Roland Carey(1933-2019)
- Actor
This 1960s Italian epic star of Swiss-French dual nationality was
different from most other "peplum" actors in that he actually went to
drama school. Born in Lausanne in 1933 of an Irish father and French
mother, Roland attended the Paris Conservatory, and his early work on
the Paris stage included the role of Fortinbras in Hamlet, plus several
performances for the Comedie-Francaise. From 1951 he played small parts
in French films and eventually made his international screen debut in
1956 with a small part in Trapeze in which he doubled for Burt
Lancaster. In 1959 he tried his luck in Hollywood, but owing to work
permit problems was only given television bit parts in Bonanza,
Laramie, The Twilight Zone, U.S. Steel Hour and Thriller. Returning to
Europe, he appeared in the television series Tales of the Vikings
produced in Munich for Kirk Douglas's company. This attracted the
attention of the Rome studios who were seeking athletic actors to play
in historical epics. Since Roland's CV listed his sporting activities
as tennis, horse riding, ice hockey, roller hockey, soccer, American
football, skiing, water skiing, swimming, motor racing, sailing,
boxing, karate, fencing, cycling, motocross, side-car racing,
volleyball, basketball and rafting, it was hardly surprising that
Riccardo Freda selected him for the lead part of mythological hero
Jason in The Giants of Thessaly (1960). He also starred in Sword of El
Cid (1963) and Revolt of the Barbarians (1964). After the epics Roland
switched to more artistic parts and cameo roles, and used the pseudonym
"Rod Carter" for action movies. Because of his theatrical experience he
was also in demand as a voice actor at Fono Roma where he dubbed
Italian pictures into French, but he also speaks fluent English, German
and Italian. Since 1982 he has been based almost entirely in
Switzerland, although he lives near Florence. Thank you to the
Cinematheque Suisse for assisting with this biography, and special
thanks to Roland Carey for his kind help.