William Berger (actor)

William Berger

Berger in 1967
Born Wilhelm Thomas Berger
June 20, 1928
Innsbruck, Austria
Died October 2, 1993 (aged 65)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names Bill Berger
Wilhelm Berger
Occupation Actor

William Berger (also mentioned as Bill Berger or Wilhelm Berger; born Wilhelm Thomas Berger on June 20, 1928 in Innsbruck, Austria – October 2, 1993 in Los Angeles, United States, of prostate cancer) was an Austrian American actor, mostly associated with Euro or spaghetti Westerns and travel documentaries.

Biography

Career

Berger in Faccia a faccia (1967)

A former roommate of Keith Richards, his earliest work was in Broadway theater, but while visiting Italy, he was cast in his first Western, Break Up in 1965. A series of westerns followed, including Faccia a faccia (1967), Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! (1968), If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968), Sabata (1969) and Keoma (1975). He also starred in Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970).

In the early 1970s, Berger spent some time in an Italian prison, wrongly accused of possession of hashish and cocaine, but resumed his acting career after his release. His later fare included Super Fly T.N.T. (1973), Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun (1977) - inspired in Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun by Mariana Alcoforado -, Oil! (1977), Hercules (1983), Devil Fish (1984) and The King's Whore (1990). His 1985 memoirs, Half Way Home, recount his life to that point.

Berger died on October 2, 1993 in Los Angeles, California, of prostate cancer.

Personal life

He married a couple of times. He had two daughters with his first wife: Carin Berger (1952) and actress Debra Berger (March 17, 1957). He had his first son - Wendell Nelson Berger - on December 28, 1972. By second wife singer, songwriter and actress Hanja Kochansky he had two children: a daughter, actress Katya Berger, and a son, child actor Kasimir Berger (born in London on October 7, 1974), who starred with his father in the TV mini-series Christopher Columbus (1985) as Diego as a Child, in Tuareg - Il guerriero del deserto (1984) (uncredited) as Gacel's Son and with his mother and sister in Rosso sangue (1981) as Willy Bennett. On June 21, 1975 he had his last son Alexander Völz with Dörte Völz. He had no children with his last wife, Linda Berger.

Selected filmography

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