José Calvo

Biography

José Calvo (March 3, 1916 – May 16, 1980) was a Spanish film actor best known for his roles in western films or historical dramas. He made around 150 appearances mostly in films between 1952 and his death in 1980. He entered film in 1952 and was prolific as an actor throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He made many appearances in crime dramas, often with a historical theme and appeared in a high number of western films. In 1964 he starred as the innkeeper Silvanito in Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western production A Fistful of Dollars as one of Clint Eastwood's few "amigos" in the town of San Miguel. He later appeared in westerns such as I Giorni dell'ira (1967) opposite Lee Van Cleef, Anda muchacho, spara! (1971) and Dust in the Sun (1973) etc. However, after the Spaghetti western era of the late 1960s, in the 1970s he returned to appearing in primarily Spanish films and in contrast to the roles which dominated much of his career did appear in several Spanish comedy films often with slapstick humor as that genre grew popular in Latin cinema during this period. He died in Gran Canaria on May 16, 1980 aged 64.

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