Maurizio Merli was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 film actor.

Merli got his first lead role in 1974 in the film White Fang to the Rescue due to his resemblance to the highly popular cult

Cult following

A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...

 actor Franco Nero

Franco Nero

Franco Nero is an Italian actor.-Early life:Nero was born Francesco Sparanero in San Prospero Parmense , the son of a sergeant in the...

, who played the lead role in the first two films. Merli later became one of the most prominent actors of the poliziotteschi

Poliziotteschi

Poliziotteschi films constitute a sub-genre of crime and action film that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s...

 genre by starring in almost a dozen films. He died in 1989 of myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 after a tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 match.

Selected filmography

• White Fang to the Rescue (1974)
• Violent Rome (1975)
• A Special Cop in Action (1976)
• Rome Armed to the Teeth
  Rome Armed to the Teeth
  Roma a mano armata, also known as Rome Armed To The Teeth , is one of the many Italian police crime films known as poliziotteschi made by Umberto Lenzi in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
  
  (1976)
• Violent Naples (1976)
• Fearless (1977)
• Mannaja
  Mannaja
  Mannaja is an Italian western film from 1977 directed by Sergio Martino. The main role, Blade, is played by Maurizio Merli...
  
  (1977)
• The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist
  The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist
  The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist is an Italian crime action thriller directed in 1977 by Umberto Lenzi. The movie is the sequel of Rome Armed to the Teeth, with Maurizio Merli reprising the role of Commissioner Leonardo Tanzi....
  
  (1977)
• Highway Racer (1977)
• Covert Action (1978)
• Convoy Busters
  Convoy Busters
  Convoy Busters, also known as An Uncomfortable Cop is a 1978 poliziotteschi film. This film by Stelvio Massi stars Maurizio Merli.-Releases:...
  
  (1978)
• From Corleone to Brooklyn
  From Corleone to Brooklyn
  From Corleone to Brooklyn is an Italian crime thriller directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film was released in Italy on April 13, 1979 and stars Maurizio Merli, Mario Merola and Van Johnson....
  
  (1979)

External links