Gianni Garko

Gianni Garko
Gianni Garko in Don Camillo in Moscow (1965)
Born	Giovanni Garcovich (1935-07-15) 15 July 1935 (age 81) Zadar, modern-day Croatia
Nationality	Italian
Other names	John Garko Gary Hudson
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1959–present
Known for	Spaghetti westerns

Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich 15 July 1935 in Zadar, Croatia), often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson, is an Italian actor who found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns. He is perhaps best known for his lead role as Sartana, starting with the first official film If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death and starring in three sequels as this character.

Garko moved from Zadar to Trieste, and later Rome to attend University and Drama School. His first prominent film role was a small but important part in the Oscar nominated Kapò (1959). He continued to play parts in several Italian productions including sword and sandal epics such as The Mongols () and Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules. His big break came when he had a role in Il Compagno Don Camillo (1965).

Garko became a star in Europe in 1966 in the spaghetti western film Blood at Sundown. In this movie, he played an antagonist named Sartana. He would later play an unrelated protagonist named Sartana in the famous Sartana series of films. Other notable westerns he starred in were $10,000 Blood Money (1967) as an unofficial Django, Vengeance is Mine/$100,000 for a Massacre (1967), The Price of Death (1971), They Call Him Cemetery (1971) alongside William Berger as well as a supporting role in Bad Man's River (1971) with Lee Van Cleef. During this time he achieved considerable fame in Germany, Italy, and Spain. Outside of the western genre, Garko starred in Five for Hell (1969) with frequent co-star Klaus Kinski, a small role in Waterloo (1970) as the brave and energetic French artillery commander Antoine Drouot, and The Heroes (1973), both with Rod Steiger.