Wow, this is fascinating. There’s a film just been released in Norway called Natural Born Star, which is all about the actor Fred Robsahm (of The Black Killer, Django the Bastard etc etc). Sounds like he had a very interesting, rather tragic time. Here’s a press release about it:
atural Born Star is the story of Fred Robsahm’s journey through life. From life among the stars to the social security office. A film about sailing, shipwreck, and dreams about the future.
In 1967, the young Fred Robsahm ventured out into the wide world in order to earn money for a sailboat. On his journey he visited Italy, where his sister lived. It’s on the film set of Barbarella where Fred’s film adventures took off. His brother-in-law had one of the roles, and Fred, who was passing through, wanted to say hello. Fred was the Nordic blond type and remarkably handsome, and he landed a tiny role right there and then.
Fred staid on in Italy. During the next 15 years he acted in a whole lot of Western films and historical dramas. He met the woman of his life, and settled down. For a while.
His purpose had always been to get enough money together for a sailboat. He had the money, but he also had a girlfriend and a tiny palace of a home. Even so, he preferred to spend more and more time out at sea. In one naive moment he made a wrong move. He agreed to bring a sailboat from Spain to Italy. No questions asked, only sailing, the sea and the wind. Fred brought the boat to shore in Rome, and went home to his girlfriend. That night, the police turned up and fetched him. In that moment, Fred lost his freedom, his girlfriend, his health and his future.
In 1992, 17 year old Even Benestad gets hold of a VHS copy of the Italian cult classic Black Killer. The film is banned in Norway, and has consequently become a gem among die-hard film buffs. Meanwhile, 15 kilometers further south down the main road, the actor in the same film sits in his 15 square meters pad; the HIV positive, former drug addict Fred Robsahm.
In spite of the short distance between them, they never meet. Not until Even himself becomes a director and gets to hear the story of Fred. The story is too unbelievable to be true, but when he starts checking out Fred and his many aliases on the Net, the films start popping up one by one: Peccati di Gioventù, Black Killer, Sepolta Viva, Flashback, Caramola, Barbarella.
Natural Born Star is the film about Fred Robsahm, as seen through the lense of Even Benestad.
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