Filmbar70 loves Tomas Milian

Filmbar70 is proud to pay tribute to the incredible Tomas Milian, one of the most vital, versatile and charismatic actors of the latter half of the 20th century, who made his extraordinary mark from the 1960's onward in the realms of the Italian western and crime dramas (or 'Poliziotteschi').
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1933, Tomas Quintin Rodriguez Milian traveled to the United States in 1955 to fulfill his dream of becoming an actor, an aspiration born after witnessing James Dean's performance in 'East of Eden' ('55). His raw talent earned him a place at the renowned Actor's Studio in New York, under the tutorage of Lee Strasberg. 1959 marked his first screen appearance, on the NBC network TV show 'Decoy'. The year also saw an invitation by the legendary French poet, playwright and film director Jean Cocteau to appear in a play at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. This marked a decisive turning point in his career, as Tomas was to make Italy his home for over 2 decades...
He began his Italian film career in esteemed company, working with such celebrated directors as Pasolini and Luchino Visconti. However, the parts offered were relatively minor, and did not provide the substance Tomas craved. This was to change in 1966 when Tomas accepted a role in Eugenio Martin's 'The Ugly Ones', a film belonging to the burgeoning genre of the Spaghetti Western. This genre allowed Tomas to broaden his acting palette and introduced him to a wider audience, appearing in roles diverse as villainous miscreants to comedic fall guys in such 'political' classics such as Giulio Questi's 'Django Kill!' and Sergio Sollima's 'The Big Gundown' (both '67), Giulio Petroni's 'Tepepa' ('68), and Bruno Corbucci's 'Companeros' ('70).
In 1968, he appeared in a film that would define the majority of his output the following decade - the comtepory crime drama 'Bandits of Milan', directed by Carlo Lizzani. The film's daring structure and political edge was very different in tone to how the crime genre was to eventually evolve. Throughout the 1970's Tomas appeared in many crime films modeled on American imports. Here, working in conjunction with director Umberto Lenzi, Tomas created some of his most memorable characters, including Giulio Sacchi from 'Almost Human' ('74), Rambo from 'Syndicate Sadists' ('75) and il Gobbo (Vincenzo Moretti / Marazzi) from 'Rome: Armed to the Teeth' ('76) and 'Brothers till we Die' ('77). In 1976 Tomas reunited with Corbucci to create one of his most popular and enduring characters -- Nico Giraldi, a Serpico style outsider cop, who would feature in an incredible eleven action oriented films. Running in tandem with this series, Tomas also proved popular with his portrayal of the low-life petty crook and comedic anti-hero 'Monnezza' (liberally translated as 'trash'), allowing the actor to indulge his interest of Roman slang and street word play.
However popular, the roles become too overtly comedic in nature for Tomas' satisfaction, and in the 1980's the actor made the decision to move back to the States, effectively re-booting his career. After numerous television appearances, Tomas began to gain a stronger foothold in the industry, eventually working with renowned directors such as Spielberg and Soderbergh.
From sneering sociopaths to rugged heroes, Tomas' incredible range and chameleon-like abilities created some of the most iconic characters to have arisen from the Italian film industry during the region's most fertile period. A true actor, Tomas inhabited his roles with overpowering energy and forceful conviction.
Filmbar70 loves Tomas Milian!