Thomas Hunter

Born: 19 December 1932, Savannah, Georgia, USA

Hung over, unshaven and wearing an old sheepskin jacket, Levis and cowboy boots, Thomas Hunter, entering his agents office in Beverly Hills, bumped (literally) into a smartly dressed man who was just leaving. Two weeks later he found himself on a plane to Italy along with Burt Reynolds.

Reynolds was on his way to shoot 'Navajo Joe', and Hunter was to play Jerry Brewster in 'The Hills Run Red'.

A good example of an early wave Spaghetti Western, the film is also, at times, brutal - Hunter's scene where his tattoo is removed is particularly gruesome.

More easy-going is his other Spaghetti Western 'Death Walks in Laredo' - but it is also a really bizarre entry to the genre. This one features three half-brothers. First there is an American called Whitty (Hunter), a crack marksman who carries an array of trick guns. Then there is Lester, a Japanese kung-fu expert. And finally we have a Frenchman called Etienne - a magician and hyponitizer that seems to possess strange magnetic powers and the ability to 'freeze' his opponents with his stare! The three battle against Julius Caesar Fuller - a toga wearing bad guy who lives in a Roman style castle. The movie was filmed in Algeria.

He was also in a West German produced Western called 'Carlos' that was filmed in Israel.

Thomas Hunter remembers his Spaghetti Western days in Tom Bett's 'Western All'Italiana' #63