Rik Battaglia

Handsome Italian matinee idol Rik Battaglia lived out many of the fantasies of the male filmgoer of the 20th century. Since the 1950s, Battaglia has often played gunfighters, ancient Roman soldiers, and gangsters in a career that stretched over five decades. Born in 1930 and raised by his grandparents, Battaglia was working as a sailor when a movie talent scout discovered him in a bar. Producer Carlo Ponti cast Battaglia in his first role, playing a smuggler who seduces a small town wife, played by Ponti's wife Sophia Loren, in the '55 film "The River Girl." The film's success led to further interest in Battaglia, who then attended two years of acting classes. He emerged to work steadily in the popular genres of Italian cinema, first in sword and sandal films in the '50s, spaghetti westerns in the '60s, and mafia films in the '70s. Among his career highlights are roles in Robert Aldrich's '62 biblical epic, "The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah," Sergio Leone's '71 western, "Duck, You Sucker, AKA A Fistful of Dynamite," and a '72 production of "Treasure Island," in which he played Captain Smollett across from Orson Welles' Long John Silver. Battaglia continued to work in Italian and German productions through the '80s and '90s, retiring from acting in '99.