Elio Bonadonna was a stuntman and actor who was active in Italian films from at least the start of the 1960's until the late 1980's.
He was the brother of stuntman Giovanni Bonadonna and the brothers often appeared in films together. On his Westerns all'Italiana blog, Tom Betts mentions that Elio was a former boxer and that he owned and operated a gym in Rome where he trained stuntmen - the latter is corroborated by Luca Zanna, an Italian who runs his own gladiator school in the US, and who in a 2004 interview talks about meeting Elio at his gym and being trained by him. He also mentions Elio in a 2001 interview in which he describes him as a "famed fight choreographer for numerous 1950s-'60s sword-and-sandal epics".
Tom Betts also says that Elio died in May 2003, date unknown, and while he doesn't mention a source, Tom's posts are well researched and should be reliable.
He was apparently also a champion of Greco-Roman wrestling during the late 1950's and early 1960's, though there's little information available on this except for some mentions on this website as well as this one.
Additionally, Elio appeared in a few fotoromanzi for publishers Lancio and Condor in the 1960's and 1970's, but unlike his brother Giovanni, who was a regular face in these fotoromanzi, Elio appears to only have made a few sporadic appearances, quite likely as a favor to his brother.
I have found a number of early roles for Elio in peplums and eurospies, but his 60's filmography is still fairly sparse, so I'm certain there must be more roles to be found. It certainly seems a little odd that he currently has no 60's credits in westerns. From the 70's he maintained a beard, giving him a similar look to Emilio Messina (with whom he has been mistaken on occasion).
FILMOGRAPHY
- Esther and the King (uncredited) .... Soldier wrestling with King Ahasuerus
- La regina delle Amazzoni (uncredited) .... Prisoner of the Amazons
1961 - Barabba (uncredited) .... Gladiator
- Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide (uncredited) .... Tavern brawler
- Rosmunda e Alboino (credited) .... Guard
1962 - Maciste, il gladiatore più forte del mondo (uncredited) .... Gladiator for sale
- Sodoma e Gomorra (uncredited) .... Sodomite guard at the branding
1963 - Maciste, l'eroe più grande del mondo (uncredited) .... Soldier on the ship
1964 - I magnifici brutos del West (uncredited) .... One of Tom's men
- Maciste gladiatore di Sparta (uncredited) .... Fighter with Maciste
- Una spada per l'impero (uncredited) .... Gladiator
1965 - Due mafiosi contro Goldginger (uncredited) .... Guard
- La decima victima (uncredited) .... Man at the practice range
1966 - A.D.3 operazione squalo bianco (uncredited) .... Fighter in the bar
- Agente 3S3, massacro al sole (uncredited) .... Henchman
1967 - Tutto Totò (TV series) - episode 6: "Totò ciak" (uncredited) .... One of Lupo's men
1968 - Niente rose per OSS 117 (uncredited) .... Yusuf
1972 - Ettore lo fusto (credited) .... Member of gay biker gang
1973 - Ming, ragazzi! (uncredited) .... Football player
1974 - Carambola (uncredited) .... Clydeson henchman
1975 - La polizia interviene: ordine di uccidere! (uncredited) .... Judo trainee in the gym
- Noi non siamo angeli (credited) .... Shark henchman
1976 - Il conto è chiuso (credited) .... Rico henchman
- Squadra antifurto (uncredited) .... Gorniani henchman
1977 - La via della droga (uncredited) .... Henchman
- Mr. Mean (uncredited) .... Hitman
1979 - Il giocattolo (uncredited) .... Judo practitioner
1982 - La gorilla (credited) .... Judo student
- Monsignor (credited) .... 1st killer
1983 - Hercules (uncredited) .... Challenger of Hercules
1984 - The last days of Pompeii (TV mini-series, episode 3) (uncredited) .... Gladiator
1987 - Sicilian Connection (credited) .... role?
1988 - Big Man (TV series, episode 1: Polizza droga) (credited) .... Thug
More Elio!
There are a few more movies where Elio is credited by online sources that I have been unable to find, so if anybody has images of him in the films below you know what to do.
- Il torcinaso (1975) IMDb
- Il commissario Verrazzano (1978) It looks like it's probably Elio in my images for Pino Mattei playing some role in the pool hall, but really needs a better image to clarify
- Sicilian Connection (1987) IMDb