Mark Gregory
Born
Marco De Gregorio

(1964-05-02)2 May 1964
Rome, Italy
Died31 January 2013(2013-01-31) (aged 48)
Castel Madama, Italy
NationalityItalian
OccupationActor
Years active1982–1989

Mark Gregory (born Marco De Gregorio,[1] 2 May 1964 – 31 January 2013)[1] was an Italian film actor.

Career

Gregory worked as a waiter,[2] before being discovered in a gym in Rome.[3][4] After his fiancée sent his picture to Fulvia Film, he was cast over some 2,000 candidates for the role of "Trash" in the 1982 science fiction thriller 1990: The Bronx Warriors, starring alongside Christopher Connelly and Fred Williamson.[5][6] The film was heavily inspired by Mad Max 2 (1981) and The Warriors (1979).[4][7][8] In the Italian religious movie Adam and Eve vs the Cannibals (1983), he played the biblical character Adam.[9] His dark looks resulted in him being cast as a vengeful Native American in the First Blood-inspired 1983 action film Thunder Warrior.[2] He starred in the film Delta Force Commando (1988), starring again alongside Fred Williamson.[10]

Gregory's last acting role was a starring role in Afghanistan – The Last War Bus (1989).

Personal life

According to the working documents of his first film, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Gregory was born Marco De Gregorio;[1] for a long time, some sources reported his birth name incorrectly as Marco Di Gregorio.[5][8] His father was a painter and sculptor.[1] He grew up in the area of Porta Pia/Piazza Fiume in Rome.[1] According to the same documentation, at the time of the shooting of 1990: The Bronx Warriors he was not 17 years old, as it was also commonly reported, but he had recently turned 18.[1]

After Afghanistan – The Last War Bus, Gregory abandoned the film industry. According to one of his co-stars in that film, Bobby Rhodes, "At a certain point he (Mark Gregory) abhorred this (film) environment and withdrew ... like that, suddenly. Now he is a painter and a madonnaro. I don't know what disappointed him and pushed him to cut everything drastically; but one thing is certain: he doesn't want to know anything more about cinema. Strange, because Marco gave up just when he was at the height of his success, when he was starting to get paid well ..."[1]

Following the end of his acting career, Gregory at some point was reportedly the victim of a scam that led him to lose his house and everything he possesed.[1] Afterwards, he moved to Castel Madama, an old outskirt of Rome, but always struggled with financial and psychological problems.[1] On January 31, 2013, he took his own life via an overdose of psychotropic drugs at 48.[1]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1982 1990: The Bronx Warriors Trash
1983 Adam and Eve: The First Love Story Adam
1983 Escape from the Bronx Trash
1983 Thunder Warrior Luis "Thunder" Martinez
1987 Thunder Warrior II
1988 Thunder Warrior III
1988 Delta Force Commando
1988 Ten Zan: The Ultimate Mission Jason
1988 Un maledetto soldato Mark
1989 Afghanistan – The Last War Bus Johnny Hondo

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Zanni, Roberto; Bianchi, Massimo (4 March 2022). "In memoria di Mark Gregory" [In memory of Mark Gregory]. Cinema Italiano Database (in Italian). Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 Mendik, Xavier (2015). Bodies of Desire and Bodies in Distress: The Golden Age of Italian Cult Cinema 1970-1985. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 234. ISBN 9781443882880.
  3. ↑ Hughes, Howard (2011). Cinema Italiano: The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 274. ISBN 9780857719782.
  4. 1 2 Fischer, Dennis (2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998. McFarland. p. 130. ISBN 9780786485055.
  5. 1 2 "Mark Gregory". MYmovies.it (in Italian). Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Mark Gregory". Rotten Tomatoes.
  7. ↑ Paul, Louis (2015). Italian Horror Film Directors. McFarland. p. 284. ISBN 9780786487493.
  8. 1 2 Johnson, Andy (2015). The Action Cinema Handbook. Lulu. pp. 54–55. ISBN 9781326277437.
  9. ↑ "Mark Gregory". Listal.
  10. ↑ "Mark Gregory Biography and Filmography". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016.
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