- Dan Vadis in Il trionfo dei dieci gladiatori (1964)
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He was born Constantine Daniel Vafiadis on January 3rd 1938 in Shanghai, China to American parents of Greek descent. He was married to Sharon Jessup in 1980 with whom he had one son, Nick. He was 1.93m (6' 4") tall.
He began body building while serving in the US navy, which led to him joining Mae West's revue alongside several other future stars of Italian peplums, including Gordon Mitchell with whom he would share an apartment in Rome. He was one of the later American body builders to receive the call to come to Italy, making his debut in several supporting roles in 1962-3, before going on to play 6 leading roles in peplums in 1963-4 when the popularity of the genre was on the wane, most notably as the star of the "Ten Gladiators" series. He remained in Italy for a further 3 years, playing featured supporting roles in a number of westerns.
It appears that he returned to the US in 1968, where he would appear sporadically in films, playing much smaller roles than he had been accustomed to in Italy. Half of these were in the films of an old friend from his days in Italy, Clint Eastwood. His last appearances in American films were in 1980 and in 1983 he returned to Italy for one final film appearance alongside another old peplum star, Brad Harris.
Dan died in mysterious circumstances of an accidental drug overdose in Lancaster, California on June 11th 1987, aged only 49.
Filmography
- Maciste, il gladiatore più forte del mondo .... Sidon (credited)
- Ursus gladiatore ribelle .... Ursus (credited)
1963 - Die Flußpiraten vom Mississippi .... Blackfoot (credited)
- I dieci gladiatori .... Roccia (credited)
- Maciste, l'eroe più grande del mondo .... Gladiator (uncredited - re-used footage)
1964 - Ercole l'invincibile .... Ercole (credited)
- Gli invincibili dieci gladiatori .... Roccia (credited)
- Il trionfo dei dieci gladiatori .... Roccia (credited)
- Il trionfo di Ercole .... Ercole (credited)
- Zorikan lo sterminatore .... Zorikan (credited)
1966 - Degueyo .... Ramon (credited)
- Kommissar X - Drei gelbe Katzen .... King (credited)
- Per pochi dollari ancora .... Nelson Riggs (credited)
1967 - Un uomo, un cavallo, una pistola .... En Plein (credited)
1968 - The Scalphunters .... Yuma (credited)
1969 - Dio perdoni la mia pistola .... Deputy Jason Martin (credited)
1973 - Cahill U.S. Marshal .... Brownie (credited)
- High Plains Drifter .... Dan Carlin (credited)
1977 - The Gauntlet .... Biker (credited)
1978 - Every Which Way But Loose .... Frank (credited)
- Starsky and Hutch (TV series) S. 3, ep. 18: "Hutchinson for Murder One" .... Cardwell (credited)
1979 - Mr. Horn (TV mini-series) .... Gene Laughoff (credited)
1980 - Any Which Way You Can .... Frank (credited)
- Bronco Billy .... Chief Big Eagle (credited)
1983 - I sette magnifici gladiatori .... Nicerote (credited)
Additional credits
- Luca il contrabbandiere (1980) …. Actor in the Western movie watched by Don Morrone (uncredited - re-used footage)
No Vadis!
Titles where Dan is listed as appearing somewhere online, but cannot be found. There always has to be one!
- Le corniaud (1965) IMDb with no role. Not credited and not found after multiple searches
- The White Buffalo (1977) IMDb, uncredited, as "Tall man". Not found after several searches.