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Henry Silva

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Alma mater
  
Education
  
Actors Studio

Role
  
Film actor


Name
  
Henry Silva

Years active
  
1952–2001

Albums
  

Born
  
September 15, 1928 (age 96) (
1928-09-15
)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

Occupation
  
Film and television actor

Children
  
Michael Silva, Scott Silva

Spouse
  
Ruth Earl (m. 1966–1987), Mary Ramus (m. ?–1955)

Movies
  
Above the Law, Johnny Cool, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samu, Hired to Kill, The Manchurian Candidate

Similar People
  
Fernando Di Leo, Andrew Davis, Umberto Lenzi, Andrea Bianchi, Jesse Hibbs

Henry silva


Henry Silva (born September 15, 1928) is an American film and television actor. A prolific character actor, Silva has been a regular staple of international genre cinema often as a criminal or gangster. Notable film appearances include Ocean's 11 (1960), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Johnny Cool (1963), Sharky's Machine (1981), and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999).

Contents

Henry silva the real killer


Early life and career

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Silva was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Sicilian and Spanish descent. He grew up in Harlem and quit school when he was 13 years old to attend drama classes, supporting himself as a dishwasher and waiter at a Manhattan hotel.

Henry Silva Henry Silva Pictures and Photos Fandango

By 1955, Silva felt ready to audition for the Actors Studio. He was accepted, one of only five successful applicants out of more than 2,500. When the Studio staged Michael V. Gazzo's play A Hatful of Rain as a classroom project (which itself grew out of an earlier improvisation by Silva, Paul Richards and Anthony Franciosa, based on a scene written by Gazzo, entitled "Pot"), it proved so successful that it was presented on Broadway, with students Ben Gazzara, Shelley Winters, Harry Guardino, along with Franciosa, Richards and Silva, in key roles. Silva also appeared in the play's film version.

Early film roles and typecasting

Henry Silva Henry Silva My Favorite Westerns

In Hollywood, he played a succession of villains in films including The Tall T (1957) with Randolph Scott, The Bravados (1958) with Gregory Peck and The Law and Jake Wade (1958). In the 1959 adventure film Green Mansions, he played a forest-dwelling Venezuela native known as Kua-Ko who tries to murder a young woman played by Audrey Hepburn.

Henry Silva Wednesday39s Heroes Henry Silva Soul Smithy

Silva was one of the eleven casino robbers in the 1960 Rat Pack caper film Ocean's 11, starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. He also played the communist agent Chunjin in the original The Manchurian Candidate (1962), again opposite Sinatra, and portrayed a Native American in Sinatra's and Martin's Rat Pack Western Sergeants 3 that same year.

Silva gradually became typecast playing mobsters, robbers and other criminals, although he did play a comic role as one of the stepbrothers in the 1960 Jerry Lewis film Cinderfella, a parody of Cinderella with Lewis in the title role. He appeared in two episodes of The Outer Limits television series. Other TV appearances included as a hitman in the episode "Better Bargain" on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, plus roles on episodes of The Untouchables, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Mission Impossible, as well as Boris Karloff's suspense series Thriller.

In 1963, Henry Silva played the lead role in the gangster film Johnny Cool, which was produced by United Artists and Chrislaw. His character Salvatore "Johnny Cool" Giordano was a hitman sent on a mission by exiled mobster Johnny Colini to kill the underworld figures who had plotted against the mobster. Premiering on October 19, 1963, the film was successful at the box-office and was critically well received. So was the actor's first lead performance, which carried the film. The strong supporting cast features Elizabeth Montgomery, Mort Sahl, Telly Savalas, Jim Backus, Joey Bishop, and Sammy Davis, Jr., most of whose characters were murdered by Silva's murders during the course of the film. Variety praised Silva's performance, writing "Henry Silva, as a Sicilian-born assassin, is at home as the 'delivery boy of death'". The film's box-office receipts dropped by late November (partly due to the death of President John F. Kennedy).

In 1965, an Italian film producer made Silva an offer to star as a hero for a change and he moved his family overseas. Silva's turning-point picture was a spaghetti western, The Hills Run Red (1966), which made him a hot box-office commodity in Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. Between 1966 and 1977 he starred or co-starred in at least 25 movies, the majority of which were Italian Poliziotteschi films, where he normally played the villain or hitman, or the dark hero, or a combination of the two. His best remembered of these are Manhunt (1972), Il Boss (1973), and Almost Human (1974).

He also appeared against type as the Japanese detective Mr. Moto in the 1965 murder mystery The Return of Mr. Moto, and as an Apache who helps rape victim Michele Carey in the 1970 revenge western Five Savage Men.

Returning to the United States in the mid-1970s, he co-starred with Frank Sinatra in Contract on Cherry Street (1977) and Charles Bronson in Love and Bullets (1979). He then signed on as the evil adversary Killer Kane in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).

1980s-2000s career

In the 1980s and 1990s, he appeared as the arrogant hunter Colonel Brock in Alligator (1980), a drug-addicted hitman in Burt Reynolds' Sharky's Machine (1981), a former prison warden-turned-enforcer in Escape from the Bronx (1983), which was lampooned on Mystery Science Theater 3000, a comedy gangster in Cannonball Run II (1984) opposite many of his former Rat Pack buddies, the villainous CIA agent Kurt Zagon in Steven Seagal's debut Above the Law (1988), the sinister mob hitman Influence in Dick Tracy (1990), and the voice of the supervillain Bane in Batman: The Animated Series (1994) and The New Batman Adventures (1998). Silva also plays the crime boss Ray Vargo in Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) who puts out a hit on the titular character.

Silva also starred as himself in a spoof of In Search of ...-type shows in the comedy Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) for a segment titled Henry Silva's "Bullshit, or Not!", and played a spectator at a boxing match in the 2001 version of Ocean's Eleven.

Filmography

Actor
1999
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai as
Ray Vargo
1999
Justice (TV Movie) as
Sal The Joker
1999
Unconditional Love as
Ted Markham
1998
Superman: The Animated Series (TV Series) as
Bane
- Knight Time (1998) - Bane (voice)
1998
Buddy Faro (TV Series) as
Roland Lastarza
- Pilot (1998) - Roland Lastarza
1998
The New Batman Adventures (TV Series) as
Bane
- Over the Edge (1998) - Bane (voice)
1997
The End of Violence as
Juan Emilio
1996
The Prince as
Marshall Stern
1996
Mad Dog Time as
Sleepy Joe Carlisle
1995
Drifting School as
General Stearn
1995
Fatal Choice as
Gene Serino
1994
Batman: The Animated Series (TV Series) as
Bane
- Bane (1994) - Bane (voice)
1994
Possessed by the Night (Video) as
Scott Lindsey
1994
The Silence of the Hams as
Police Chief
1993
The Harvest as
Detective Topo
1993
South Beach as
Santiago
1992
Three Days to a Kill (Video) as
Perez
1991
The Last Match as
Warden Yashin
1990
Dick Tracy as
Influence
1989
Cy Warrior as
Hammer
1989
La via della droga as
Capt. Wesson
1989
Trained to Kill as
Ace Duran
1989
Fists of Steel as
Shogi
1988
Above the Law as
Zagon
1987
Amazon Women on the Moon as
Henry Silva (segment "Bullshit or Not")
1987
Bulletproof as
Col. Kartiff
1986
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold as
Agon
1985
Killer contro killers as
Sterling
1985
Code of Silence as
Luis Comacho
1984
The Manhunt as
Prison Boss
1984
Lust in the Dust as
Bernardo
1984
Cannonball Run II as
Slim
1984
Razza violenta as
Kirk Cooper
1983
Happy (TV Movie) as
Sinclair
1983
Le Marginal as
Sauveur Meccacci
1983
Escape from the Bronx as
Floyd Wrangler
1983
Chained Heat as
Lester
1982
Megaforce as
Guerera
1982
Baker County, U.S.A. as
Henry Chatwill
1982
Wrong Is Right as
Rafeeq
1981
Sharky's Machine as
Billy Score
1980
Alligator as
Col. Brock
1980
Virus: The End as
Gen. Garland
1979
Day of the Assassin as
Police Chief Jorge Gomez
1979
Thirst as
Dr. Gauss
1979
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV Series) as
Kane
- Awakening (1979) - Kane
1979
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as
Kane
1979
Love and Bullets as
Vittorio Farroni
1978
Quark (TV Series) as
The High Gorgon
- May the Source Be with You (1978) - The High Gorgon
1977
Woo fook as
Michael Saxon
1977
Contract on Cherry Street (TV Movie) as
Roberto Obregon
1977
Weapons of Death as
Santoro
1976
Tough Cop as
Brescianelli
1976
Poliziotti violenti as
Maj. Paolo Altieri
1976
Shoot as
Zeke
1975
Switch (TV Series) as
Kirk Shaw
- Death Heist (1975) - Kirk Shaw
1975
The Manhunt as
Davide Vannucchi
1975
Zanna Bianca alla riscossa as
Mr. Nelson
1974
Fatevi vivi, la polizia non interverrà as
Commissario Caprile
1974
Almost Human as
Commissario Walter Grandi
1967
The F.B.I. (TV Series) as
Stan Chasen / Chard / Richard Macklin
- The Two Million Dollar Hit (1974) - Stan Chasen
- Dynasty of Hate (1971) - Chard
- Line of Fire (1967) - Richard Macklin
1974
Cry of a Prostitute as
Tony Aniante
1973
Battle of the Godfathers as
Luca Messina
1973
The Streets of San Francisco (TV Series) as
Lee Wilson
- The Victims (1973) - Lee Wilson
1973
Les hommes as
Everett
1973
The Boss as
Nick Lanzetta
1973
L'insolent as
Emmanuel Ristack dit 'L'insolent'
1972
The Italian Connection as
David Catania
1972
The Sixth Sense (TV Series) as
Linchou
- Shadow in the Well (1972) - Linchou
1971
Black Noon (TV Movie) as
Moon
1971
Bearcats! (TV Series) as
Zavala
- The Feathered Serpent (1971) - Zavala
1971
Man and Boy as
Caine
1971
Night Gallery (TV Series) as
Pandit Chola (segment "The Doll")
- Pamela's Voice/Lone Survivor/The Doll (1971) - Pandit Chola (segment "The Doll")
1970
San Francisco International Airport (TV Series)
- Hostage (1970)
1970
The Animals as
Chatto
1970
Drive Hard, Drive Fast (TV Movie) as
Deek La Costa
1969
It Takes a Thief (TV Series) as
Peter Vale
- A Friend in Deed (1969) - Peter Vale
1969
Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) as
Elpidio Acuna
- Savage Sunday (1969) - Elpidio Acuna
1969
Probabilità zero as
Major Duke
1969
Mission: Impossible (TV Series) as
Norvan Kruger
- The Interrogator (1969) - Norvan Kruger
1968
Never a Dull Moment as
Frank Boley
1968
Frame Up as
Inspector Sterling
1968
I Spy (TV Series) as
Dr. Akivic
- Anyplace I Hang Myself Is Home (1968) - Dr. Akivic
1967
The High Chaparral (TV Series) as
Santos Castaneda
- The Terrorist (1967) - Santos Castaneda
1967
The Danny Thomas Hour (TV Series) as
Bob Rome
- The Enemy (1967) - Bob Rome
1967
Cimarron Strip (TV Series) as
Coffin
- Journey to a Hanging (1967) - Coffin
1967
Assassination as
John Chandler / Philip Chandler
1967
Matchless as
Hank Norris
1967
Laredo (TV Series) as
Gen. Shen Ti
- The Bitter Yen of General Ti (1967) - Gen. Shen Ti
1966
Tarzan (TV Series) as
Ivor Merrick
- The Ultimate Duel (1966) - Ivor Merrick
1966
The Hills Run Red as
Garcia Mendez
1966
The Plainsman as
Crazy Knife
1965
Run for Your Life (TV Series) as
Carl Torre
- The Savage Season (1965) - Carl Torre
1965
The Return of Mr. Moto as
Mr. Moto
1965
Daniel Boone (TV Series) as
Zapotec
- The Mound Builders (1965) - Zapotec
1965
The Reward as
Joaquin
1965
Hail, Mafia as
Schaft
1962
Wagon Train (TV Series) as
Doc Holliday / Ram Singh / John Turnbull
- The Silver Lady (1965) - Doc Holliday
- The Robert Harrison Clarke Story (1963) - Ram Singh
- The John Turnbull Story (1962) - John Turnbull
1965
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV Series) as
Gen. Tau
- The Enemies (1965) - Gen. Tau
1964
Insight (TV Series) as
Carlos Garcia
- The Capitalist (1964) - Carlos Garcia
1964
The Secret Invasion as
John Durrell - Assassin
1964
Breaking Point (TV Series) as
Father Gabriel
- My Hands Are Clean (1964) - Father Gabriel
1964
Arrest and Trial (TV Series) as
Frank Vose
- People in Glass Houses (1964) - Frank Vose
1963
The Outer Limits (TV Series) as
Chino Rivera / Gen. Juan Mercurio
- The Mice (1964) - Chino Rivera
- Tourist Attraction (1963) - Gen. Juan Mercurio
1963
Johnny Cool as
Johnny Cool / Salvatore Giordano
1963
A Gathering of Eagles as
Col. Joe Garcia
1963
Stoney Burke (TV Series) as
Matt Elder
- The Weapons Man (1963) - Matt Elder
1963
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) as
Bill Grant
- An Out for Oscar (1963) - Bill Grant
1963
Dr. Kildare (TV Series) as
Ed Carson
- Jail Ward (1963) - Ed Carson
1962
The Manchurian Candidate as
Chunjin
1962
Sergeants 3 as
Mountain Hawk
1960
The Untouchables (TV Series) as
Little Charlie Sebastino / Joker
- The Whitey Steele Story (1962) - Joker
- The Mark of Cain (1960) - Little Charlie Sebastino
- The Noise of Death (1960) - Little Charlie Sebastino
1961
Cain's Hundred (TV Series) as
Ray Riley
- The Fixer (1961) - Ray Riley
1961
The Joey Bishop Show (TV Series) as
Ricky Hamilton
- Ring-A-Ding-Ding (1961) - Ricky Hamilton
1961
Thriller (TV Series) as
Toby Wolfe
- Dark Legacy (1961) - Toby Wolfe
1961
Stagecoach West (TV Series) as
Mel Harney
- The Raider (1961) - Mel Harney
1961
The Islanders (TV Series) as
Helmuth Mansing
- The Twenty-Six Paper (1961) - Helmuth Mansing
1960
Cinderfella as
Maximilian
1960
Ocean's Eleven as
Roger Corneal
1960
Hotel de Paree (TV Series) as
Start Thorne
- Sundance and the Delayed Gun (1960) - Start Thorne
1960
Adventures in Paradise (TV Series) as
Raoul Marquette
- The Forbidden Sea (1960) - Raoul Marquette
1959
Alcoa Theatre (TV Series) as
Tom Longman
- The Long House on Avenue A (1959) - Tom Longman
1959
The Jayhawkers! as
Lordan
1959
Green Mansions as
Kua-Ko
1958
Ride a Crooked Trail as
Sam Teeler
1958
The Bravados as
Leandro Lujan
1958
The Law and Jake Wade as
Rennie
1957
Climax! (TV Series) as
Slayer / Marc
- The Deadly Tattoo (1958) - Slayer
- Don't Touch Me (1957) - Marc
1957
Suspicion (TV Series) as
Dick
- The Story of Marjorie Reardon (1957) - Dick
1957
A Hatful of Rain as
Mother
1957
The Tall T as
Chink
1956
West Point (TV Series) as
Cadet Joe Simpson
- Heat of Anger (1956) - Cadet Joe Simpson
1956
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) as
Harry Silver
- The Better Bargain (1956) - Harry Silver
1956
Crowded Paradise
1955
Producers' Showcase (TV Series) as
Guard
- Darkness at Noon (1955) - Guard
1954
Goodyear Playhouse (TV Series) as
Sergeant
- Guilty Is the Stranger (1954) - Sergeant
1952
Viva Zapata! as
Hernandez (uncredited)
1950
Lights Out (TV Series)
- The Mule Man (1950)
1950
Armstrong Circle Theatre (TV Series)
- It's Only a Game (1950)
Thanks
2021
King of Cool (Documentary) (thanks)
Self
2015
Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (TV Mini Series documentary) as
Self
- Part 2 (2015) - Self (voice)
2012
Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s (Documentary) as
Self
2008
Stracult (TV Series) as
Self
- Speciale poliziottesco (2008) - Self
2007
Brando (TV Movie documentary) as
Self
2002
The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema (Documentary) as
Self
1999
E! True Hollywood Story (TV Series documentary) as
Self
- The Rat Pack (2001) - Self
- Dean Martin (1999) - Self
2001
Ocean's Eleven as
Self
1982
All-Star Family Feud Special (TV Series) as
Self - Celebrity Contestant
- Heroes vs. Villains (1982) - Self - Celebrity Contestant
1979
The Mike Douglas Show (TV Series) as
Self - Actor
- Episode #19.35 (1979) - Self - Actor
1979
The 21st Annual TV Week Logie Awards (TV Special) as
Self
1975
Bicentennial Minutes (TV Series short) as
Self - Narrator
- Episode #1.264 (1975) - Self - Narrator
1971
The Merv Griffin Show (TV Series) as
Self
- William Conrad, Frank Gorshin, Henry Silva, Elisha Cook, Glen Campbell, Joe Flynn (1971) - Self
1966
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV Series) as
Self - Guest
- Shirley Jones, Jack Cassidy, Mamie Van Doren, Hanry Silva (1966) - Self - Guest
1965
Cinépanorama (TV Series documentary) as
Self
- Episode dated 24 April 1965 (1965) - Self
1962
Here's Hollywood (TV Series) as
Self
- Episode #3.74 (1962) - Self
Archive Footage
2022
TCM Remembers 2022 (TV Special) as
Self / actor
2016
The Best of Hollywood (TV Series documentary) as
Self - Interviewee
- Episode dated 20 November 2018 (2018) - Self - Interviewee
- Episode dated 16 November 2018 (2018) - Self - Interviewee
- Episode dated 4 July 2018 (2018) - Self - Interviewee
- Episode dated 7 December 2016 (2016) - Self - Interviewee
2018
We're Gonna Need Bigger Skits: An Interview with Carl Gottlieb (Documentary short) as
Self (segment "Bullshit or Not") (uncredited)
2012
Welcome to the Basement (TV Series) as
Guerera
- Megaforce (2012) - Guerera
2010
Dick Tracy Special (TV Movie) as
Influence (uncredited)
2008
Step Brothers as
Kurt Zagon (uncredited)
2007
Alligator Author (Video documentary short) as
Colonel Brock
1999
Biography (TV Series documentary) as
Johnny Cool
- Elizabeth Montgomery: A Touch of Magic (1999) - Johnny Cool (uncredited)
1995
Century of Cinema (TV Series documentary) as
Chink, 'The Tall T'
- A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) - Chink, 'The Tall T' (uncredited)
1979
The Magical World of Disney (TV Series) as
Frank Boley
- Never a Dull Moment (1979) - Frank Boley

References

Henry Silva Wikipedia


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