Richard Harrison

The mighty, musclebound actor 'Richard Harrison' (qv) was one of a slew of handsome American pectoral hunks whose 1950's career in Hollywood amounted to little more than brawny bits but, after, being lured to Italy, became a popular sword-and-sandal star of the early 1960's. Unlike many others, Harrison managed to sustain his action star status, making over 100 European/Asian films due thanks to his impulsive trek abroad.Born on May 26, 1936 in Salt Lake City, Richard relocated to sunny Southern California in his late teens where his blond, tanned, chiseled good looks (he was sometimes mistaken for handsome actor 'Guy Madison' (qv)) landed him modeling work both on runways and in beefcake magazines such as "Body Beautiful," "Adonis" and "Physique Pictorial."It didn't take long for Richard to be noticed by Hollywood casting agents. At first cast in he-man bit roles wearing a uniform (or less), he can be obscurely seen in _Jeanne Eagels (1957)_ (qv), his film debut starring 'Kim Novak' (qv), _Kronos (1957)_ (qv) with 'Jeff Morrow' (qv), _Too Much, Too Soon (1958)_ (qv) starring 'Dorothy Malone' (qv), _South Pacific (1958)_ (qv), in which he can be glimpsed as a co-pilot, and _Battle Flame (1959)_ (qv) with 'Scott Brady' (qv) and a young 'Robert Blake' (qv). While filming another minor role in _Master of the World (1961)_ (qv), he met producer 'James H. Nicholson' (qv)'s daughter, Loretta (actress 'Loretta Nicholson' (qv)) and married her within six months. The couple produced three children.Frustrated at not being able to secure meatier roles in Hollywood, Richard jumped at the chance when offered the lead role in the peplum spectacle _The Invincible Gladiator (1961)_ (qv) which filmed in Europe. He wound up settling in Italy for the next two decades. His first role, of course, immediately typed him as another 'Steve Reeves' (qv) mythological hero type and it was followed by other warriors such as Darius in _Gladiators 7 (1962)_ (qv), Perseus in _Perseus Against the Monsters (1963)_ (qv), Glaucus in _Messalina vs. the Son of Hercules (1964)_ (qv), Crassus in _The Two Gladiators (1964)_ (qv), Rufo in _The Revolt of the Pretorians (1964)_ (qv) and Claudius in _Die Giganten von Rom (1964)_ (qv).Once the Herculean craze waned in the mid 1960s, Richard sought other starring parts in both Italian "spaghetti" westerns (_One Hundred Thousand Dollars for Ringo (1965)_ (qv), _Countdown für 3 Millionen Dollar (1967)_ (qv), _Vengeance (1968)_ (qv), _God Was in the West, Too, at One Time (1968)_ (qv), _Day After Tomorrow (1968)_ (qv)) and crime/spy intrigue (_Secret Agent Fireball (1965)_ (qv), _Killers Are Challenged (1966)_ (qv), _Master Stroke (1967)_ (qv), _Fantabulous Inc. (1968)_ (qv)). He then maintained a sturdy steadiness into the 1970's with title roles in _Sheriff of Rock Springs (1971)_ (qv), _Two Brothers in Trinity (1972)_ (qv) and _The Godfather's Friend (1972)_ (qv).As work thinned out, Richard managed to dig up work outside Italy -- with low-budget features in Hong Kong (_The Four Assassins (1975)_ (qv), _Aufstand in Peking (1976)_ (qv)), Turkey (_Anasinin Gozu (1974)_ (qv), _Yankesici (1975)_ (qv), _Sahit (1978)_ (qv)), Germany (_Natascha - Die tödliche Masche (1977)_ (qv) (Natascha: The Deadly Drop)), and Yugoslavia (_Alpha Beta (1974)_ (qv)). In the 1980's, Richard found a profitable market in Hong Kong with his series of "Ninja Master" films (as Ninja Master Gordon) in such representative actioneers as _Ninja Terminator (1986)_ (qv), _Ninja Dragon (1986)_ (qv), _Ninja Operation: Licensed to Terminate (1987)_ (qv), _Der schwarze Tiger (1987)_ (qv), _The Ninja Showdown (1988)_ (qv), _Thunderbolt Angels (1988)_ (qv).Occasionally delving into writing, producing and directing as he did with _Terror Force Kommando (1986)_ (qv), Richard's status as a European action star continued with lead roles as renegade cops in both _Terminal Force (1989)_ (qv) and _Highway to Hell (1990)_ (qv). As he aged, he then began turning more and more to featured parts for other stars such as 'Dan Haggerty' (qv) in _The Channeler (1991)_ (qv) and 'Erik Estrada' (qv) in _Angel Eyes (1993)_ (qv). He retired by the millennium.After his divorce from Loretta, Richard married actress 'Maria Francesca' (qv) in 1978. They had one more child. Two of Richard's sons went into film acting -- 'Robert Harrison' (qv) and 'Sebastian Harrison' (qv).::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net