John Steiner obit

John Steiner, Actor in ‘Caligula,’ Dies at 81

A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he also appeared in features for Peter Brook, Stanley Donen and Dario Argento. 

 

He was not on the list.

John Steiner, a British actor who appeared in Tinto Brass’ Caligula and in other Italian films for directors Lucio Fulci, Mario Bava and Dario Argento, has died. He was 81.

 Steiner died Sunday at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs from injuries suffered in a two-vehicle automobile accident in nearby La Quinta, the Riverside County Sheriff’s department told the Desert Sun newspaper.

 The lanky Steiner played the treasurer Longinus opposite Malcolm McDowell as the depraved Roman emperor in the erotic Caligula (1979), one of several films he made with Brass.

For Fulci, he portrayed the tycoon Beauty Smith in White Fang (1973) and Challenge to White Fang (1974) and a bloodsucker in Dracula in the Provinces (1975).

 He also appeared in Bava’s Shock (1977) and Argento’s Tenebrae (1982), where his character took an ax to the head.

 Born on Jan. 7, 1941, in Chester, England, Steiner attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. With the Royal Shakespeare Company, he worked alongside Ian Richardson on Broadway in 1965’s The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.

 He reunited with director Peter Brook for the 1967 film adaptation of that play, then landed small roles in Stanley Donen‘s Bedazzled (1967) and Peter Hall’s Work Is a 4-Letter Word (1968), starring David Warner, before finding success in Italy.

 Steiner left acting in the early 1990s and became a real estate agent in Beverly Hills, most recently for Engel & Völkers. An employee there confirmed his death.

Selected filmography

Marat/Sade (1967) – Monsieur Dupere

Bedazzled (1967) – TV Announcer (uncredited)

Work Is a Four-Letter Word (1968) – Anthony

Tepepa (1969) – Doctor Henry Price

The Thirteen Chairs (1969) – Stanley Duncan

El bosque del lobo (1970) – Robert

A Girl Called Jules (1970) – Luciano

May Morning (1970) – Roderick Stanton

L'asino d'oro: processo per fatti strani contro Lucius Apuleius cittadino romano (1970) – Aristomene

Bali (1970) – Arthur Glenn

The Case Is Closed, Forget It (1971) – Biro

Slap the Monster on Page One (1972) – Ingegner Montelli

The Police Serve the Citizens? (1973) – Lambro

Massacre in Rome (1973) – Col. Dollmann

Black Holiday (1973) – Scagnetti

White Fang (1973) – Charles 'Beauty' Smith

Morel's Invention (1974) – Morel

Challenge to White Fang (1974) – Beauty Smith / Charles Forth

The Last Day of School Before Christmas (1975) – Il Tenente

I Don't Want to Be Born (1975) – Tommy Morris

Waves of Lust (1975) – Giorgio / Husband

Violent Rome (1975) – Franco Spadoni 'Chiodo'

Dracula in the Provinces (1975) – Count Dragulescu

Salon Kitty (1976) – Biondo

Le guêpier (1976) – Fisher

Mark Strikes Again (1976) – Paul Henkel

Deported Women of the SS Special Section (1976) – Herr Erner

Bloody Payroll (1976) – Fausto

Plot of Fear (1976) – Hoffmann

Von Buttiglione Sturmtruppenführer (1977) – Schwein

Shock (1977) – Bruno Baldini

Mannaja (1977) – Valler

The Criminals Attack, The Police Respond (1977) – Rufy

Gangbuster (1977) – Killer

Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison (1977) – Laurin

Goodbye & Amen (1978) – Donald Grayson

L'Amour en question (1978) – Tom Hastings

Caligula (1979) – Longinus

Action (1980) – The Manager

The Last Hunter (1980) – Major William Cash

Car Crash (1981) – Kirby

The Salamander (1981) – Captain Roditi

Hunters of the Golden Cobra (1982) – Captain David Franks

Tenebrae (1982) – Christiano Berti

Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983) – Overlord

Dagger Eyes (1983) – Ivanov

The Ark of the Sun God (1984) – Lord Dean

I due carabinieri (1984) – Crazy Man on Train

A.D. (1985, TV Mini-Series) – Simon the Magus

Cut and Run (1985) – Vlado

Commando Leopard (1985) – Smithy

The Berlin Affair (1985) – Oskar Engelhart

Troppo forte (1985) – Mr. Adams

Operation Nam (1986) – James Walcott

Body Count (1986) – Dr. Olsen

Summer Night (1986) – Frederick, Fulvia's lover

Lone Runner (1986) – Skorm

Julia and Julia (1987) – Alex

Night of the Sharks (1988) – Rosentski

Der Commander [de] (1988) – Duclaud

Striker (1988) – Kariasin

Appointment in Liverpool (1988)

Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989) – Jaffar

Massacre Play (1989) – Danilo

Paprika (1991) – Principe Ascanio (final film role)