Gian Maria Volontè, Italian actor and director (b. 1933)
Gian Maria Volonté (9 April 1933 – 6 December 1994) was an Italian actor, remembered for his versatility as an interpreter, his outspoken left-wing leanings and fiery temper on and off-screen. He is perhaps most famous outside Italy for his roles in four Spaghetti Western films: Ramón Rojo and El Indio in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965), El Chuncho Munoz in Damiano Damiani's A Bullet for the General (1966) and Professor Brad Fletcher in Sergio Sollima's Face to Face (1967).
In Italy and much of Europe, he was notable for his roles in high-profile social dramas depicting the political and social stirrings of Italian and European society in the 1960s and 1970s, including four films directed by Elio Petri – We Still Kill the Old Way (1967), Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971) and Todo modo (1976). He is also recognized for his performances in Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge (1970), Giuliano Montaldo's Sacco & Vanzetti (1971) and Francesco Rosi's Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979).