Bud Spencer
Bud Spencer
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Bud Spencer

Bud Spencer (born Carlo Pedersoli; 31 October 1929 – 27 June 2016) was an Italian actor, professional swimmer and water polo player. He was known for action-comedy and spaghetti Western roles with his long-time film partner and friend Terence Hill. Spencer and Hill appeared in 18 films together.

In his youth, Bud Spencer was a successful athlete and swimmer for Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro. and for Società Sportiva Lazio Nuoto. He represented Italy twice at the Summer Olympics. He obtained a law degree and registered several patents. Spencer also became a certified commercial airline and helicopter pilot, and supported and funded many children's charities, including the Spencer Scholarship Fund.

Son of Alessandro Pedersoli and Rosa Facchetti, respectively from Darfo Boario Terme and Chiari (both in the province of Brescia, Lombardy), Carlo Pedersoli was born on 31 October 1929 in Santa Lucia, a historical rione in Naples, in the same building as the writer Luciano De Crescenzo. He played several sports and showed an aptitude for swimming, winning prizes. De Crescenzo was a classmate of his. In 1940, due to his father's work, he moved to Rome, where he attended high school and joined a swimming club. He finished school before his seventeenth birthday with the highest marks and enrolled at Sapienza University of Rome, where he studied chemistry. In 1947, the family moved to South America and Pedersoli discontinued his studies. From 1947 to 1949, he worked in the Italian consulate in Recife, Brazil, where he learned to speak fluent Portuguese.

Pedersoli returned to Italy in 1949, and played water polo in Rome for Società Sportiva Lazio Nuoto and won the Italian swimming championships in freestyle and mixed relay teams. As a professional swimmer in his youth, Spencer was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute when, on 19 September 1950, he swam the distance in 59.5 s in Salsomaggiore. In 1949, he made his international debut and a year later, he was called up for the European championships in Vienna, where he swam in two finals, finishing fifth in the 100 m and fourth in the relay 4×200 m.

In the 1951 Mediterranean Games in Alexandria (Egypt), he won a silver medal in the same 100 m freestyle event.

Pedersoli participated in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, reaching the semi-finals in the 100 m freestyle (58.8 s heats, 58.9 s semi-final). Four years later, at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, he again reached the semi-finals in the same category (58.5 s heat, 59.0 s semi final).

As a water polo player, he won the Italian Championship in 1954 with S.S. Lazio and the gold medal at 1955 Mediterranean Games in Barcelona with the Italian national team. His swimming career ended abruptly in 1957.

On 17 January 2005, he was awarded the Caimano d'oro (Gold Caiman) by the Italian Swimming Federation. On 24 January 2007, he received swimming and water polo coach diplomas from the Italian Swimming Federation's president Paolo Barelli.

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