- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWalter Frank Hermann Wolff
- Height1.85 m
- Frank Wolff started his career by acting in several Roger Corman films. However, Wolff had to travel to Europe to be successful. He was finally able to become a well known actor in Italy and Europe with his performance in Salvatore Giuliano (1962) and had roles in many European film productions. Moreover, Wolff became a major star in Spaghetti Westerns. His most famous, but briefest, performances was as Brett McBain, the friendly farmer in Sergio Leone's Il était une fois dans l'Ouest (1968). He also brought much needed light relief as the sheriff in Sergio Corbucci's Le Grand Silence (1968). When the time of "Spaghetti-Westerns" was ending, Wolff had several roles in Italian crime movies. Other memorable performances were in Duccio Tessari's Giallo La mort remonte à hier soir (1970) or in one of Wolffs last performances as a police commissioner in Fernando Di Leo's Milan calibre 9 (1972). Sadly, the great actor suffered from depression and killed himself in the Hilton Hotel in Rome in December 1971.- IMDb mini biography by: John Smith
- SpouseMaureen Gavin(1961 - ?) (divorced)
- He provided the role of The Stranger to actor Tony Anthony and played the villain in The Stranger's first movie Un dollar entre les dents (1967) as a favor for Anthony. The part became Anthony's most famous role besides his Blindman, le justicier aveugle (1971) and he repeated it three times. Several months before Frank Wolff's death, according to Anthony himself, Frank Wolff asked him for a similar favor, wanting the role in Blindman, le justicier aveugle (1971), which was finally taken by Ringo Starr. It was kind of deal between them, Anthony would provide him role, because Wolff had done him a favor earlier. But the producers wanted Ringo Starr for the role - Wolff was dropped and had a falling out with Anthony. About one year later Frank Wolff killed himself. There have always been rumors, one reason for the suicide was, he saw his career at an end/thought he couldn't get the roles he wanted anymore.
- According to quite a lot of his colleagues, he was very friendly and helpful. Moreover it has been reported, he proverbially always had a smile on his face and seemed to be very lucky. Among movie people he was also kept for one of the best actors in the Italian cinema era, he was part of. Only few colleagues claim, they recognized psychological problems, he could have had, for example actor Robert Hoffmann and a former companion from his UCLA time, who wrote an article about him.
- Died before shooting of his last movie Quand les femmes perdirent leur queue (1972) was finished.
- Actor Robert Hoffmann, who starred in Alberto De Martino's Perversion (1969), co-starring Frank Wolff, settled in his Hilton Hotel apartment in Rome after his suicide, because they had the same agent (Michele Pietravalle) at this time. Hoffmann, searching immediately for a roof over the head, didn't care much about the fact his predecessor had been found dead in the bath tub.
- He became quite good friends with director Monte Hellman when they studied and worked together at the UCLA in the 1950s. As a result, one of his first movies was Hellman's La Bête de la Caverne Hantée (1959).
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