Bud Spencer Biography
Carlo Pedersoli was born on October 31, 1929 in the Italian city Naples (district Borgo Santa Lucia). He got his stage name Bud Spencer in 1967 and used it for the first time in the movie “God Forgives… I Don’t!”. His name is composed of his favorite beer Budweiser and his favorite actor Spencer Tracy (1900-1967). Bud’s life motto was Futtenne (English: fuck it! Just do it!).
Bud died on June 27, 2016 at the age of 86.
More spellings
Besides the correct spelling “Bud Spencer” there are (partly out of ignorance) further variations of his stage name. We have summarized all common ones here. Further variants are:
- Bath Spenser
- Budspencer
- Bus Spencer
- Buds Spencer
- But chips
- Bud Spence
- Bath Spenzer
- Buds Bencer
- Batz Benzer
- Bud Spencee
- Bath Spencer
Life
Bud Spencer, civil name Carlo Pedersoli, was born on 31.Oktober 1929 (zodiac sign Scorpion) in Naples. He married his wife Maria Amato in 1960 and had three children with her. Maria Amato’s father was the well-known Italian film producer Giuseppe Amato.
Childhood and youth
At his birth Carlo weighed a good 6 kg, which did not make pregnancy and childbirth easy for his mother, as he himself said. The young Pedersoli grew up in the bourgeois quarter of Santa Lucia and spent part of his childhood here. His father was an entrepreneur and factory owner, which gave his family a wealthy and upper middle-class status. However, the factory was destroyed in the Second World War.
The first years of Carlo’s life were taken care of and educated by the German nanny Rosa Polacek. Thus he spoke German before learning Italian. But he lost the German language (in contrast to Terence Hill) more and more with the years. However, he never completely forgot them and spoke broken German until the end. But his english was very good.
Already with eight years (1937) he began with the swimming sport, in which he could celebrate later large successes. In 1940 the Pedersoli family moved from Naples to Rome, because the war in Naples made it too uncertain. In 1946 he began to study chemistry at the Roman University, which he could not avoid due to another move. In 1947 he and his family moved to South America with stations in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and finally to Uruguay. After his stay in South America, the family moved back to Italy in 1948. Carlo began to study law. But he also broke off his studies to devote himself more to swimming.
Carlo Pedersoli loved food. He always ate a lot and extensively, which he could also use in his time as an active swimmer who trained a lot. After his youth and his time as an athlete, when he had almost 100 kg on his ribs, his weight increased to almost 160 kg. After diets, he weighed about 110-120 kg in the last years of his life.
Family
Bud Spencers Parents
- Father: Alessandro Pedersoli
- Mother: Rina Facchetti
Bud Spencer’s siblings
- Sister: Vera Pedersoli (born 1934)
Bud Spencer’s wife
- Maria Amato (born 1935)
Bud Spencers Children
- Giuseppe Pedersoli (born 1961)
- Christiana Pedersoli / Christine Spencer (born 1962)
- Diamante Pedersoli / Diamy Spencer (born 1972)
Bud Spencers grandchildren
- Carlo Pedersoli Junior
- Sebastiano Pigazzi (son of Diamy Spencer)
Carlo Pedersoli Junior
Carlo Pedersoli Jr is the grandson of Bud Spencer. He was born on 08.June 1993, weighs 74 kg and is 180 cm tall. He is a MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter. On May 27, 2018 he defeated Brad Scott in the “UFC Fight Night 130” by points. It was the first UFC fight for Carlo Junior.
Sports career
Already in elementary school Carlo was a sports-mad athlete.
Bud Spencer as swimmer
Carlo Pedersoli was already a passionate swimmer during his youth. He joined the SS Lazio (Società Sportiva Lazio Nuoto) club and celebrated numerous successes there. With 21 years (1949) he became Italian champion in breaststroke over 100 meters freestyle. On 19.09.1950 he was the first Italian to swim this discipline under one minute (59:50 seconds).
Altogether he won the Italian championship six times – and that in a row. He celebrated further international successes in relay competitions.
In addition, he participated twice in the Olympic Games (1952 in Helsinki and 1956 in Melbourne). He also became European Champion with his team of the Italian national water polo team. The most important and best known competition events in which Carlo took part:
- Italian Championship
- Mediterranean Games
- Olympic Games
- European Championship Waterpolo
Music career
Between 1960 and 1964 Bud Spencer composed mainly for the Italian record company RCA.
In addition, he toured through various nightclubs with self-composed songs and accompanied himself with guitar. In 1964 Carlos terminated his contract with RCA and founded his own production company in 1965, which produced animal documentaries for RAI. Carlos withdrew more and more from the public and released his first CD with Neapolitan songs in 2003. His last CD “Futtetenne” with self-sung songs was released in January 2016.
Acting career
But Carlos achieved worldwide success by the huge film success with Terence Hill. The comedian duo Spencer & Hill were born and it followed countless movies which gained worldwide fame. The absolute career high point had Carlos alias Bud in the 70’s and 80’s. The comedy with the loose sayings was born and was not only popular with adults. During this time Carlos even wrote several music titles for some of his movies.
1975 Carlos was inspired by his movies and got the pilot’s license for helicopters and 1977 the airplane pilot’s license.
In 1990 Carlos was seen in the successful Italian series written by his son Giuseppe. The last film he made together with Terence Hill was in 1994, from then on he only took on smaller roles.
In 2007 Carlos stood in front of the camera again for financial reasons for a movie. An Italian TV series followed soon after in 2010. Carlos was awarded several times between 1975 and 2004 among others as “Best International Actor”.
Last years and death
Bud Spencer became relatively active in the last years before his death. He toured through Germany to promote his books, appeared in TV shows and released a CD. He was also active on his Facebook page and posted something about himself almost every day.
However, the consequences of his age made it more and more difficult for him, even if he wasn’t really ill. His death came as a surprise to many fans.
Bud died in a hospital in Rome with his family. His last word was “Thank you”.
Mourning service and funeral
The farewell of Bud was also a very big media event. Broadcasters and newspapers from all over the world were there and reported live. Beside Bud’s family, Terence (who also gave a speech) and his wife Lori were present as mourners. In addition, personalities like Ermanno Olmi (film director), Claudio Lotito (president of Lazio Rome), Franco Nero (actor) and others took part.
Mourning service
On Wednesday the 29.06.2016 the public funeral service took place in the Roman town hall (the Kapitol or also Senator palace called). The town hall is located directly at the famous Kapitolsplatz (Piazza del Campidoglio). In the Capitol Bud was laid out in an open coffin. Visitors could take in the time of 10:00-19:00 o’clock personally farewell from him and see him one last time.
Funeral ceremony
One day later on 30.June 2016 the funeral ceremony took place. To this funeral service in the Santa Maria church in Monte Santo only invited people had access. When the coffin was carried into the church, a band played the song Dune Buggy by Film Watch Out, We’re Mad. Even after the mourning ceremony this (but rather cheerful) Spencer-Hill classic was played.
Burial
After the funeral Bud was brought to the Campo Verano cemetery (full name: “Cimitero Comunale Monumentale Campo Verano” or short form: “Cimitero del Verano”) and buried here later.
The Del Verano cemetery is located in the district Tiburtino next to the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le mura.
Here the link to the location in Google Maps
Position of the grave
Bud’s resting place is currently unknown. A Memorial with an altar, pictures, flowers, candles and letters is located here: Monte Portonaccio, di fronte al 2° gradone, cappella V (Chapel 5).
To get to the memorial place at the cemetery it is recommended to take the entrance Portonaccio (entrance = ital. “Ingresso”), because the cemetery is quite big. All information without warranty.
If you visit Bud’s grave, please be quiet and civilized there. You are doing the family (and the other visitors) a big favor. Thank you!
Worth knowing
Bud was not only known as an actor, sportsman and musician. He had numerous interests which he also pursued with ambition. As a fashion designer he brought various textiles (jeans, children’s clothing, etc.) onto the market. The best known is Bud Jeans who also wore his logo.
Inventions
He was a tinkerer and invented several things. For some of his inventions he also applied for patents. 1st hunting rifle: In June 1981 he applied for a patent (file number DE: P 31 23 603.0) for a rifle with three barrels. 2. a walking stick with built-in seat aid. 3. door lock: in March 1990 he applied for a patent (file number DE: P 40 09 764.1) on a door lock. 4. electric toy mouse, etc.
Aviation
Bud had a passion for flying. This led him to do his Helicopter pilot’s license in 1975. Two years later, in 1977, he completed a pilot training where he successfully obtained the Aircraft Pilot Licence. Later he also acquired flight licenses for the USA and Switzerland.
Mistral Air
In 1981 he founded the airline Mistral Air, which he sold to TNT in 1984. In March 2002 the Italian Post (Poste Italiane) bought 75% of Mistral Air. The remaining 25% was acquired in 2005. Since June 2018, the company has no longer offered charter flights for passengers, as it has made losses in the millions. Since then, the airline has concentrated on cargo flights and mainly transports parcels and small parcels.
Politics
In Italy he ran for the Forza Italia party in 2005. Due to the party’s poor results, he was not elected in these regional elections.
Bud Spencer Tunnel and Outdoor Pool
In 2011, the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd conducted a survey to find a suitable name for a tunnel on Bundesstraße 29. A larger group of Bud Spencer fans voted on Facebook for the name Bud Spencer Tunnel. However, this proposal was not accepted at the end. Today the tunnel bears the name Gmünder Einhorn-Tunnel.
In December 2011 the local council decided to rename the urban outdoor swimming pool in the Schießtal as Bud Spencer Bad which still bears this name today. The Bud Spencer outdoor pool Schwäbisch Gmünd is located in Richard-Bullinger-Straße in 73525 Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Bud Spencer Stamps
On the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the death of Bud Spencer, BILD published an individual stamp set in cooperation with Deutsche Post. From 27 June 2017, a total of 10,000 sheets were issued. The Bud Spencer stamps were sold out after a short time and no longer available. Now only a few of these stamp sets are still available and can be purchased at a higher price.
Bud Spencer bronze statue in Budapest
On 11.November 2017 a bronze statue in honour of Bud Spencer was unveiled in Budapest (Hungary). The artist Szandra Tasnadi created the 2,40m high and 500 kilogram heavy statue. The ceremony was attended by Bud’s daughters Diamante Pedersoli and Christina Pedersoli and the former Hungarian water polo player György Kárpát. After the unveiling Cristina Pedersoli said: “The statue does him justice: he was tall in stature, tall in his heart, tall in his passion”.
Picture sources: joyreactor.cc, Screenshots from original DVD/VHS cover and scenes from the movie, scene from the crocodile and his hippo, Daniel S., Google Maps (www.google.de/maps), signature of autograph card, stamps axelspringer.de, statue in Budapest: lavocedimaruggio.it;