Bud Spencer.

Born Carlo Pedersoli on October 31, 1929, in Naples, Italy, Bud Spencer grew up in a country recovering from Fascist rule. His father Alessandro Pedersoli and mother Rosa Facchetti encouraged his athletic pursuits. By the early 1950s, he had become an Olympic-class swimmer, competing for Italy at the 1952 Helsinki Games and 1956 Melbourne Games. He also studied law at the Sapienza University of Rome, eventually earning a Juris Doctor degree.

After brief film roles in the 1950s and early 1960s, Carlo Pedersoli adopted the stage name Bud Spencer in 1967, inspired by Spencer Tracy and Budweiser beer. That same year, he began a legendary partnership with fellow Italian Terence Hill. Their first major success came with They Call Me Trinity 1970, a comedic spaghetti Western that became an international hit. Over the next decade, the duo made 18 films together, including Trinity Is Still My Name 1971 and Watch Out, We’re Mad! 1974. Spencer branched out solo, starring in the Flatfoot series and Buddy Goes West. After 1983 his film career slowed, but he found new audiences with the TV series Extralarge in the early 1990s.

Spencer married Maria Amato in 1960, and they had three children: Giuseppe born 1961, Christina 1962, and Diamy 1972. Despite his on-screen tough-guy persona, he was known as a devoted family man. In 2005, at the behest of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Spencer ran for regional council in Lazio with the Forza Italia party. He lost the election, but his foray into politics highlighted his diverse interests. He was a licensed jet and helicopter pilot and founded the cargo airline Mistral Air in 1984.

Bud Spencer’s legacy as a global action comedy icon endures, particularly in Germany, Hungary, and South America where his films with Terence Hill are still broadcast multiple times a year. Their slapstick and brawling style influenced generations of filmmakers. He received the David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement and was posthumously awarded the Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. He is remembered for the Trinity series and his on-screen persona.