Frank Wolff

Frank Wolff as Sheriff Gideon Corbett in THE GREAT SILENCE

Nationality: American
Birth: 11 May 1928, San Francisco (United States)
Death: 12 December 1971, Rome (Italy)
Aka:Walter Frank Hermann Wolff

Although less well known than several of his fellow Americans who travelled to Italy in search of work in the sixties, Frank Wolff was probably the most talented of them all. The breadth and consistency of his work - in films both good and mediocre - made him a reliable support actor, and he was adept at playing both sympathetic and mildly psychotic characters.

Wolff began his career, like so many actors of his generation, with guest roles in TV series (Rawhide, The Untouchables) and in films produced by Roger Corman: a winning turn as a villain in Monte Hellman's Beast from Haunted Cave, a scondary role in Ski Troop Attack (both 59) a cameo in The Wasp Woman (60) and as Proximates the Tyrant in Atlas (61), which was filmed in Greece.

He remained in Europe after this last film was completed, immediately finding work in a succession of high quality, critically appreciated films: Nanni Loy's Oscar nominated The Four Days of Naples, Francesco Rosi's Salvatore Giuliano (both 62) and Brunello Rondi's eccentric The Demon (63) stand out. He also appeared in a number of decently budgeted, but now forgotton, international co-productions like Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious (65), with Alec Guinness and a young Robert Redford.

It was in the Spaghetti Western, though, that he found his most steady employment. One of the reasons for this was his versatility: he could play an upright sheriff (The Great Silence (68)), a vicious killer (God Forgives... I Don't (68)) or a raggedy gunman (I Am Sartana Your Angel of Death (69)). Possibly his best known role in the genre was as the doomed visionary Brett McBain in Leone's masterpiece, Once Upon A Time in the West (69). Despite only appearing in the film briefly, his performance is memorable and affecting (in a film full of memorable and affecting performances).

Frank Wolff in I AM SARTANA, YOUR ANGEL OF DEATH

Beyond the western, he also appeared in a number of spy films and thrillers. Of particular note are Gianfranco Mingozzi's excellent Sardinia Kidnapped (68), in which he plays the crafty businessman Osilio, Valentino Orsini's sadly neglected Corbari (70) and Enzo Castellari's The Cold Eyes of Fear (71) - a decent film which benefits greatly from his performance as the vengenace crazed Arthur Welt.

Sadly, Frank Wolff killed himself in 1971, partly because he felt as though his career was going nowhere. His death is detailed (albeit in a fictionalized context) in Bret Halsey's novel The Intimate Strangers, which tells of the escapades of ex-pats working in the Roman film industry. Sadly, it's only in recent years that his talent - and the true quality of some of the films he appeared in - has begun to be appreciated.

ONES TO WATCH

Last of the Badmen: This is a low budget spaghetti western that showcases Frank at his best. He plays a borderline psychotic killer, Black Tracy, who is prone to epiliptic fits and burst of extreme violence. George Hilton is the co-star.

Desert Battle: Another demented performance here, as one of a group of soldiers stuck in the desert during World War Two. George Hilton again co-stars, along with Robert Hossein.