biography

Lang Jeffries Born William Lappin in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on June 7, 1930, actor Lang Jeffries grew up in Michigan. Following high school, he served in the Army during the Korean War. After completing his service, Jeffries returned to Michigan and was married briefly to his first wife, and the union produced a son, Kent. Newly divorced and working at a variety of jobs, in the mid 1950s he decided to be an actor and moved to California. With relatively little acting experience, in 1958 Jeffries was cast in the syndicated dramatic series Rescue 8 (1958-1960; with Jim Davis). During the run of this series, he met actress Rhonda Fleming in January 1960, and after three months, the couple eloped to Las Vegas. They starred in the sword and sandal epic The Revolt of the Slaves (1960; with Ettore Manni), shot in Spain, but their marriage hit the rocks soon afterward and they divorced in January 1962.

Lang Jeffries Jeffries' career began to stall around this time; he lensed a pilot with Ben Cooper titled The Impatient Ones (1961), but the show wasn't picked up for series. He then landed a starring role in Columbia's rock-and-roll spectacle Dont' Knock the Twist (1962; with Mari Blanchard), but the film did nothing for his career. Heading back to Europe to star in the peplum Alone Against Rome (1962; with Rossana Podesta and Philippe Leroy), Jeffries stayed there for the next decade, starring in Italian, Spanish, and German productions. More peplums followed, including Sword of the Empire (1964; with Jose Greci) and Fire Over Rome (1965; with Moira Orfei). He moved on to Eurospy thrillers such as Z7 Operation Rembrandt (1966; with Christiane Maybach) and Mexican Slayride (1967; with Sabine Sun). He tackled spaghetti westerns when the Eurospy craze died out with Requiem for a Gringo (1968; with Femi Benussi). By the time he was 40 years old, Jeffries wrapped his European film career with Run for Your Life (1971; with Luciana Paluzzi).


the films of lang jeffries

The Revolt of the Slaves (1960)

Lang Jeffries and Rhonda FlemingRhonda Fleming and Lang JeffriesLang Jeffries

LEFT and CENTER: With then-wife Rhonda Fleming in the peplum The Revolt of the Slaves. RIGHT: Jeffries, in his first film, as Vibio

Don't Knock the Twist (1962)

Chubby Checker, Lang Jeffries, Georgine Darcy, and Stephen PrestonLang Jeffries and Mari Blanchard

From Columbia's musical drama Don't Knock the Twist, the sequel to Twist Around the Clock. LEFT: With Chubby Checker, Georgine Darcy, and Stephen Preston. RIGHT: With love interest Mari Blanchard

Fire Over Rome (1965)

Lang Jeffries

From Jeffries' fourth and last sword and sandal film, Fire Over Rome

Special Code: Assignment Lost Formula (1966)

Lang Jeffries

As Johnny Curd in the Eurospy flick Special Code: Assignment Lost Formula

Spies Strike Silently (1966)

Lang Jeffries

Jeffries stars in the Italian-Spanish Eurospy thriller Spies Strike Silently

Z7 Operation Rembrandt (1966)

Lang Jeffries

From the German-made Eurospy film Z7 Operation Rembrandt

A Lotus for Miss Quon (1967)

Lang Jeffries and Francesca Tu

Jeffries rescues Francesca Tu from a burning 1957 Ford in the action flick A Lotus for Miss Quon

The Hotheads (1967)

Lang Jeffries

Released in August 1967, The Hotheads was a Franco-Spanish co-production

Mission Stardust (1967)

Lang JeffriesEssy Persson and Lang Jeffries

LEFT: As Major Perry Rhodan in the Italian science fiction effort Mission Stardust. RIGHT: With Essy Persson

Le Mans, Shortcut to Hell (1970)

Lang Jeffries and Maurizio Bonuglia

From the racing film Le Mans, Shortcut to Hell with Maurizio Bonuglia

The Junkman (1982)

Lang Jeffries

Lang Jeffries came out of retirement to co-star in H.B. Halicki's The Junkman, the follow-up to Gone in Sixty Seconds

later years

While making a film in Italy, Jeffries had an affair with Abigail 'Gail' Harris, wife of John Paul Getty II and mother of John Paul Getty III. After Harris and Getty divorced, she and Jeffries married in 1966, but the marriage was short-lived. He married his fourth wife, Mary Silvers, in the early 1970s. By then his acting career was finished, so Jeffries sold real estate and ran an art gallery with wife Mary. In the early 1980s, he resurfaced in two of H.B. Halicki's films, The Junkman (1982; with H.B. Halicki and Lynda Day George) and Deadline Auto Theft (1983; with H.B. Halicki and Hoyt Axton). Jeffries passed away after a bout with cancer on February 12, 1987, at age 56. He was survived by his wife Mary, a son from his first marriage, his mother, brother, and a stepdaughter.

filmography

FILM
Deadline Auto Theft (1983) with H.B. Halicki, Hoyt Axton, and George Cole
The Junkman (1982) with H.B. Halicki, Christopher Stone, and Lynda Day George
Mean Mother (1974) with Dobie Gray, Luciana Paluzzi, and Marilyn Joi; directed by Al Adamson (actually a re-edited version of Run for Your Life)
Run for Your Life (1971) with Luciana Paluzzi
Le Mans, Shortcut to Hell (1970) with Edwige Fenech
The Last Roman II (1969) with Laurence Harvey, Orson Welles, Sylva Koscina, Michael Dunn, and Klaus Kinski
A Suon Di Lupara (1968) with Annabella Incontrera and Femi Benussi
The Last Roman (1968) with Laurence Harvey, Orson Welles, Sylva Koscina, Michael Dunn, and Honor Blackman
Requiem for a Gringo (1968) with Femi Benussi and Aldo Sambrell
The Hotheads (1967) with Philippe Clay
Mission Stardust (1967) with Joachim Hansen
A Lotus for Miss Quon (1967) with Francesca Tu and Werner Peters
Mexican Slayride (1967) with Sabine Sun and Silvia Solar
Special Code: Assignment Lost Formula (1966) with José Greci, Helga Liné, and Philippe Hersent
The Killer Lacks a Name (1966) with Pier Paolo Capponi
The Beckett Affair (1966) with Andrea Scotti and Massimo Righi
Spies Strike Silently (1966) with Erika Blanc
Z7 Operation Rembrandt (1966) with Joachim Hansen, Christiane Maybach, and Mitsouko
Agente X 1-7 operazione Oceano (1965) with Eleonora Bianchi
Fire Over Rome (1965) with Moira Orfei
Sword of the Empire (1964) with José Greci and Howard Ross
Cleopazza (1964) with Mischa Auer
Alone Against Rome (1962) with Rossana Podesta and Philippe Leroy
Don't Knock the Twist (1962) with Mari Blanchard, Georgine Darcy, Nydia Westman, Hortense Petra, and Chubby Checker
The Revolt of the Slaves (1960) with Rhonda Fleming, Fernando Rey, Burt Nelson, and Ettore Manni

TELEVISION SERIES
Rescue 8, 1958-1960 syndicated TV series. Jeffries portrayed Skip Johnson

TELEVISION GUEST APPEARANCES
Ripcord, episode Elegy for a Hero, originally aired 1962
Overland Trail, episode Most Dangerous Gentleman, originally aired June 6, 1960
Union Pacific, episode Payroll to Cheyenne, originally aired October 18, 1958

lang jeffries trailers now showing

Watch the trailer for Lang Jeffries 1967 science fiction film Mission Stardust

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Watch Lang Jeffries in the 1966 Eurospy feature Spies Strike Silently (undubbed and no subtitles)
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