Category Archives: Black Actors in Italy

Here we take a look at all the black actors who worked in Italy

Daniel Jones

Another in our on off guide to black actors in Italian cinema, this time it’s the turn of: Daniel Jones. Continue reading

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John Kitzmiller

John Kitzmiller was one of the most prominent Afro-American actors to work in Italy during the post war period.  Born in Michigan in 1913, he first came to Europe as a soldier during the liberation of Italy, winning a Victory … Continue reading

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Marc Hannibal

Marc Hannibal was an American actor and singer who appeared in a single Italian film, Alfonso Brescia’s extremely silly Superuomini, superdonne, superbotte (75). Continue reading

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Edith Peters

Edith Peters was one of the many black performers who complemented their careers in the popular nightclubs and revues of the time with the occassional bit part roles on screen. Continue reading

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Fernando Piazza

Fernando Piazza was one of the more obscure black actors to ply their trade in Cinecitta in the 60s. His first credited performance, as far as I can make out, was in Domenico Paolella’s entertaining historical adventure The Women of Devil’s Island Continue reading

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James Sampson

James Sampson was a familiar face in Italian exploitation films of the 1980s. He never had big roles, being more the kind of actor who would pop up for thirty seconds before dropping out of the picture… Continue reading

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Hazel Rogers

Here’s a name that was unfamiliar to me until watching the 1959 Alberto Sordi vehicle, Il moralista, directed by Giorgio Bianchi.  Hazel Rogers has a small part as one of a trio of dancers Sordi – playing a public censor … Continue reading

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Jim Gaines

Jim Gaines is an African-American actor, born in Hawaii in 1955, who came to prominence in a series of Filipino action films Continue reading

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Hal Frederick

Hal Frederick was an American actor who had a very brief career in Europe, making his debut in an Italian film, Sandokan Against the Leopard of Sarawak Continue reading

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Lola Falana

Lola Falana, the daughter of an African-American mother and Cuban father, appeared in two Italian films during the late 1960s. Continue reading

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Isabel De Valvert

Isabelle De Valvert starred in a handful of films during the mid 70s, but beyond that information is scarce Continue reading

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Dorothy Dandridge

While the majoroty of her career was based in the US, she does seem to have become more avtive in Europe towards the later stages of her life Continue reading

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Beryl Cunningham

Beryl Cunningham is another of the black actresses who came to brief fame as ‘exotic totty’ in Italian films of the late 60s and early 70s. Continue reading

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Jon Chevron

Jon Chevron was a slight actor who had supporting, vaguely comic roles in a couple of Italian action films. Continue reading

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Leo Coleman

Leo Coleman was a black dancer who was involved with the Katherine Dunham troupe Continue reading

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Jim Brown

Although not really associated with European Cinema, American actor Jim Brown did actually make a few films of interest. Continue reading

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Carla Brait

Carla Brait is one of the better known black actresses to have worked in Italian Cinema, having worked in anumber of cult favourites. Continue reading

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Wilbert Bradley

Wilbert Bradley was another Minnesotan who ended up working in the Italian film industry, much like Harold Bradley (the two of them aren’t related). Continue reading

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Harold Bradley

Harold Bradley was a familiar face in Italian films from the early sixties, appearing in a number of them uncredited. He was also a mainstay of the Roman scene; a former footballer, singer and club manager who drifted into acting … Continue reading

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Sonia Bennett

Sonia Bennett was an actress who appeared in a number of porn films in the early eighties. She was popular enough to have her ‘own’ film, L’amica di Sonia in 1983, but disappeared from view a couple of years later. … Continue reading

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