JOHN KARLSEN

(20 October 1919 - 5 July 2017)

The New Zealand-born actor, who has died aged 97, started his film career in The Naked Maja (1958), with Ava Gardner. He continued with other juicy titles such as Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory, Pontius Pilate, The Witch’s Curse and Toto and Peppino Divided in Berlin, but also appeared in some more high-profile Italian productions such as Fellini’s 8½ and Casanova and he voiced Amarcord in English. He was also in Cleopatra, Modesty Blaise, The Black Stallion, I Love N.Y., Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound. Karlsen was never a star player but notched up over eighty appearances on TV and in films, most of which were shot in Italy. His last films were The Sin Eater (2003) with Heath Ledger, and Pupi Avati’s The Hideout (2007), with Rita Tushingham. He died in Auckland, New Zealand.

MICHAEL DARVELL