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). Bradley, however, was a dancer, a graduate of the Katherine Dunham school (like Archie Savage), who started off in Rome doing popular dance routines in Roman nightclubs – some of which featured in Mondos – before drifting into film, first as a choreographer, and then as an actor. He worked regularly with Umberto Lenzi, who also gave him possibly his best role, as Sitama, the ambiguous native who helps Richard Harrison’s English thief in Umberto Lenzi’s hugely entertaining La Montagna di luce, a kind of precursor to Raiders of the Lost Ark. He appeared in a handful of spy films (generally as a rather louche henchman) and peplums, before heading back to the states, presumably at some point in the seventies.
There’s also a Wilbert Bradley credited with a number of roles in the US during the 80s; the IMDB has them down as being the same, and that could well be the case… especially as this Wilbert Bradley also worked as a choreographer (on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off!).
Wilbert Bradley died in 1992. According to a notice in the Chicago tribune of March 12th 1963:
A memorial celebration of life for Wilbert Bradley, 66, a former dancer with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. tomorrow at Hyde Park Union Church, 5600 S. Woodlawn.
A Hyde Park resident, he died Dec. 18 at Michael Reese Hospital.
In addition to his work as a dancer, Mr. Bradley was a model, choreographer and costume designer.
From 1944 until the company disbanded in 1962, Mr. Bradley was one of its principal dancers.
Films
- Gordon, il pirata nero (1961), aka Black Pirate
- Trionfo di Maciste (1961) aka Triumph of the Son of Hercules
- Sandokan, la tigre di Mompracem (1963) aka Sandokan the Great (as Pataan)
- Superseven chiama Cairo (1965) aka Super Seven Calling Cairo
- Montagna di luce, La (1965) aka Temple of a Thousand Lights (as Sitama)
- Milione di dollari per sette assassini, Un (1966) aka Last Man to Kill (as Doney)
- Tecnica di una spia (1966) aka Target Goldseven (as Steiner)
- Morte viene dal pianeta Aytin, La (1967) aka The Snow Devils (as Sharu)
- Samoa, regina della giungla (1968 ) aka Samoa, Queen of the Jungle (as The guide)
- Dummy (1979) (as Bartender)
- The Big Score (1983) (as Old Man #1)
- Teachers (1984) (as Guard)
- Windy City (1984) (as Joe the Janitor)
- Code of Silence (1985) (as Spider)
- Big Shots (1987) (as Social Service Man)
As choreographer
- Nefertiti, regina del Nilo (1961) aka Queen of the Nile
- Maciste alla corte del Gran Khan (1961) aka Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World
- Due samurai per cento geishe (1962)
- Ercole sfida Sansone (1963) aka Hercules, Samson & Ulysses
As assistant choreographer
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
As himself:
- Tropico di notte (1961)
- Sexy al neon (1962)