06/11/2002

Anthony Dawson, the Anglo-Saxon pseudonym of Italian film director Antonio Margheriti, died yesterday at the age of 72. Margheriti was known for his genre films (horror, mythology and westerns) and was born in Rome on 19 September 1930.
He began his career in cinema in the 1960s with sci-fi titles like The Criminals of the Galaxy and The Wandering Planet and he enjoyed an excellent reputation in the United States where he made some of his most famous films including Death in the Cat’s Eyes, Yor, Indio and The Golden Cobra.
Margheriti was also a highly respected technician and was often consulted on special effects-driven productions including, it is said, Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001: a Space Odyssey. France’s Cinémathèque and the Montpellier Film Festival recently held tributes to Margheriti.

(Translated from Italian)