Mark Gregory (born Marco De Gregorio, 2 May 1964 – 31 January 2013) was an Italian film actor.

Career

Gregory worked as a waiter, before being discovered in a gym in Rome. After his fiancée sent his picture to Fulvia Film, he was cast over some 2,000 candidates for the role of "Trash" in the 1982 science fiction thriller '' 1990: The Bronx Warriors'', starring alongside

Christopher Connelly Christopher Connelly (September 8, 1941 – December 7, 1988) was an American actor, best known for his role as Norman Harrington in the successful prime time ABC soap opera '' Peyton Place''. He stayed with the series during its entire f ...

and

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

. The film was heavily inspired by ''

Mad Max 2 ''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. It is the second installment in the ''Mad Max'' franchise, with Mel Gibson reprising his role a ...

'' (1981) and '' The Warriors'' (1979). In the film ''Adam and Eve: The First Love Story'' (1983), he played the biblical character

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

. His dark looks resulted in him being cast as a vengeful Native American in the ''

First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mentor ...

''-inspired 1983 action film ''

Thunder Warrior ''Thunder Warrior'' ( it, Thunder, also known as ''Drug Traffikers'') is a 1983 Italian action film written and directed by Fabrizio De Angelis (credited as Larry Ludman). It had two sequels, one released in 1985 and the other in 1988. The prem ...

''. He starred in the film ''

Delta Force Commando ''Delta Force Commando'', is a 1987 Italian " macaroni combat" war film directed by Pierluigi Ciriaci as Frank Valenti and starring Fred Williamson and Bo Svenson. Plot An American pilot and a member of the "Delta Force" set off in pursuit of a ...

'' (1988), starring again alongside Fred Williamson. Gregory's last acting role was a starring role in ''Afghanistan – The Last War Bus'' (1989).

Personal life

According to the working documents of his first film, ''1990: The Bronx Warriors'', Gregory was born Marco De Gregorio; for a long time, some sources reported his birth name incorrectly as Marco Di Gregorio. His father was a painter and sculptor. He grew up in the area of

Porta Pia Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Port ...

/Piazza Fiume in Rome. According to the same documentation, at the time of the shooting of ''1990: The Bronx Warriors'' he was not 17 years old, as it was also commonly reported, but he had recently turned 18. After ''Afghanistan – The Last War Bus'', Gregory abandoned the film industry. According to one of his co-stars in that film, Bobby Rhodes, "At a certain point he (Mark Gregory) abhorred this (film) environment and withdrew ... like that, suddenly. Now he is a painter and a '' madonnaro''. I don't know what he disappointed him and pushed him to cut everything drastically; but one thing is certain: he doesn't want to know anything more about cinema. Strange, because Marco gave up just when he was at the height of his success, when he was starting to get paid well ..." Following the end of his film career, Gregory at some point was reportedly the victim of a scam that led him to lose his house and everything he owned. Afterwards, he moved to

Castel Madama Castel Madama is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region of Lazio, located about east of Rome. International relations Castel Madama is twinned with: * Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English ...

, but always struggled with financial and psychological problems. On 31 January 2013, he took his own life via an overdose of psychotropic drugs.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Mark 1964 births 2013 deaths Italian male film actors Drug-related suicides in Italy Male actors from Rome