Hunks »Ivan Rassimov

Even though you're likely never to have heard of him, you can definitely count Italian genre icon Ivan Rassimov among the most handsome serial screen villains ever.

He was dealt a tough hand early in his career when he had to decline a role in Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits for a role that was almost entirely cut from John Huston's The Bible: In the Beginning. From then on, it was all Mario Bava vampire flicks, giallo horror films, spaghetti westerns and a lot of work in the uniquely disgusting cannibal sub-genre with films like Eaten Alive and Man From the Deep River. Apparently he was not destined for a life of art cinema and his career lead him to the polar opposite; a job that I would assume is a lot more fun.

As with Edwige Fenech, it was Matthew's giallo trailers introduced me to Ivan's incredible looks–think Clint Eastwood mixed with Udo Kier but dressed like a swinging Italian Yves Saint Laurent.

I finally caught him in action as weird ex-boyfriend Jean in the The Strange Vices of Mrs. Wardh. His screen presence is fiery and striking and it's a shame that his name isn't more well known. For such a prolific career in such a cult world, I kind of thought there would be more information available, or at least some fan boys wild about this rugged, steely eyed heart throb. But alas, most of the information I could find is gathered from his obituary (he died in 2003).


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Posted on August 25, 2008

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