Jim Gaines is an African-American actor, born in Hawaii in 1955, who came to prominence in a series of Filipino action films in the 1980s, often acting alongside the likes of Mike Monty, Richard Harrison and Bruce Baron. Many of the 50 or so films he appeared in had no European involvement at all, such as Apocalypse Now (79), but the Philippines was a popular shooting location at the time and Italian filmmakers were only too happy to film there, making use of any available local talent in the process. Gaines’ formed a particularly strong association with Bruno Mattei, who directed many of his ‘Italian’ films, and the two of them hooked up again almost two decades later to film three cheapjack, straight to video productions shortly before the Mattei’s death.
Jim Gaines’s Italian Films
- Ultimo cacciatore, L’ (uncredited) (80)
- Strike Commando (as Radek’s man) (87)
- After Death (Oltre la morte) (as Dan) (88)
- Cop Game (as Ludge’s henchman) (88)
- Dog Tags (as Pet) (88)
- Robowar – Robot da guerra (as Sonny Peel) (88)
- Trappola diabolica (as Frank, Jenkins’ bodyguard) (88)
- Anime perse (2006)
- Isola dei morti viventi, L’ (2006)
- Zombi: La creazione (2007)