Dubbed in Rome

    Back in 2017, I had the great privilege of getting to know the great dubbing actor, writer and director John Gayford (1933-2021), who spent 40-something years working in the English dubbing industry in Rome. John very kindly agreed to answer my various dubbing-related questions, and I think his wonderful recollections will be of much interest to other fans of English dubbing, so here I present the online conversations we conducted during October-November 2017.   Johan Melle: Hi, John. Thanks so much for agreeing to talk to be about your career. I greatly appreciate that. Now, first of all, I would like to ensure that I’ve correctly identified your voice. I made a little clip from the English version of the film Mark il poliziotto (1975). Can you confirm if that’s you dubbing the voice of Giorgio Albertazzi in this clip?     John Gayford: Yes, what a surprise, confirmed. I’d forgotten all about it, but I adapted the dialog for the dubbing. They’re all speaking Italian as

    Throughout the glory years of the Italian film industry, many an English or American actor in Rome found themselves earning a bit of extra cash by doing dubbing work. Even a famous actor like Orson Welles took occasional dubbing jobs in Rome (and elsewhere) to earn some money for his own film projects. Another well-known name that once used to work in the dubbing salas of Rome was Lois Maxwell (1927-2007), the Canadian-born actress renowned for having played the role of Miss Moneypenny in the first fourteen James Bond films, starting with Dr. No (1962) and ending with A View to a Kill (1985). The role of Moneypenny was always a small one, but the flirtatious interactions between her and Bond, and their often outrageous sexual double entendres were big favorites with the movie-goers, and has ensured Maxwell her rightful place in movie history.   Lois Maxwell in her signature role as Miss Moneypenny. Here with Sean Connery in From Russia with Love (1963).   Far less attentio