George Eastman (born Luigi Montefiori; August 16, 1942) is an Italian actor and screenwriter well known for his frequent collaborations with director Joe D'Amato. He is most famous for his role as the insane, cannibalistic serial killer Klaus Wortmann in the gory 1980 horror film Antropophagus (aka The Grim Reaper). He also played a similar role in its 1981 follow-up, Absurd. Both films were directed by D'Amato and written by Eastman.

Career

Eastman was born in Genoa, Italy, and studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and at the Drama School held of Alessandro Fersen. He took his Americanized alias "George Eastman" when he was cast as a "heavy" in many Spaghetti Westerns made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1972 he played the villain in The Call of the Wild which starred Charlton Heston and was directed by Ken Annakin.

Eastman later became a regular performer in many movies directed by Joe D'Amato, for whom he also wrote many screenplays. Their first work together was Cormack of the Mounties (aka Giubbe rosse) in 1975.

He was a very familiar face in Italian B-cinema in the early 1980s, being generally cast as a villain, thanks to his towering 6'9" height, and his dark and menacing looks. He co-starred in many Italian science fiction films such as Bronx Warriors, The New Barbarians, Endgame, Ironmaster, 2020 Texas Gladiators and After the Fall of New York. His most famous movie is the gory horror film Anthropophagous, directed by Joe D'Amato in 1980, in which he played the monster. He also starred in D'Amato's Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, Porno Holocaust and Absurd (aka Anthropophagous 2).

Two of his greatest major villain roles were in Rabid Dogs (aka Kidnapped, 1974) and Blastfighter (1984). He appeared in Paramount's 1985 biblical film King David playing Goliath in David's childhood flashback scene. In 1986, he performed as Stefano in the movie Regalo di Natale, directed by Pupi Avati. He also wrote and directed the science fiction film Metamorphosis/ DNA Formula Letale (produced by Joe D'Amato) in 1990, after which he quit acting to concentrate on his screenwriting. He is now a well regarded author in Italian television and only acts occasionally. (In 2003, he returned to acting in La rivincita di Natale, a film directed by Pupi Avati.)

Partial filmography

TitleYearCredited asRoleNotesRefs.
ActorScreenwriterStory author
Django Shoots First1966YesJesse Kluster
My Name Is Pecos1966YesMember of Kline's group
Django Kills Softly1967YesBill
The Last KillerYesRamon/Chico
Poker with PistolsYesLucas
Django, Prepare a Coffin1968YesLucas
Bootleggers1969YesMcGowan "The Irish"
Fellini SatyriconYesThe Minotaur
Bastard, Go and Kill1971Yes—N/a
Ben and Charlie1972YesCharlie
The Call of the WildYesBlack Burton
Baba Yaga1973YesCharlie
ScalawagYesDon Aragon
A forza di sberle1974Yes
Cormack of the Mounties1975Yes
Blood and Bullets1976YesDan Caputo, "Knell"
KeomaYesYes
Canne mozze1977Yes
Sesso nero1980YesYesYesVoyakis
AntropophagusYesYesNikos KaramanlisAlso producer
Porno Holocaust1981YesProfessor Lemoine
1990: The Bronx Warriors1983Yes—N/a
IronmasterYesVood
The New BarbariansYesOne
2019, After the Fall of New YorkYesBig Ape
Blastfighter1984YesTom
Delirium1987YesAlex
The BarbariansYesJacko
Il deserto del fuoco1997YesTelevision film
Rabid Dogs1998YesTrentadue / Thirty-two
2020 Texas Gladiators—N/aYesYes
Emanuelle's Revenge—N/a—N/aYesCarlo
The Cobra—N/a—N/aYesCrane
Emanuelle Around the World—N/a—N/aYes
L'Inspettore Giusti—N/aYes
Master Stroke—N/a—N/aYesWestern actor

Screenplays

  • Giubbe rosse (1974), aka Red Coats, aka Cormack of the Mounties, directed by Joe D'Amato
  • Candido Erotico (1978)
  • La Ragazza del Vagone Letto (1979)
  • The Great Alligator River (1979), directed by Sergio Martino (Eastman got plot credit only)
  • Sesso nero/ Black Sex (1980), directed by Joe D'Amato
  • Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1980), directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman also co-starred in this film)
  • Absurd/Rosso sangue (1981), directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman co-starred in this film as the monster)
  • Caligula... The Untold Story (1982), directed by Joe D'Amato
  • Endgame (1983), directed by Joe D'Amato (Eastman co-starred in this film as well)
  • Stage Fright (1987), a.k.a. Deliria, directed by Michele Soavi (Eastman has an uncredited role in this film, playing the masked killer)
  • Metamorphosis (1990), a.k.a. DNA Formula Letale (Eastman directed this film, and had a cameo role in it as well)
  • Il Principe del Deserto (TV serial)
  • The Son of Sandokan (1998), made-for-TV movie

Footnotes

Sources

  • Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786469765.
  • Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1-936168-60-6.
  • Grattarola, Franco; Napoli, Andrea (2014). Luce Rossa. La nascita e le prime fasi del cinema pornografico in Italia. Roma: Iacobelli Editore. ISBN 9788862522137.
  • Grant, Kevin (2011). Any Gun Can Play. Fab Press. ISBN 9781903254615.
  • Green, Paul (2009). Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786458004.
  • Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916.
  • Paul, Louis (2005). Italian Horror Film Directors. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8749-3.
  • Shipka, Danny (2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960–1980. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4888-3.

External links

  • at IMDb
  • French B-movie website which reviews several of Eastman's movies