John Karlsen

Charles John Karlsen (20 October 1919 – 5 July 2017) was a New Zealand actor and voice actor, who worked predominantly in Italian cinema. He appeared in over 80 film and television productions between 1958 and 2003.

Karlsen was born in 1919, aboard a passenger ship between London and Singapore, and was raised in Australia and Wellington, New Zealand. He moved to Britain to study drama, and later started his own repertory company.

Karlsen moved to Rome in the 1950s, where he ran the “Crypt Theatre” beneath St. Paul's Within the Walls Church. He appeared in some 88 films and television productions between 1958 and 2003, mainly in Italy. He made his film debut in the 1958 Mamie Van Doren comedy The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina. He worked with some of the most significant directors in Italian cinema, most notably Federico Fellini. He was also active in English-language dubbing.

Karlsen also appeared in several Hollywood productions shot in Italy, including Francis of Assisi (1961), Cleopatra (1963), The Black Stallion (1979), and The Sin Eater (2003). He had a small but memorable role as the Evil Duke in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). A 2004 Wanted in Rome article called him a "Hero of Hollywood on the Tiber." His last acting role was Pupi Avati's The Hideout (2007), after which he retired to New Zealand.

Karlsen died on 5 July 2017 in Auckland, at the age of 97.