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TürkçeJohn Steiner
Biography
Chester, Cheshire, England, UK
This tall, blond, thin British character actor portrayed some of the most memorable villains of Italian cinema during the 1970s and 1980s. Born in Cheshire county England in 1941, Steiner got his start in films after school with small parts in British productions. Among them was 'The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade' (1966), Bedazzled (1967), and Work is a 4-Letter Word (1968). Read more...
Steiner continued working in Italy through the 1970s, dabbling in some of the country's most controversial entertainments. He demonstrated an entirely un-British willingness to embrace the wild side of acting life by accepting a role as a Nazi officer in Rino Di Silvestro's Le deportate della sezione speciale SS (1976). This set the sage for a series of roles as Nazi prison camp officers filmed in West Germany. Steiner made a similar themed role in Tinto Brass' Salon Kitty (1976) and later signed up for a role in Caligula (1979), in which he was a standout, playing the balding, gauntly hideous-looking treasurer and financial advisor, Longinus, to the mad Roman Emperor Caligula (played by 'Malcom McDowell' ). After a commendable performance in Paolo Cavara's 1976 thriller 'Plot of Fear', came 'Schock', the last theatrical film directed by Mario Bava. Steiner's rare starring role in Beyond the Door II (1977) was a nice change of pace for him as he played a sympathetic airline pilot and family man appearing alongside Daria Nicolodi. After that, he went back to tall and menacing looking villainous roles one of which occurred when Dario Argento hired him to appear as the eccentric Italian film journalist Christiano Berti in Tenebre (1982) which remains Steiner's most celebrated film credit in which he meets with a most memorable end with an ax to his head midway through.
As the business of Italian cinema diminished during the 1980s, Steiner's roles in Italian and West German productions were nothing more than brief cameos. One notable role was playing Simon the Magnes in the TV mini-series A.D. (1985). By the early 1990s Steiner had quit the acting industry and moved to Los Angeles, California, USA with his wife and teenage son where he became a successful real estate agent working out of Beverly Hills.
Steiner continued working in Italy through the 1970s, dabbling in some of the country's most controversial entertainments. He demonstrated an entirely un-British willingness to embrace the wild side of acting life by accepting a role as a Nazi officer in Rino Di Silvestro's Le deportate della sezione speciale SS (1976). This set the sage for a series of roles as Nazi prison camp officers filmed in West Germany. Steiner made a similar themed role in Tinto Brass' Salon Kitty (1976) and later signed up for a role in Caligula (1979), in which he was a standout, playing the balding, gauntly hideous-looking treasurer and financial advisor, Longinus, to the mad Roman Emperor Caligula (played by 'Malcom McDowell' ). After a commendable performance in Paolo Cavara's 1976 thriller 'Plot of Fear', came 'Schock', the last theatrical film directed by Mario Bava. Steiner's rare starring role in Beyond the Door II (1977) was a nice change of pace for him as he played a sympathetic airline pilot and family man appearing alongside Daria Nicolodi. After that, he went back to tall and menacing looking villainous roles one of which occurred when Dario Argento hired him to appear as the eccentric Italian film journalist Christiano Berti in Tenebre (1982) which remains Steiner's most celebrated film credit in which he meets with a most memorable end with an ax to his head midway through.
As the business of Italian cinema diminished during the 1980s, Steiner's roles in Italian and West German productions were nothing more than brief cameos. One notable role was playing Simon the Magnes in the TV mini-series A.D. (1985). By the early 1990s Steiner had quit the acting industry and moved to Los Angeles, California, USA with his wife and teenage son where he became a successful real estate agent working out of Beverly Hills.
Actor
Character:
Anthony
Work Is a 4-Letter Word 1968
1
Character:
Principe Ascanio
Paprika 1991
0
Character:
Cardinal Riario
A Season of Giants 1990
0
Character:
Duclaud
Der Commander 1988
2
Character:
Zebra
Big Man: Boomerang 1988
2
Character:
Dr. Olsen
Camping del terrore 1986
4
Character:
Christiano Berti
Tenebre 1982
1
Character:
Lord Flavell
Mogul 1965
0
Character:
Bruno Baldini
Beyond the Door II 1977
0
Character:
Scagnetti
La villeggiatura 1973
0
Character:
Luciano
La ragazza di nome Giulio 1970
0
Character:
Robert
El bosque del lobo 1970
0
Character:
Oskar Engelhart
The Berlin Affair 1985
0
Character:
Simon the Magus
A.D. 1985
0
Character:
Col. Dollmann
Massacre in Rome 1973
0
Character:
Brian Graham
Public Eye 1965
0
Character:
Monsieur Dupere
Marat/Sade 1967
0
Character:
Alex
Julia and Julia 1987
0
Character:
Simon Tesco
The Sextet 1972
0
Character:
Alfred
Il piccolo Archimede 1979
0
Character:
Overlord
Yor, the Hunter from the Future 1983
0
Character:
Mr. Adams
Troppo forte 1986
0
0