Lou Castel (born Ulv Quarzell; 28 May 1943) is a Swedish

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 (), li ...

who became known through his work in Italian films.

Life and career

The son of a Swedish father and an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

mother, Castel was born Ulv Quarzell in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, where his father was working as a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He and his twin brother grew up in Cartagena. When Castel was 6, his parents separated. He followed his mother to Europe and went to school in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, briefly at

Dartington Hall School Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "on ...

with his sister Solveig, then in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. He subsequently went to live in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where his mother was working in the local film industry. A

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, Castel's mother also introduced her son to politics. Interested in acting from an early age, he attended the

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre or Italian National film school) was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film. The centre is the oldest film school in ...

, but was quickly kicked out. His first movie role was an uncredited extra in ''

The Leopard ''The Leopard'' ( it, Il Gattopardo ) is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the ''Risorgimento''. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the ...

'' (1963). Two years later, he gained international fame for his performance in ''

Fists in the Pocket ''Fists in the Pocket'' ( it, I pugni in tasca) is a 1965 Italian psychological drama film written and directed by Marco Bellocchio, his directorial debut. A dark satire of family and social values, the film centers on a young man suffering from ...

'', in which he played the epileptic Alessandro, who murders his mother and his brother. His career in Italy included arthouse pictures, but also

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 and also softcore erotica. He enjoyed particular success with his starring roles in

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mere ...

's '' A Bullet for the General'' (1967),

Salvatore Samperi Salvatore Samperi (26 July 1944 – 4 March 2009) was an Italian film director. His 1973 film ''Malicious (1973 film), Malicious'' was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival and his 1979 film ''Ernesto (film), Ernesto' ...

's '' Come Play with Me'' (1968) and

Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unr ...

's '' Orgasmo'' (1969). He later played Jeff, the temperamental bisexual film director in the German production ''

Beware of a Holy Whore ''Beware of a Holy Whore'' (german: Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte) is a 1971 West German drama film written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder that features Lou Castel, Eddie Constantine, Hanna Schygulla and Fassbinder himself. Fassbinder ...

'' (1971), directed by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

. While living in Italy, Castel became involved in a

maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

organization, the Union of Italian Communists (Marxist–Leninist). As Italy was going through the Years of Lead period, he was eventually considered an undesirable alien. In 1972, he was deported to Sweden where he no longer had any acquaintances. For a time, he had to rely on subsidies sent to him from Italy by his organization. However, he quickly bounced back and appeared, mostly as a

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

, in various European films, directed by filmmakers such as

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

and

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

. Castel settled in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the early 1990s. Though the quality of the films he acted in were quite disparate, ranging from arthouse films to cheap exploitation, Castel had a preference for roles that reflected his extreme leftist beliefs. He portrayed left-wing terrorists in ''

Nada Nada may refer to: Culture *Nāda, a concept in ancient Indian metaphysics Places *Nada, Hainan, China *Nada, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States *Nada, Nepal, village in Achham District, Seti Zone *Nada, Texas, United Sta ...

'' (1974), ''

The Cassandra Crossing ''The Cassandra Crossing'' is a 1976 disaster thriller film directed by George Pan Cosmatos and starring Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen, Burt Lancaster, Lee Strasberg and O. J. Simpson about a disease-infected Swedish ...

'' (1976), ''

Could It Happen Here? ''Could It Happen Here?'' ( it, Italia: ultimo atto?) is a 1977 Italian political fiction thriller film written and directed by Massimo Pirri. Plot Rome, 1977. In a more and more confused climate, between popular discontent and difficulties o ...

'' (1977) and '' Year of the Gun'' (1991). He has a son from the actress

Marcella Michelangeli Marcella Michelangeli (born 28 January 1943) is an Italian former actress and singer. Biography Born Marcella Gherardi in Uscio, Genoa, she won several beauty contests at a young age, including Miss Liguria. While a student at the School of Fi ...

. A

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...

, Castel speaks a number of languages but jokes that he has no real natural mother tongue and speaks every language with an accent, except for

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

which he no longer has opportunities to use.

Selected filmography

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* *Lou Castel,
My 'State of Things
," tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe, ''Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics'' (spring 2014) 278–280. *Lou Castel,
Before / After the filming of The Stoning of St. Stephen
" tr. by Rainer J. Hanshe, ''Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics'' (spring 2014) 281–288. {{DEFAULTSORT:Castel, Lou 1943 births Living people Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni 20th-century Swedish male actors 21st-century Swedish male actors Swedish male film actors Swedish expatriates in Colombia Swedish expatriates in Italy Swedish expatriates in France Swedish communists Swedish people of Irish descent