Michael Tor

 

Michael Tor was one of the all-time great character actor dubbers of the Roman dubbing world. He was one of the old-timers who was active on the scene ever since the 1950s, and he would remain a busy dubbing director and actor all through the 1960s and 70s. Michael was an excellent dubber of colorful older characters – particularly imperious villains and weaselly types, but he also had a real flair for comedic parts and was overall extremly versatile. His voice should be particularly familiar to fans of Italian peplum, western and crime films, and you can listen to a few samples of some of his most famous dubbing roles in the video below:

 

Born in Chicago, Illinois on 19 January 1917, Michael Tor was originally an opera baritone. After graduating from the University of Chicago, he sang with the Chicago City Opera, making his debut in Carmen. During WW2, he served as a United States Army Captain in Italy, and then ended up staying there after the end of the War.

His big break came in 1948, when he participated in an all-American music program by Rome’s St. Cecilia Orchestra, performing the spirituals “De Glory Road”, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” and “G’wine to Hebb’n” to thunderous applause from the audience. According to a news article in the Sioux City Journal, he took no less than five curtain calls and then sang again.

Following this great success, Michael signed a contract to sing at Milan’s La Scala opera house, and he also found work as an actor in films, playing small roles in such Italian films as the drama-comedy Natale al campo 119, a.k.a. Christmas at Camp 119 (1947), the melodrama Il grido della terra, a.k.a. The Earth Cries Out (1949), the film noir La strada buia, a.k.a. Fugitive Lady (1950) and the comedy Napoli milionaria, a.k.a. Side Street Story (1950), as well as in Hollywood productions shot in Italy such as the film noir Deported (1950) and the epic spectacles Quo Vadis (1951) and War and Peace (1956). He also appeared on television, playing prominent guest starring roles in The Three Musketeers and Conrad Nagel Theater, two syndicated TV series lensed in Italy.

 

Michael Tor as the American commander of a camp for Italian prisoners of war in the drama-comedy Natale al campo 119 (1947).

As a military prosecutor in the melodrama Il grido della terra (1949).

As an insurance agent in the Italian film noir La strada buia (1950).

As a journalist in the Hollywood film noir Deported (1950).

As an American officer in the comedy Napoli milionaria (1950) in which he performs the spiritual "De Glory Road" - the same spiritual he had performed with much success in concerts during the late 1940s.

Michael playing a rare leading role as a sensitive painter in "Unknown Madonna" (1955), an episode from the syndicated American anthology TV series Conrad Nagel Theater.

In costume as a Russian priest in the Hollywood spectacle War and Peace (1956).

 

The video below features various clips from some of Michael’s on-screen roles in both English and Italian language. That’s his real voice in all of the clips, including the ones in Italian.

 

 

Michael’s on-screen career appears to have come to an end in the mid 1950s as he began to focus all of his efforts on dubbing instead. Things could have turned out differently, however, because in 1952, Michael was cast in what ought to have been his big breakthrough: a leading role opposite Anna Magnani in Jean Renoir’s expensive Technicolor comedy The Golden Coach. But alas, it was not to be. Shortly into the production, Michael was abruptly fired and replaced with British actor Duncan Lamont, who was originally scheduled to only play a small role in the film. According to a piece in Billboard from April 1952, a bitterly disappointed Michael responded by filing a $150,000 damage suit against the production company Panaria Films. Panaria refused to make any statement on the firing, but ‘inside sources’ cited in the Billboard piece alleged that winning his first starring role had gone to Michael’s head and that he’d indulged in some rather diva-like behavior on the set.

 

Michael on the set of The Golden Coach with director Jean Renoir (misspelled as Pierre Renoir in the caption) in a picture taken from a newspaper article in Tulsa Daily World in March 1952.

 

The short, gossipy piece in Billboard about Michael's firing from The Golden Coach.

Due to the overall unavailability of English dubbed versions of Italian films from the 1950s, it is not known exactly when Michael Tor’s involvement in the English dubbing scene in Rome began. So far, his earliest known dubbing role dates from 1955, but it’s likely that he started out even earlier than that.

His glory years as a dubber came during the peplum era of the late 1950s and early 1960s, during which he excelled at voicing slimy or pompous villains into English. Once the peplum craze died down, Michael found himself in demand for spaghetti westerns and Eurocrime films, and he stayed a busy character dubber until the end of the 1970s. See the video below for some more examples of the various roles he dubbed throughout the years:

A few of most memorable actors that were dubbed on several occasions by Michael Tor:

 

Claudio Gora was dubbed by Michael in The Slave (1962), Be Sick... It's Free (1968), Hospitals, the White Mafia (1973) and The Beast with a Gun (1977).

Fernando Sancho was regularly dubbed by the great Tony La Penna, but Michael Tor filled in for him in films like Killer Kid (1967), Mission Phantom (1967), Turn... I'll Kill You (1967), Vengeance is Mine (1967) and And the Crows Will Dig Your Grave (1971).

Ivo Garrani was dubbed by Michael in Roland the Mighty (1956), Hercules (1958) and The Mask of Satan (1960).

 

In addition to dubbing voices, Michael was also a dubbing director, but due to the unfortunate tendency to not credit the dubbing directors, it has not been possible to identify any of the films for which he directed the English dubs. What we do know, however, is that like many of the other veteran dubbing directors such as Tony La Penna and Richard McNamara, Michael would also do narrations for theatrical trailers. One of the trailers he narrated was the one for Mario Bava’s Hercules at the Center of the Earth (1961), which can be viewed below:

Another interesting aspect to Michael Tor’s dubbing career is that he also did Italian language dubbing. This was not unusual, as the Italians often called on the English dubbers if they needed someone with an authentic American or British accent. These Italian dubbing jobs tended to be infrequent side jobs, though, but what is surprising in Michael’s case is that he was actually selected to be the regular Italian voice of Sylvester the Cat in the famous Looney Tunes cartoons! Exactly why the Italians chose to give Sylvester (or Silvestro as he is known in Italian) an American accent is not known, but for many years in the 1960s, Michael was the official Italian voice of Sylvester, and a truly splendid job he did!

 

Michael was the Italian voice of Sylvester for many years.

 

Check out this video for a few examples of Michael Tor’s Italian language dubbing work:

 

Like a lot of other English dubbers in Rome, Michael even dabbled in English language theater, with a short notice in Variety in November 1974 reporting that he had just completed a three-week run production of Antigone at The Crypt Theatre together with Elizabeth Parravicini (in the title role) and fellow dubbers Joan Rowe and Cyrus Elias.

 

When I asked him about Michael Tor, dubbing actor Rodd Dana remembered his old colleague with much fondness:

“Another dear friend, and wonderful director who also did voices. In those days, all the directors were ham actors who just wanted to make money doing what they loved. He was truly one of those amazing talents who could do a little of everything. Brilliant guy! I think he came to Rome long before dubbing began.”

 

Dubbing actor Roger Browne also shared some amusing memories of Michael:

“I never got to know him too well. He was an art lover, and I heard some of his art came out of WWI. At one point, some people proposed him for president of ELDA. That would have never worked! He was not a man of the people, a bit prissy. He and Gino Bardi directed some, and Gino once called Michael ‘Lady Windermere’ for using a fan.”

 

The last dubbing role I’ve been able to find for Michael Tor is from 1978. What became of him after that point is uncertain. Rodd Dana believed Michael may have died sometime in the 1970s. The Internet Movie Database and the Italian dubbing database Il Mondo Dei Doppiatori, however, both report that Michael died in Milan on 1 February 2009 at the age of 92, but what their source is for that information is anyone’s guess. In either case, Michael Tor was a first-rate dubber whose wonderful voice helped to enhance the performances of many a great Italian character actor, and he is long overdue for some proper recognition for his great work.

Note that, as always, the dubbing filmography below is very much a work in progress, and it will be updated as new roles are discovered.

 

English dubbing filmography:

 

- The Mysterious Swordsman (1956) - voice of Count Arcidosso (Antonio Corevi)

- Roland the Mighty (1956) - voice of King Charles (Ivo Garrani)

- The Violent Patriot (1956) - voice of Fra Salvatore (Philippe Hersent)

- The Mighty Crusaders (1957) - voice of Aladin (Cesare Fantoni) and Gernando (Ugo Sasso)

- Hercules (1958) - voice of Pelias (Ivo Garrani)

- The Sword and the Cross (1958) - voice of Hanan (Massimo Serato)

- The Warrior and the Slave Girl (1958) - voice of Burkala (Rafael Duran)

- Cavalier of the Devil’s Castle (1959) - voice of Astolfo (Pierre Cressoy)

- The Devil’s Cavaliers (1959) - voice of Germaine (Mirko Ellis)

- Hannibal (1959) - voice of Minucius (Renzo Cesana)

- Head of a Tyrant (1959) - voice of Ozias (Gianni Rizzo)

- The Night of the Great Attack (1959) - voice of 'Midnight' (Alfredo Varelli)

- The White Warrior (1959) - voice of King Shamyl (Nikola Popovic)

- Assignment: Outer Space (1960) - voice of Venus Commander (Aldo Pini)

- The Mask of Satan (1960) - voice of Prince Vajda (Ivo Garrani)

- Duel of Champions (1961) - voice of Grand Priest (Umberto Raho)

- Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961) - voice of Zenith (Mario Petri)

- The Invincible Gladiator (1961) - voice of Rabirius (Leo Anchoriz)

- The Last of the Vikings (1961) - voice of Simon (Mario Feliciani)

- The Mercenaries (1961) - voice of Cardinal Montalto (Salvo Randone)

- Rage of the Buccaneers (1961) - voice of Felipe Ortesi Contrera (Edoardo Toniolo)

- Romulus and the Sabines (1961) - voice of Numa (Petar Dobric)

- Suleiman the Conqueror (1961) - voice of Suleiman (Loris Gizzi)

- The Trojan Horse (1961) - voice of Menelaus (Carlo Tamberlani)

- Caesar the Conqueror (1962) - voice of Pompey (Carlo Tamberlani)

- The Rebel Gladiator (1962) - voice of Emilius Leto (Gianni Santuccio)

- The Slave (1962) - voice of Crassus (Claudio Gora)

- Zorro at the Court of Spain (1962) - voice of Marquis Pedro Di Villa Verde (Carlo Tamberlani)

- The Black Duke (1963) - voice of Guidobaldo (Gilberto Mazzi)

- Samson and the Slave Queen (1963) - voice of Tavern-keeper (Amedeo Trilli)

- The Shortest Day (1963) - voice of Chaplain (Totò)

- Zorro and the Three Musketeers (1963) - voice of Narrator

- Blood for a Silver Dollar (1965) - voice of Buddy (Tullio Altamura)

- Espionage in Lisbon (1965) - voice of Professor von Kelster (Rafael Bardem)

- Fire Over Rome (1965) - voice of Seneca (Mario Feliciani)

- Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus (1965) - voice of Kaiew (Arturo Dominici)

- Johnny West (1965) - voice of The Sheriff (Barta Barri)

- The Wild, Wild Planet (1965) - voice of General Fowler (Enzo Fiermonte)

- The Big Blackout (1966) - voice of Chief Bowles (Geoffrey Copleston)

- El Cisco (1966) - voice of Tuscarora (George Wang)

- A Few Dollars for Django (1966) - voice of Amos Bransbury (Alfonso Rojas)

- Go with God, Gringo (1966) - voice of Don Pedro Suarez (Livio Lorenzon)

- Hunter of the Unknown (1966) - voice of Professor Theodore Karleston (Eduardo Fajardo)

- Massacre Time (1966) - voice of Mr. Scott (Giuseppe Addobbati)

- Our Man in Casablanca (1966) - voice of Hamed (José Maria Caffarel)

- Sugar Colt (1966) - voice of Colonel Haberbrook (Giuliano Raffaelli)

- A Taste for Killing (1966) - voice of Mingo (George Wang)

- Death at Owell Rock (1967) - voice of Pablo Rodriguez (Ignazio Spalla)

- The Dirty Fifteen (1967) - voice of Clark Bennett (Tomas Blanco)

- Face to Face (1967) - voice of School Director (John Karlsen)

- Killer Kid (1967) - voice of Vilar (Fernando Sancho)

- Lola Colt (1967) - voice of Slim (Giovanni Petti)

- Mission Phantom (1967) - voice of Professor Gonzales (Fernando Sancho)

- No Diamonds for Ursula (1967) - voice of Spiros (Salvo Randone)

- Professionals for a Massacre (1967) - voice of General Sibley (Carlo Gentili)

- Rattler Kid (1967) - voice of Prosecutor (Santiago Rivero)

- Return of the Giant Monsters (1967) - voice of Dr. Aoki (Yoshiro Kitahara)

- Turn... I’ll Kill You (1967) - voice of El Bicho (Fernando Sancho)

- Vengeance is Mine (1967) - voice of Goncalvez (Fernando Sancho)

- Be Sick... It’s Free (1968) - voice of Chief Physician (Claudio Gora)

- Beyond the Law (1968) - voice of Sheriff John Ferguson (Enzo Fiermonte)

- Deadly Inheritance (1968) - voice of Notary (Andrea Fantasia)

- El Zorro the Fox (1968) - voice of The Alcalde (Gustavo D’Arpe)

- Full House for the Devil (1968) - voice of Ernest Ward (Gerard Herter)

- Hate Thy Neighbor (1968) - voice of Judge (Eugene Walter)

- ...If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968) - voice of Hollman (Gianni Rizzo)

- If You Want to Live... Then Shoot! (1968) - voice of Donovan (Riccardo Garrone)

- Killer, Goodbye (1968) - voice of Bob Elliott (José Jaspe)

- The Long Day of the Massacre (1968) - voice of Judge Tyler (Andrea Fantasia)

- No Graves on Boot Hill (1968) - voice of Señor Ortega (Vittorio André)

- Ringo, the Lone Rider (1968) - voice of Judge Grant (Angel Menendez)

- Superargo and the Faceless Giants (1968) - voice of Khamer (Aldo Sambrell)

- The Taste of Vengeance (1968) - voice of Blake Sr. (Miguel Del Castillo)

- Death on High Mountain (1969) - voice of Mr. Vandervelt (Alberto Plebani)

- Isabella, Duchess of the Devils (1969) - voice of Marshal Bassompierre (Loris Gizzi)

- A Place in Hell (1969) - voice of Japanese Colonel (unidentified actor)

- The Tough and the Mighty (1969) - voice of Police Inspector (Gianni Di Benedetto)

- Challenge of McKenna (1970) - voice of Dr. Bennett (Sergio Mendizabal)

- Django and Sartana’s Showdown in the West (1970) - voice of Mr. Brewster (Manlio Salvatori)

- Queens of Evil (1970) - voice of The Priest (Guido Alberti)

- And the Crows Will Dig Your Grave (1971) - voice of Corrales (Fernando Sancho)

- A Fistful of Death (1971) - voice of Old Hermit (Pietro Fumelli)

- Four Pistols for Trinity (1971) - voice of Dr. Gordon (Raymond Bussieres)

- Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971) - voice of Plantation Owner (unidentified actor)

- The Last Traitor (1971) - voice of Judge Stump (Fortunato Arena)

- Pistol Packin’ Preacher (1971) - voice of Geremia (Pietro Ceccarelli)

- The Age of the Medici (1972) (TV mini-series) - voice of Rinaldo degli Albizzi (Tom Felleghy)

- The Eroticist (1972) - voice of Police Captain (Claudio Nicastro)

- God is My Colt (1972) - voice of Ted (Alfredo Rizzo)

- Shadows Unseen (1972) - voice of Editor-in-Chief (Quinto Parmeggiani)

- The Sicilian Checkmate (1972) - voice of Judge (Consalvo Dell’Arti)

- Trinity & Sartana... Those Dirty Sons o’ B-s (1972) - voice of Clark (Enzo Andronico)

- Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why? (1972) - voice of Uncle Fifi (Massimo Serato)

- The Arena (1973) - voice of Timarchus (Daniele Vargas)

- The Counsellor (1973) - voice of Don Calogero Vezza (Eduardo Fajardo)

- Hospitals, the White Mafia (1973) - voice of Professor Calogeri (Claudio Gora)

- Revolver (1973) - voice of Joe La Corse (Steffen Zacharias)

- Secrets of a Call-Girl (1973) - voice of Dr. Ferretti (Ottavio Fanfani)

- The Eerie Midnight Horror Show (1974) - voice of Doctor (Giuseppe Addobbati)

- The Last Desperate Hours (1974) - voice of Bellyache (Toni Ucci)

- The Hallucinating Trip (1975) - voice of Police Chief (Guido Alberti)

- How to Kill a Judge (1975) - voice of Senator Terrasi (Giancarlo Badessi)

- The Return of Shangai Joe (1975) - voice of Lawyer Smith (Giorgio Bixio)

- Special Cop in Action (1976) - voice of Antonio Boretti (Enzo Andronico)

- Werewolf Woman (1976) - voice of Count Neseri (Tino Carraro)

- The Beast with a Gun (1977) - voice of Judge Santini (Claudio Gora)

- The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977) - voice of Fazi (Claudio Nicastro)

- In the Beach House (1977) - voice of Volleyball Coach (Gianni Rizzo)

- SS Girls (1977) - voice of General von Baumberg (Galliano Sbarra)

- The Virgo, the Taurus and the Capricorn (1977) - voice of Gianni’s Father (Ugo Bologna)

- Blazing Flowers (1978) - voice of Uncle Nicola (Nino Vingelli)

 

Animation dubbing:

- A Thousand & One Nights (1969) - voice of The Caliph

-  Calimero (1971) (TV shorts series) - voice of Various roles

 

Trailer narrations:

- Hercules in the Center of the Earth (1961)

 

Acknowledgements: A big thank you to English dubbing expert Brent Sowerby, who was the one to originally identify the voice of Michael Tor!