Charles Southwood was an American actor in Europe and the founder of Death Cigarettes.

Biography

Southwood is connected with

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 ...

s. Born in Los Angeles in 1937, his family moved to Oregon at the end of World War II. He earned a degree in philosophy at Oregon State University. He travelled to Europe where he worked at a variety of jobs before becoming a stand in for Lex Barker on '' Woman Times Seven'' in 1966. He was spotted by an agent who led him into lead roles in

Death Cigarettes

Southwood founded Death Cigarettes for "truth-in-advertising". Returning to Oregon, he came up with the idea of "Death Cigarettes" in 1991. Deciding to be honest about the effect of cigarettes, Southwood, a smoker from age 13 to 40, decided to be brutally honest about his cigarettes. In addition to the standard warnings, Death Cigarettes were packed in their own coffin: a stark little black package bearing a skull and crossbones. Southwood traveled to the Southern United States, where the major U.S. tobacco companies found his idea "antithetical to their interests." He found a small tobacco company in Holland that was willing to manufacture his cigarettes, and he briefly took up smoking again to get the blend of tobaccos just right, however he couldn't find a cigarette distributor willing to move his product into stores. "I think they're afraid of pressure from the major cigarette manufacturers". ''See also'' Death cigarettes (by BJ Cunningham) sold in England from 1991-1999.

Personal life

Southwood was married to Anick, a University teacher and had two children a son, Chris and a daughter Amelie.Bishoff, Don ''Will Company Make a Killing?'' ''The Register-Guard'' 6 November 1991

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Southwood, Charles American male film actors Male Spaghetti Western actors American expatriates in Italy 1937 births 2009 deaths Oregon State University alumni Male actors from Oregon 20th-century American male actors