Rik Battaglia

Rik Battaglia (byname of Caterino Bertaglia; 18 February 1927 – 27 March 2015) was an Italian film actor. He was born at Corbola, near Rovigo, Veneto.
He mainly used the stage name of Rik Battaglia although alternate names he used for his films included Rick Austin, Riccardo Battaglia and Rick Battaglia. He would go on to appear in over 100 films from the 1955 to 1999.

Biography

He went to sea at the age of 17 and worked on a freighter. He was discovered in a bar and producer Carlo Ponti hired him on the spot and signed to his first film in 1955's '' The River Girl'', directed by Mario Soldati and opposite Sophia Loren, playing a cigarette smuggler who has a tempestuous love affair with a young and sexy Sophia Loren (Ponti's wife). He then played the title role in Pietro Francisci's 1956 historical movie ''Roland the Mighty''.

He then took two years of drama classes and appeared in a number of historical and peplum films, such as ''The Mighty Crusaders'' (1958, Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia), ''Hannibal'' (1959, Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Edgar G. Ulmer), '' Caesar the Conqueror'' (1962, Tanio Boccia), and ''A Queen for Caesar'' (1962, Piero Pierotti). He was also seen in the Hollywood adventure '' Raw Wind in Eden'' (1958, Richard Wilson). He also played in '' Esther and the King'' (1960), ''From a Roman Balcony'' (1960, by Mauro Bolognini) and in the biblical epic ''Sodom and Gomorrah'' (1962, by Robert Aldrich).

Battaglia appeared in adventure films such as ''Attack of the Moors'' (1959, Mario Costa), ''The Conqueror of the Orient'' (1960, Tanio Boccia), ''The Lion of St. Mark'' (1963, Luigi Capuano) and '' Sandokan the Great'' (1963, Umberto Lenzi), and horror films such as ''Nightmare Castle'' (1965, Mario Caiano).

He became a regular in the Karl May films, and in Spaghetti Westerns and adventure films. Some of these included ''Old Shatterhand'' (1963), ''The Pyramid of the Sun God'' (1965), ''Legacy of the Incas'' (1965), ''Winnetou and Old Firehand'' (1966), ''Black Jack'' (1968), '' The Valley of Death'' (1968), ''Duck, You Sucker!'' (1971), ''The Call of the Wild'' (1972), ''White Fang'' (1973), ''Challenge to White Fang'' (1974) and '' A Man Called Blade'' (1977). His other films included '' 'Tis Pity She's a Whore'' (1971), ''Treasure Island'' (1972, as Captain Smollett), the Agatha Christie adaptation ''Ten Little Indians'' (1974), the Sergio Leone co-produced western '' A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe'' (1975), and Vincente Minnelli's '' A Matter of Time'' (1976). Battaglia also appeared in ''Deported Women of the SS Special Section'' (1976), ''Suor Emanuelle'' (1977), ''Il prefetto di ferro '' (1977), '' Return of the 38 Gang'' (1977), ''Zappatore'' (1980) and ''Don Bosco'' (1988). His last feature film was ''Buck ai confini del cielo'' (1991) he retired from films in 1999.

Selected filmography

*'' The River Girl'' (1954) - Gino Lodi
*''Rice Girl'' (1956) - Gianni
*''Liane, Jungle Goddess'' (1956) - Crewman (uncredited)
*''Roland the Mighty'' (1956) - Orlando / Roland
*''Engaged to Death'' (1957) - Carlo
*''Liane, die weiße Sklavin'' (1957) - Ibrahim
*''The Mighty Crusaders'' (1958) - Rinaldo d'Este
*'' Raw Wind in Eden'' (1958) - Gavino
*''Adorabili e bugiarde'' (1958) - Giorgio Pitagora
*' (1958) - Joschi Türk
*''Prisoner of the Volga'' (1959) - Roland, Count of Besançon
*''Hannibal'' (1959) - Hasdrubal
*''The Conqueror of the Orient'' (1960) - Nadir
*''From a Roman Balcony'' (1960) - Carpiti
*'' Esther and the King'' (1960) - Simon
*''Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete'' (1960) - Demetrio
*''Don't Bother to Knock'' (1961) - Guilio
*''Liane, die Tochter des Dschungels'' (1961)
*'' Caesar the Conqueror'' (1962) - Vercingetorix
*''Sodom and Gomorrah'' (1962) - Melchior
*''A Queen for Caesar'' (1962) - Lucio Settimio
*' (1963) - Conrad von Berthold
*''The Lion of St. Mark'' (1963, Luigi Capuano) - Jandolo
*'' Sandokan the Great'' (1963) - Sambigliong
*''Son of the Circus'' (1963) - Steffi
*''Old Shatterhand'' (1964) - Dixon
* '' The Shoot'' (1964) - Nirwan
*''Freddy in the Wild West'' (1964) - Steve Perkins
* ''The Treasure of the Aztecs'' (1965) - Capt. Lazoro Verdoja
*''The Pyramid of the Sun God'' (1965) - Captain Lazaro Verdoja
*''The Adventurer of Tortuga'' (1965) - Pedro Valverde
*''Nightmare Castle'' (1965, Mario Caiano) - David
* ''Legacy of the Incas'' (1965) - Antonio Perillo
*''The Desperado Trail'' (1965) - Rollins
*''Winnetou and Old Firehand'' (1966) - Capt. Mendoza
*'' Bitter Fruit'' (1967) - Sebastian
*''Feuer frei auf Frankie'' (1967) - Drummer
*'' Long Days of Hate'' (1968) - Vic Graham
*''Radhapura - Endstation der Verdammten'' (1968) - Manuel
*''The Longest Hunt'' (1968) - Capt. Norton
*''Black Jack'' (1968) - Skinner
*'' The Valley of Death'' (1968) - Murdock
*''La battaglia del deserto'' (1969) - Bob
*''Chapaqua's Gold'' (1970) - Murphy
*''Hey Amigo! A Toast to Your Death'' (1970) - Barnett
*''La grande scrofa nera'' (1971)
*'' 'Tis Pity She's a Whore'' (1971) - Mercante
*''Duck, You Sucker!'' (1971) - Santerna
*''Deadly Trackers'' (1972) - Montana
*''Treasure Island'' (1972) - Captain Smollett
*''The Call of the Wild'' (1972) - Dutch Harry
*''Canterbury n° 2 - Nuove storie d'amore del '300'' (1973) - Averagus
*''La isla misteriosa y el capitán Nemo'' (1973) - Finch
*''White Fang'' (1973) - Jim Hall
*''Ten Little Indians'' (1974) - Vendedor
*''Legend of the Sea Wolf'' (1975)
*'' A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe'' (1975) - Captain
*''Blue Belle'' (1976) - Superintendent
*''Una vita venduta'' (1976)
*'' A Matter of Time'' (1976) - Nina's Father
*''Deported Women of the SS Special Section'' (1976) - Dr. Schubert
*''Il mondo dei sensi di Emy Wong'' (1977)
*''Suor Emanuelle'' (1977) - Catsabriaga
*''Mannaja'' (1977) - Gerald Merton
*''Il prefetto di ferro'' (1977) - Antonio Capecelatro
*'' Return of the 38 Gang'' (1977) - Police Commissioner
*''The Greatest Battle'' (1978) - French Partisan
*'' The New Godfathers'' (1979) - Don Calogero Avallone
*''Napoli... la camorra sfida, la città risponde'' (1979) - Dott. Rampone
*''Lo scugnizzo'' (1979)
*''Zappatore'' (1980) - Don Andrea Amitrano
*''La tua vita per mio figlio'' (1980) - Don Calogero
*''Bomber'' (1982)
*''Giuramento'' (1982) - Frank Geraci
*''Liberté, égalité, choucroute'' (1985) - De La Fayette
*''White Slave'' (1985) - Catherine's Father (uncredited)
*''Il pentito'' (1985)
*'' Detective School Dropouts'' (1986) - Don Zanetti
*''Giuro che ti amo'' (1986)
*''Don Bosco'' (1988) - Michele Cavour
*''La ragazza del metrò'' (1989) - Andrea
*''Diva Futura - L'avventura dell'amore'' (1989)
*''Omicidio a luci blu'' (1991) - Bill
*''Buck ai confini del cielo'' (1991) - Bauman
*''Rodjen kao ratnik'' (1994) - Bogie

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Battaglia, Rik
1927 births
2015 deaths
People from the Province of Rovigo
Italian male film actors