Tomas Milian

Tomas Milian
Milian in Emergency Squad (1974)
Born
Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas De La Fé y Álvarez De La Campa

(1933-03-03)3 March 1933
Havana, Cuba
Died22 March 2017(2017-03-22) (aged 84)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Citizenship
    • United States
    • Italy (after 1969)
OccupationActor
Years active1957–2017
Spouse
Margherita Valetti
​
​
(m. 1964; died 2012)​
Children1
AwardsFIPRESCI Prize for Best Actor
1965 Time of Indifference

Silver Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor
1980 La Luna

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2001 Traffic
Websitetomasmilian.it

Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa;[1] 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor 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's, 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 Bad Girls Don't Cry (1959) and 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),[2][3] 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).[3]

  1. ^ "Biografia | Tomas Milian". www.tomasmilian.it (in Italian). Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  2. ^ The Big Gundown (Tomas Milian: Acting on Instinct) (DVD). Los Angeles, California: Grindhouse Releasing. 1968.
  3. ^ a b Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (Tomas Milian Talent Bio) (DVD). Los Angeles, California: Blue Underground. 1967.