966–1973). Personal life Lupus is one of three siblings bor ...

. Hargitay, Mitchell and Fury again appeared together at the "Swords & Sandals" festival, hosted by the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...

in July 2003. Fury died at his home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on February 24, 2023, at the age of 94. He was survived by his wife, Shelly.

Selected filmography

* '' Raw Edge'' (1956) * ''

'' (1958) * ''

'' (1960) * '' Ursus'' (1961) * ''

'' (1961) * '' Ursus in the Valley of the Lions'' (1961) * '' Maciste against the Sheik'' (1962) * '' Ursus in the Land of Fire'' (1963)

References

External links

*
Ed Fury
at Aveleyman {{DEFAULTSORT:Fury, Ed 1928 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male bodybuilders American male adult models Male actors from California People associated with physical culture People from Long Island 20th-century American sportsmen