Antonio Margheriti
| Antonio Margheriti | |
|---|---|
| Born |
19 September 1930 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 4 November 2002 (aged 72) Monterosi, Viterbo, Italy |
| Occupation | Film director, producer, writer |
Antonio Margheriti (19 September 1930 – 4 November 2002), also known under the pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson, was an Italian filmmaker. Margheriti worked in many different genres in the Italian film industry, and was known for his sometimes derivative but often stylish and entertaining science fiction, sword and sandal, horror/giallo, Eurospy, spaghetti western, Vietnam War and action movies that were released to a wide international audience.
He was born in Rome and died in 2002 from a heart attack in Monterosi, Viterbo, near Rome at the age of 72.
Like Roger Corman, Margheriti originally began his tertiary education as an engineer. In 1950 he entered the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia film school and after completing his studies became an assistant on various documentary films. Margheriti started out in the Italian feature film industry in 1956 (age 26) as a screenwriter, editor and assistant director. During the production of a never completed documentary about an earthquake in Italy, Margheriti constructed models for the film. This led the producer of that film to recommend him as a director.
He started directing in 1960, his first film being Assignment Outer Space where he also did some of the model work. He directed such Italian cult movies as Castle of Blood (1963), The Long Hair of Death (1964), Wild Wild Planet (1965), Cannibal Apocalypse, The Virgin of Nuremberg, Naked You Die (1968), Mr. Super Invisible, The Last Hunter, Battle of the Worlds and numerous others. Most of his films were directed under the pseudonym of Anthony M. Dawson. He stopped using his real name in the United States early in his career, when he was told by his dubbing director Ted Rusoff that the English translation of the name "Antonio Margheriti" was "Anthony Daisies", and that it sounded too effeminate; Margheriti added his initial "M" as the name Anthony Dawson was used by the English actor.
...
Wikipedia