RIP Antonio Sabato

Farewell to Antonio Sabàto: who died from Covid, he was a star of policemen and spaghetti westerns

Spettacolo.eu

January 9, 2021

Antonio Sabàto, one of the symbolic actors of policemen and spaghetti westerns, in the films of Lenzi, Castellari, De Martino, and candidate for the Golden Globe for Grand Prix, died of Covid-19

The actor Antonio Sabàto, famous protagonist of western and crime films, died on January 10 in California at the age of 77. He was hospitalized in intensive care due to Covid-19. His son Antonio Sabàto Jr., also an actor, announced it with some tweets: “My father / dad is in intensive care with covid in California. Lord keep him surrounded by angels and the pure love and strength of God”. 

Antonio Sabàto was born in Montelepre, near Palermo, in 1943 and made his film debut in the mid-60s in Anna Gobbi's Lo scandalo (1966) and in the much more famous John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix: the role of Nino Barlini, Debutante Ferrari driver, talented but braggart, earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best male promise.

In those years he also participated in films like Le streghe (1967), in the episode directed by Vittorio De Sica or La monaca di Monza (1969) by Eriprando Visconti, but his fortune came thanks to spaghetti westerns, from the first Hate for Hate (1967) by Domenico Paolella to The I Came, I Saw, I Shot (1968) by Enzo G. Castellari, from the all stars Beyond the Law (1968) by Giorgio Stegani to Thunder Over El Paso (1972) by Roberto Bianchi Montero.

Sabàto then moved on to thrillers and policemen, often directed by directors such as Alberto De Martino (L’uomo dagli occhi di ghiaccio, 1971, and I familiari delle vittime non saranno avvertiti, 1972) and Umberto Lenzi (Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso, Milano rovente, 1973), participating in films such as … a tutte le auto della polizia (1975) by Mario Caiano, Poliziotti violenti (1976) by Michele Massimo Tarantini, I violenti di Roma bene (1976) by Sergio Grieco and Massimo Felisatti. In 1975 he also made a fleeting appearance in Roger Vadim's Barbarella.

In 1978 Sabàto was the protagonist of the science fiction La guerra dei robot (1978) by Alfonso Brescia, director with whom he will later shoot several films starring Mario Merola, such as I contrabbandieri di Santa Lucia (1979), Napoli… la camorra sfida, la città risponde (1979), La tua vita per mio figlio (1980). At the beginning of the 80s he then starred in some adventure films such as Fuga dal Bronx (1983) and Tuareg - The Desert Warrior (1984) both by Enzo G. Castellari, Thunder (1983) by Fabrizio De Angelis and Squadra selvaggia (1985) by Umberto Lenzi.

Moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, he effectively abandoned the cinema to devote himself to family, painting and charity, with some rare television forays such as the miniseries Donna d'onore (1990) or the soap Beautiful (2006).

 

SABATO, Antonio

Born: 4/2/1943, Montelepre, Palermo, Italy

Died: 1/10/2021, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A 

Antonio Sabato’s westerns – actor:

Beyond the Law – 1967 (Ben Novak)

Hate for Hate – 1967 (Manuel)

I Came, I Saw, I Shot – 1968 (Moses Lang)

Twice a Judas – 1968 (Luke Barrett)

Western, Italian Style – 1968 [himnself]

Thunder Over El Paso – 1971 (Roy ‘El Santo’ MacFallow)

Where the Bullets Fly – 1972 (Jonathan Edgar/Allen Poe/Gipo)

Thunder Warrior – 1983 (Thomas)