Cuban-Italian-American actor and singer

Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and humor he brought to starring roles in European genre films.

A student of Lee Strasberg, Milian studied method acting at the Actors Studio in New York City. In Italy, he was discovered by director Mauro Bolognini and appeared in supporting roles in several drama films during the late 1950s and early 1960s, including as Raphael in Carol Reed's The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965). Throughout the late-1960s and early-1970s, Milian established himself as a dynamic leading actor in a series of Spaghetti Western films, most notably The Big Gundown (1966), Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967), as well as Sergio Corbucci's parody of the genre The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975). Dennis Hopper also cast Milian in his 1971 art-house film, The Last Movie.

Following a decline in the popularity of Spaghetti Westerns, Milian transitioned to roles in poliziottesco films. After receiving acclaim for his performance as a psychotic killer in Almost Human (1974), he made appearances in Emergency Squad (1974), The Tough Ones (1976) and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977). After returning to the United States in 1985, Milian continued to perform supporting roles in film productions, including JFK (1991), Amistad (1997), Traffic (2000) and The Lost City (2005).

Contents

• 1 Biography
  • 1.1 Career
• 2 Filmography
• 3 References
• 4 Further reading
• 5 External links

Biography

Milian was born in Havana as the son of a Cuban general. His father was arrested, jailed, and later committed suicide on December 31, 1946. Milián then decided to leave Cuba and pursue his wishes of being an actor. He settled in the United States to study at New York's Actors Studio and later became an American citizen. In 1969, he became a naturalized Italian citizen.

Career

After starting a career in the United States, Milian went to Italy in 1958 to take part in a theatre festival in Spoleto. He eventually decided to relocate to Italy, where he lived for over 25 years, becoming a very successful performer. His first film part in Italy was in the 1959 picture La notte brava. Although his voice was usually dubbed due to his accent, Milián performed his lines in Italian (or in English, depending on the film). He initially starred in arthouse movies and worked with directors such as Mauro Bolognini and Luchino Visconti.

After five years of making what he deemed "intellectual" movies, Milián was unhappy with his contract with producer Franco Cristaldi and thought of going back to the United States. Needing money to start over, he took the opportunity to star as a bandit in a Spaghetti Western called The Bounty Killer. The film boosted his career, and ultimately resulted in his staying in Italy. He became a star of the Spaghetti Western genre, where he often played Mexican bandits or revolutionaries, roles in which he spoke in his real voice. He starred in The Ugly Ones (1966), The Big Gundown (1966), Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967), Face to Face (1967), Run, Man, Run (1968), Death Sentence (1968), Tepepa (1969), Compañeros (1970), Sonny and Jed (1972), Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? (1972) and Four of the Apocalypse (1975).

As the Spaghetti Westerns dwindled, Milián remained a star in many genre films, playing both villains and heroes in various polizieschi movies. He starred with Barbara Bouchet in the giallo Don't Torture a Duckling. In addition to his role in Almost Human (1974) and appearances in Emergency Squad (1974), The Tough Ones (1976) and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977), he also appeared in two film series - Bruno Corbucci's Nico Giraldi series (1976-1984, beginning with The Cop in Blue Jeans) and Umberto Lenzi's Er Monnezza films (1976-1980, beginning with Free Hand for a Tough Cop). His other films during this period include the giallo Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) and the non-genre films The Last Movie (1971), Luna (1979), Identification of a Woman (1982) and Monsignor (1982).

He later turned to comedy, playing the recurrent characters of petty thief Monnezza and Serpico-like police officer Nico Giraldi in a variety of crime-comedy pictures. Although his voice was dubbed most of the time by Ferruccio Amendola, Milián wrote his own lines in Roman slang. Milián's inventive use of romanesco (Roman dialect) made him a cult performer in Italy. Bruno Corbucci, the director of many of these films commented, "At the cinemas as soon as Tomás Milián appeared on the screen, when he made a wisecrack and in the heaviest situations, then it was a pandemonium, it was like being at the stadium."

As Milián used similar makeups and accents in portraying both characters, Monnezza and Nico were occasionally confused by Italian audiences, who sometimes referred erroneously to them both as Monnezza, or Er Monnezza (Da trash in Roman slang ), and still closely *ociate Milián with these performances.

Milián also appeared in non-genre pictures, such as Bernardo Bertolucci's La Luna, for which he won a Nastro d'Argento for Best supporting Actor, and Michelangelo Antonioni's Identification of a Woman.

As he grew older, Milián decided to go back to the United States. He appeared in Sidney Pollack's Havana, Steven Spielberg's Amistad, Steven Soderbergh's Traffic as well as Andy García's The Lost City, about Revolutionary Cuba. He has also played many roles on stage. In 2005, he portrayed Generalisimo Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina in the film version of Mario Vargas Llosa's novel The Feast of the Goat.

Milian was found dead from a stroke at his home in Miami on 22 March 2017.

On October 11, 2017 he received the Leone in Memoriam award at the 7º Almería Western Film Festival. It was picked up by his friend Luis Santeiro.

Filmography

Milian plays Alberto De Matteis in Silver Spoon Set (1960)

• Decoy, Ep. "Fiesta at Midnight" (1958, Michael Gordon) as Juan Ortega
• The Millionaire, Ep. "The Louise Benton Story" (1959, James Sheldon) as Second Sailor
• Bad Girls Don't Cry (1959, Mauro Bolognini) as Moretto
• Il bell'Antonio (1960, Mauro Bolognini) as Edoardo
• Silver Spoon Set (1960, Francesco Maselli) as Alberto De Matteis
• The Mishap (1961, Alberto Lattuada) as Thomas Plemian
• A Day for Lionhearts (1961, Nanni Loy) as Gino Migliacci
• Day by Day, Desperately (1961, Alfredo Giannetti) as Dario Dominici
• Boccaccio '70 (1962, Luchino Visconti) as Conte Ottavio
• Disorder (1962, Franco Brusati) as Bruno
• La banda Casaroli (1962, Florestano Vancini) as Gabriele Ingenis
• Ro.Go.Pa.G., "La ricotta" (1963, Pier Paolo Pasolini) as Centurione
• Mare matto (1963, Renato Castellani) as Efsio
• I Kill, You Kill (1965, Gianni Puccini) as Lorenzo Berti
• Time of Indifference (1965, Francesco Maselli) as Michele
• The Camp Followers (1965, Valerio Zurlini) as Lt. Gaetano Martino
• The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965, Carol Reed) as Raphael
• Madamigella di Maupin (1966, Mauro Bolognini) as Chevalier d'Albert
• I soldi (1965, Gianni Puccini) as Bob
• The Ugly Ones (1966, Eugenio Martin) as José Gómez
• The Big Gundown (1966, Sergio Sollima) as Cuchillo Sanchez
• Face to Face (1967, Sergio Sollima) as Beau Bennet
• Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967, Giulio Questi) as The Stranger
• Bandits in Milan (1968, Carlo Lizzani) as Comissario Walter Basevi
• Death Sentence (1968, Mario Lanfranchi) as O'Hara
• Run, Man, Run! (1968, Sergio Sollima) as Cuchillo Sanchez
• A Fine Pair (1968, Francesco Maselli) as Roger
• Tepepa (1969, Giulio Petroni) as Jesus Maria "Tepepa" Moran
• Beatrice Cenci (1969, Lucio Fulci) as Olimpio Calvetti
• Where Are You Going All Naked? (1969, Pasquale Festa Campanile) as Manfredo
• Compañeros (1970, Sergio Corbucci) as El Vasco
• Viva Cangaceiro (1970, Giovanni *o) as Espedito
• The Cannibals (1970, Liliana Cavani) as Emone
• The Designated Victim (1971, Maurizio Lucidi) as Stefano Augenti
• The Last Movie (1971, Dennis Hopper) as the Priest
• Ripped Off (1972, Franco Prosperi) as the Stranger
• Sonny and Jed (1972, Sergio Corbucci) as Jed Trigado
• Don't Torture a Duckling (1972, Lucio Fulci) as Andrea Martelli
• Counselor at Crime (1973, Alberto De Martino) as Thomas Accardo
• Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? (1972, Giulio Petroni) as Provvidenza
• Emergency Squad (1974, Stelvio M*i) as Tomas Ravelli
• Almost Human (1974, Umberto Lenzi) as Giulio Sacchi
• Silent Action (1975, Sergio Martino) as Rienzi
• Syndicate *s (1975, Umberto Lenzi) as Rambo
• The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975, Sergio Corbucci) as Sakura
• Four of the Apocalypse (1975, Lucio Fulci) as Chaco
• Folle à tuer: (1975, Yves Boisset)
• Sex with a Smile (1976, Sergio Martino) as Cavaliere Marelli
• The Tough Ones (1976, Umberto Lenzi) as Vincenzo Moretto
• The Cop in Blue Jeans (1976, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• The Twist (1976, Claude Chabrol) as The Detective
• Hit Squad (1976, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• Young, Violent, Dangerous (1976, Romolo Guerrieri) as the Commissioner
• The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977, Umberto Lenzi) as Luigi Maietto
• Free Hand for a Tough Cop (1977, Umberto Lenzi) as Sergio Marazzi
• Brothers Till We Die (1977, Umberto Lenzi) as Sergio Marazzi/The Hunchback
• Destruction Force (1977, Stelvio M*i) as Sergio Marazzi
• Squadra an*ruffa (1977, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• Little Italy (1978, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• The Gang That Sold America (1979, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• **inio sul Tevere (1979, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• La Luna (1979, Bernardo Bertolucci) as Giuseppe
• Winter Kills (1979, William Richert) as Frank Mayo
• Il lupo e l'agnello (1980, Francesco M*aro) as Cuckoo
• Delitto a Porta Romana (1980, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• Manolesta (1981, Pasquale Festa Campanile) as Gino Quirino
• Crime at the Chinese Restaurant (1981, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• Uno contro l'altro, praticamente amici (1981, Bruno Corbucci) as Quinto Cecione
• Delitto sull'autostrada (1982, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• Identification of a Woman (1982, Michelangelo Antonioni) as Niccolò
• Monsignor (1982, Frank Perry) as Father Francisco
• Cat and Dog (1982, Bruno Corbucci) as Tony Roma
• Crime in Formula One (1983, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• Cop in Drag (1984, Bruno Corbucci), as Nico Giraldi
• King David (1985, Bruce Beresford) as Akiss
• The Equalizer, "Reign of Terror" (1985, Richard Compton) as Immanuel Pena
• Miami Vice, "Bought and Paid For" (1985, John Nicolella) as Octavio Arroyo
• Salome (1986, Claude d'Anna) as Herod II
• The Equalizer, "Shadow Play" (1987, Russ Mayberry) as Duran
• Distant Lights (1987, Aurelio Chiesa) as Bernardo Bernardi
• Cat Chaser (1989, Abel Ferrara) as Andres DeBoya
• M*acre Play (1989, Damiano Damiani) as Clem Da Silva
• Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990, Brian Gibson) as Florentino Ventura
• Revenge (1990, Tony Scott) as Cesar
• Havana (1990, Sydney Pollack) as Colonel Menocal
• Money (1991, Steven Hilliard Stern) as Robert Zarra
• JFK (1991, Oliver Stone) as Leopoldo
• Frannie's Turn (1992, various) as Joseph Escobar
• Murder, She Wrote, "Day of the Dead" (1992, Anthony Shaw) as Enrico Montejano
• Nails (1992, John Flynn) as Pedro Herrara
• Screenplay, "Bitter Harvest" (1992, Simon Cellan Jones) as Ramon Cires
• Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage (1993, John Patterson) as Joe Profaci
• Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair (1993, Bradford May) as Calro Rossi
• The Burning Season (1994, John Frankenheimer) as Darli Alves
• The Cowboy Way (1994, Gregg Champion) as Manny Huerta
• Fools Rush In (1997, Andy Tennant) as Tomas Fuentes
• Oz (1997, various) as Ricardo Alvarez
• Amistad (1997, Steven Spielberg) as Ángel Calderón de la Barca y Belgrano
• The Yards (2000, James Gray) as Manuel Sequeira
• Law & Order (2000, Christopher Misiano) as Colonel Emilio Pantoya
• For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000, Joseph Sargent) as Sosa
• Traffic (2000, Steven Soderbergh) as General Arturo Salazar
• The Hire: Ambush (short, 2001, John Frankenheimer)
• Washington Heights (2002, Alfredo De Villa) as Eddie
• The Lost City (2005, Andy García) as Don Federico Fellove
• The Feast of the Goat (2005, Luis Llosa) as Rafael Leonidas Trujillo
• Tomas Milian: Acting on Instinct (2013, Ozzy Inguanzo) as himself
• Fugly! (2014, Alfredo De Villa) as Gramps

References

Further reading

• Giorgio Navarro, Fabio Zanello, Tomas Milian. Er cubbano de Roma, Molino, 1999; ISBN:8890035935.
• Max Serio, Tomas Milian: The Tough Bandit, the Rough Cop and the Filthy Rat in Italian Cinema, Mediane, 2009; ISBN:8896042127.
• Gordiano Lupi, Tomas Milian, il trucido e lo sbirro, Profondo Rosso Editore, 2011; ISBN:8889084502.

External links

• Tomás Milián official site (in Italian)
• Tomás Milián at IMDb
• Tomás Milián interview (in Italian)
• Tomas Milian in The Designated Victim – TCM's Movie Morlocks