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Bradford Harris (July 16, 1933 – November 7, 2017) was an American
actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...
,
stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...
, and
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
. He appeared in a variety of roles in over 50 films, mostly in European productions. He was an inductee in the Stuntman's Hall of Fame.


Life and career

Born in St. Anthony, Idaho, Harris' family moved to California, where he attended Burbank High School, then received an
athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...
to
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californi ...
where he studied economics. When he injured his knee playing football he was advised to take up weightlifting to strengthen the injury that developed his interest in bodybuilding. Harris entered films as a
stand-in A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of film and television production. Stand-ins al ...
,
stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...
, and later an actor. His first roles were in André de Toth's '' Monkey on My Back'' and ''
Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn b ...
''. With his athletic physique, Harris travelled to Rome to watch the
1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...
and perform stunts in Stanley Kubrick's ''
Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisi ...
.'' He stayed in Europe for the boom in European sword and sandal, Eurospy, and
Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
genres. Harris discovered, when working in Germany, that stunt coordinators were nonexistent in that country and he often did extra duties as a stuntman, stunt coordinator, and second unit director as well as an actor. Harris made his debut as a leading man in 1961 in the title role of Gianfranco Parolini's '' Goliath Against the Giants'' and ''
Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution ...
.'' He would have a long, continuing relationship in several films written and directed by Parolini. Harris also began to be teamed with Tony Kendall, starting with the Western ''Pirates of the Mississippi''. He later married his co-star in ''Black Eagle of Santa Fe'', the sequel to that film. He married Czech actress Olga Schoberová on November 16, 1967 and divorced in 1969. They had a daughter named Babrinka (Sabrina). Harris teamed again with Kendall and Parolini in the
Kommissar X Kommissar X or Commissioner X is a German crime fiction series of books from the Pabel Moewig publishing house. "Kommissar X" is a private detective named Joe Louis Walker who was a counterpart of the German crime fiction FBI Special Agent Je ...
series, and ''The Three Fantastic Supermen''/''I Fantastici Tre Supermen'' (1967) series. He served as
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
on several of his films including '' King of Kong Island'' (which he also starred in) and
Jack Cardiff Jack Cardiff, (18 September 1914 – 22 April 2009) was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to fil ...
's '' The Mutations''. He later made seven appearances on the American
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
Falcon Crest ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the Californi ...
'' as "Deputy Duffy". His most recent film was the Andrea Zaccariello's comedy ''Boom'', released in 1999. Harris invented and marketed exercise products called "AB-OrigOnals." He owned a company called Modern Body Design. In 2015 he was awarded the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
College of Humanities’ Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award in the Humanities. He died on November 7, 2017, at the age of 84.Brad Harris, Actor in Sword-and-Sandal Movies, Dies at 84
variety.com; accessed November 11, 2021.


Selected filmography

* '' The McConnell Story'' (1955) - Pilot (uncredited) * '' Monkey on My Back'' (1957) - Spike McAvoy * ''Speed Crazy'' (1959) - Bit Part (uncredited) * ''
Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn b ...
'' (1959) - Muscleman Luke (uncredited) * '' Tall Story'' (1960) - Student by Fire (uncredited) * '' 13 Fighting Men'' (1960) - Pvt. Fowler * ''
Ocean's 11 ''Ocean's 11'' is a 1960 American heist film directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. The film stars five of the Rat Pack: ...
'' (1960) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''
Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisi ...
'' (1960) - Gladiator / Soldier (uncredited) * '' Goliath Against the Giants'' (1961) - Goliath * ''
Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution ...
'' (1961) - Samson * '' The Fury Of Hercules'' (1962) - Hercules * '' The Hot Port of Hong Kong'' (1962) - Polizeiinspektor McLean * '' It Happened in Athens'' (1962) - Garrett (uncredited) * '' 79 A.D.'' (1962) - Marcus Tiberius * '' The Old Testament'' (1962) - Simone * '' The Black Panther of Ratana'' (1963) - Larry Finch * ''
The Pirates of the Mississippi ''The Pirates of the Mississippi'' (German: ''Die Flußpiraten vom Mississippi'') is a Western film directed by Jürgen Roland and starring Hansjörg Felmy, Brad Harris and Sabine Sinjen. A Eurowestern, it was a co-production between West Ge ...
'' (1963) - Tom Cook * '' Mission to Hell'' (1964) - Joe Warren * '' Mystery of the Red Jungle'' (1964) - Larry McLean * '' The Secret of the Chinese Carnation'' (1964) - Donald Ramsey * '' Massacre at Marble City'' (1964) - Phil Stone * '' Black Eagle of Santa Fe'' (1965) - Cliff McPherson * ''
Our Man in Jamaica ''Our Man in Jamaica''/''Operation Jamaica'' ( it, A 001, operazione Giamaica) is a 1965 Italian Spanish German international co-production Eurospy adventure film directed by an uncredited Mel Welles. It was credited to for reasons of Europe ...
'' (1965) - Captain Mike Jefferson * '' Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill'' (1966) - Capt. Tom Rowland * '' Kommissar X – Drei gelbe Katzen'' (aka ''Death is Nimble, Death is Quick'') (1966) - Capt. Tom Rowland * '' Kommissar X – In den Klauen des goldenen Drachen'' (aka ''So Darling So Deadly'') (1966) - Capt. Tom Rowland * '' The Three Fantastic Supermen'' (1967) - Brad McCallum * ''The Ten Million Dollar Grab'' (1967) - Robert Colman * '' Kommissar X – Drei grüne Hunde'' (aka ''Death Trip'') (1967) - Capt. Tom Rowland * '' Spy Today, Die Tomorrow'' (1967) - Cliff * '' Un hombre vino a matar'' (1967) - Sheriff Bill Manners * ''Kommissar X - Drei blaue Panther'' (1968) - Capt. Tom Rowland * ''Cin cin... cianuro'' (1968) - George * '' King of Kong Island'' (1968) - Burt Dawson * ''
Kommissar X – Drei goldene Schlangen ''Kommissar X – Drei goldene Schlangen'' (translation: ''Commissioner X: Three Golden Snakes'') is a 1969 international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of f ...
'' (1969) - Capt. Tom Rowland * '' Poppea's Hot Nights'' (1969) - Claudio Valerio * '' Patton'' (1970) - Sergeant in Bar (uncredited) * ''Che fanno i nostri supermen tra le vergini della jungla?'' (1970) - Captain Brad Scott * ''Quando suona la campana'' (1970) - Don Vincenzo * ' (1970) - Ken Stark * ' (1970) - Sabata * ''The Mad Butcher'' (1971) - Mike Lawrence * ''Arriva Durango... paga o muori'' (1971) - Durango * ''Il ritorno del gladiatore più forte del mondo'' (1971) - Marzio * '' Kommissar X jagt die roten Tiger'' (aka ''Tiger Gang'') (1971) - Capt. Tom Rowland * ''Seminò morte... lo chiamavano il Castigo di Dio!'' (1972) - Django / Durango * ''Zambo, il dominatore della foresta'' (1972) - George Ryon aka Zambo * ''Questa volta ti faccio ricco!'' (1974) - Brad McCoy * '' The Girl in Room 2A'' (1974) - Charlie * '' The Mutations'' (1974) - Brian Redford * '' Who Breaks... Pays'' (1975) - Placido * '' Lady Dracula'' (1977) - Kommissar * '' The Beast in Heat'' (1977) - Don Lorenzo (uncredited) * ''
Brass Target ''Brass Target'' is a 1978 American suspense war film based on the 1974 novel ''The Algonquin Project'' by Frederick Nolan. The film was produced by Berle Adams and Arthur Lewis and directed by John Hough. It stars Sophia Loren, John Cassavetes, ...
'' (1978) - Lt. Rowan * ''Zwei tolle Käfer räumen auf'' (1979) - Don Fernando Hidalgo * ''Mie jue qi qi'' (1980) - Leopard * '' Good-bye, Cruel World'' (1983) - Policeman * ''
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the G ...
'' (1983) - King Augeias * '' The Seven Magnificent Gladiators'' (1983) - Scipio * '' Death Stone'' (1987) - Brain * ''Boom'' (1999) - Gordon Steele (segment "Il figlio di Maciste") * ''
Shiver Shivering (also called shuddering) is a bodily function in response to cold and extreme fear in warm-blooded animals. When the core body temperature drops, the shivering reflex is triggered to maintain homeostasis. Skeletal muscles begin to sh ...
'' (2012) - The Captain (final film role)


References


External links

* *
Brad Harris bio on (re)Search my Trash
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Brad 1933 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American male actors American bodybuilders American expatriates in Italy American male film actors American male soap opera actors American stunt performers Male actors from Idaho Male Spaghetti Western actors People associated with physical culture People from St. Anthony, Idaho