Just a short note to mention that Fernando Hilbeck has died (thanks, Nzoog, for letting me know).
Sr. Hilbeck, aka Fernando José Hilbeck Galvada, was a Spanish character actor who appeared in numerous films through the 1960s and 70s. Born in Madrid on the 7th July 1933, he had an English father, which explains why he appeared in so many international co-productions (having spoken English was always an advantage for hispanic actors hoping to appear in big, Spanish shot films). He graduated from college in Lima with a doctorate in Philosophy, before moving to Rome where he appeared in the Pirandello y De Servi theatre for two years and made his film debut with Micheal Curtiz’s Francis of Assisi in 1961.
During the 60s, he popped up in numerous Spaghetti Westerns and thrillers, not to mention the likes of Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight (65). He was a regular performer for Sidney Pink, who shot a series of Spanish based films intended for US TV, such as Pyro (64) and Madigan’s Millions (67), starring a young Dustin Hoffman.
The seventies continued in much the same vein, and he becamse a familiar figure in culty Spanish films: he was a memorable zombie in Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (74), a twitchy holocaust survivor stuck in an underground bunker in Refuge of Fear (74) and also turned up in the likes of A Candle for the Devil and Voodoo Black Exorcist (both 73). He continued appearing in english language features as well, such as Flesh and Blood (85), as well as TV series such as Nostromo in 1996.
It looks like his death has passed without any kind of acknowledgement whatsoever, which is a shame.
D.E.P.
Gran Actor