Andrea Fantasia was a character actor, stuntman, Master of arms and occasional bit-part actor active in Italian films from at least the mid-1950's to the mid-1980's. He was the lesser-known brother of actor/stuntman Franco Fantasia.
Andrea's date and place of birth are unknown. His date of death, found on numerous websites, is given as November 2nd 1985 in Rome. He is widely assumed to be the older brother of Franco, though presumably this is based on his looks alone.
Andrea was an accomplished fencer and rider and he was credited as Master of arms or Fencing master on a number of films, often together with Franco. He could have equally fitted into our stuntmen section, but while he unquestionably performed his own stunts in duels and riding, he very rarely got involved in physical fight scenes and generally his roles were more driven by character than action.
His known film career started in 1955, although since Franco had already been working in films for a few years by that time I think it highly likely that there could also be some earlier appearances to be found for Andrea. Up until the mid-60's Andrea worked almost exclusively in swashbucklers and peplums, making his mark playing the role of King Laertes in Le fatiche di Ercole and reprising the role in 2 further films. In the late 60's he moved into westerns, being cast as sheriffs or judges. While not prolific, he nevertheless continued working steadily through the 70's in smaller parts with his final known roles being in the early 80's.
I have previously found a few undocumented roles for Andrea and I'm sure there will be a few more to come.
FILMOGRAPHY
- Il sacro esperimento (TV movie) (credited) .... Naguacu
- War and Peace (uncredited) .... Constand
1957 - Il ricatto di un padre (uncredited) .... Nightclub customer
- Orizzonte infuocato (poster credit) .... Role?
1958 - Le fatiche di Ercole (credited) .... Laertes
1959 - Annibale (credited) .... Consul Paulus Emilius
- Due selvaggi a corte (credited?) .... Guglielmo
- Ercole e la regina di Lidia (credited) .... Laertes
- I cavalieri del diavolo (credited and as Fencing master) .... Duménil
- I Reali di Francia (credited) .... Hamel
- Il cavaliere senza terra (poster credit) .... Role?
- Il terrore dei barbari (uncredited) .... Father of Emiliano and Lidia
- L'arciere nero (credited and as Master of arms) .... The scarred one
- La congiura dei Borgia (credited?) .... Role?
- La Pica sul Pacifico (credited) .... The policeman
- La scimitarra del saraceno (credited) .... Leader of the slave caravan
1960 - David e Golia (credited as Master of Arms) .... Does not appear
- I cosacchi (credited) .... One of the Tsar's officers
- Il terrore della maschera rossa (credited as Master of Arms) .... Does not appear
- La furia dei barbari (credited) .... Nogaric
- Maciste nella valle dei Re (credited and as Master of arms) .... The blacksmith
- Saffo - Venere di Lesbo (uncredited) .... Pittaco
1961 - Capitani di ventura (credited) .... Prince Romualdi
- Gordon, il pirata nero (credited and as Fencing master) .... Bonifacio
- Il conquistatore di Corinto (credited and as Technical advisor) .... Lucius Mummius
- La vendetta della maschera di ferro (credited) .... Officer
1962 - Il colpo segreto di d'Artagnan (credited) .... Role?
- La congiura dei dieci (uncredited) .... Nobleman
- La spada del Cid (credited and as Master of Arms) .... Enrico
- Taras Bulba, il cosacco (credited as Master of Arms) .... Does not appear
- Zorro alla corte di Spagna (uncredited) .... Nobleman
1963 - D'Artagnan contro i 3 moschettieri (credited) .... Role?
- Ercole sfida Sansone (credited) .... Laertes
- I diavoli di Spartivento (credited as Weapons master) .... Does not appear
- Il boia di Venezia (uncredited) .... Role?
- Zorro e i tre moschettieri (credited) .... Spanish dignitary
1964 - Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west (uncredited) .... Sergeant
- Il Leone di Tebe (uncredited) .... Bodyguard of Amenophis
- La rivolta dei barbari (uncredited) .... Barbarian (re-used footage)
- La rivolta dei pretoriani (uncredited) .... One of Rufo's men
- La vendetta dei gladiatori (uncredited) .... Role?
- Le maledette pistole di Dallas (credited as Andrew Hart) .... Sheriff
- Tre dollari di piombo (credited as Andrew Hart) .... Raf
1965 - Il gladiatore che sfidò l'impero (uncredited) .... Gulba's general
1967 - Faccia a faccia (uncredited) .... Pinkerton official
- L'avventuriero (credited) .... Sailor
- La cintura di castità (uncredited) .... Knight
- Wanted (uncredited) .... Poker player
1968 - Don Chisciotte e Sancio Panza (credited) .... The mayor
- El Zorro (uncredited) .... Don Carlos de Altamura
- Il lungo giorno del massacro (credited) .... The judge
- I nipoti di Zorro (credited) .... Lieutenant Gonzales
- Omicidio per vocazione (credited and as Production inspector) .... Notary
- Sangue chiama sangue (credited) .... Sancho henchman
- Tre passi nel delirio (uncredited) .... Producer
1969 - 20.000 dollari sporchi di sangue (credited) .... Miller
- Italiani! È severamente proibito servirsi della toilette durante le fermate (credited) .... Cavalier Giusti, Benito's father
- La battaglia di El Alamein (credited) .... Dr. Horst
1972 - Roma (uncredited) .... Man with hair-net in the shelter
1973 - Il figlio di Zorro (credited) .... Don José Herrera
1974 - Prostituzione (credited) .... Antique dealer
1975 - Il Giustiziere Sfida La Città (uncredited) .... François
- La spacconata (credited) .... The sheriff
- The Count of Monte-Cristo (uncredited) .... Angry banker
1976 - Gli Esecutori (uncredited) .... Mafia boss
- Il trucido e lo sbirro (uncredited) .... Supermarket manager
- Roma a mano armata (uncredited) .... Ambulance passenger
1977 - La bestia in calore (uncredited) .... Doctor
1978 - Il grande attacco (uncredited) .... French partisan
1979 - Da Corleone a Brooklyn (uncredited) .... Taxi driver at the station
1983 - The Scarlet and the Black (TV movie) (uncredited) .... Caretaker
More Andrea!
There are more titles in which Andrea reportedly appears, so if anyone has shots of him in any of the titles below, you know what to do!
- Il mantello rosso (1955) IMDb