Richard Harrison (born May 26, 1936) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s. He worked with directors ranging from established names like Antonio Margheriti and Marino Girolami to infamous Z-movie directors like Paolo Solvay, Godfrey Ho and Alfonso Brescia. Harrison's co-stars ranged from major and minor stars of the time like Anita Ekberg, Michèle Mercier, Klaus Kinski, Fernando Sancho and Helmut Berger to obscure cult actors such as Mike Monty and Romano Kristoff. Early life Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Harrison left for Los Angeles at 17, where he found work first at the Vic Tanny and Bert Goodrich gyms. Many people working in the film industry trained at the gym and these encounters led Harrison to study acting. In 1961 he married Loretta Nicholson, the daughter of American International Pictures co-chief James H. Nicholson. American film appearances He appeared in a Santa Monica stage production, then in TV, then in small parts in feature films. Harrison worked at Twentieth Century Fox under acting coach Sandy Meiser where he made an appearance at the beginning of South Pacific along with Tom Laughlin and Ron Ely. He eventually signed a three-film deal with American International Pictures, which led him to Italy, where he remained for almost three decades, appearing in sword and sandal films, then Eurospy films and Spaghetti Westerns. Formal acting studies set Harrison apart from other muscular American actors working in Italy in the early 1960s, such as Brad Harris and Steve Reeves, with whom he is often grouped. 1960s European movies Harrison relocated to Italy in the early 1960s with his first wife Loretta initially in a three-picture contract with producer Italo Zingarelli. He remained in Italy and became a leading star in sword and sandal films, Eurospy films and later Spaghetti Westerns. His first Italian film and the first starring role were in The Invincible Gladiator (1962), directed by Alberto De Martino and Antonio Momplet. Arguably Harrison's most well-known film from his early career is the western Gunfight at Red Sands (Duello Nel Texas), directed by Ricardo Blasco in 1963. Gunfight at Red Sands is also noteworthy for being the first Italian Western to feature an Ennio Morricone score. Harrison turned