Gian Maria Volonté (April 9, 1933 – December 6, 1994) was an Italian actor known for his flexibility as an interpreter, his outspoken left-wing leanings, and his fierce temper on and off the set. Outside of Italy, he is perhaps best known for his roles in four Spaghetti Western films: Ramón Rojo in Sergio Leone‘s A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and El Indio in Leone’s For a Few Dollars More (1965), El Chuncho Munoz in Damiano Damiani‘s A Bullet for the General (1966), and Professor Brad Fletcher in Sergio Sollima‘s Face to Face (1967).
In Italy and much of Europe, he was known for his roles in high-profile social dramas depicting the political and social upheavals of 1960s and 1970s Italian and European society, including four films directed by Elio Petri – We Still Kill the Old Way (1967), Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971), and Todo modo (1973). (1976). In addition, he is known for his roles in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Cercle Rouge (1970), Giuliano Montaldo’s Sacco & Vanzetti (1971), and Francesco Rosi‘s Christ Stopped at Eboli.