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Ted Rusoff

Ted Rusoff

Acting

Biography

Ted Rusoff was an extremely prolific dubbing editor, director, and voice actor. He started as an opera singer in Los Angeles in the early 1960's before landing ADR work with his uncle Samuel Z. Arkoff at American International Pictures. Arkoff sent Rusoff to Italy in the late 60's to help get their dubbing system set up to American standards but Rusoff ended up living in Rome for the rest of his life. Rusoff's voice can be heard in the English versions of over 250 Italian, Japanese, Russian, and various European films. He also lent his voice to several big budget American films including THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. Beginning in the late 1970's, Rusoff tried his hand at acting in front of the camera too as it was relatively easy for native English speakers in Italy to find acting work at the time. He acted alongside greats including Bob Hoskins and Max von Sydow, and in the dubbing studio alongside such dubbing legends as Robert Rietty, Geoffrey Copleston, Nick Alexander, Lewis E. Cianelli, and Mickey Knox. Cast mostly as monks, elders and religious figures due to his large beard, Rusoff appeared in such bible epics as THE DAY CHRIST DIED and THE NATIVITY STORY as well as monks in DOUBLE TEAM and CATACOMBS. His most prestigious role is perhaps as the chief elder in PASSION OF THE CHRIST who throws the bag of money at Judas. Rusoff, being fluent in several languages including traditional Hebrew and ancient Aramaic, worked as chief translator for the film as well. Rusoff married fellow voice actor / dubber Carolyn De Fonseca but the two had an open marriage. Rusoff fathered 9 daughters to different mothers over a span of 40 years, including one who was still an infant at the time of his death in 2013.

Known For

Rome
8.2

A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

Rome

2005
The Voyeur
6.2

At a college in Rome, a professor, nicknamed "Dodo" is in a deep depression. His stunningly beautiful wife has just left him for another man. Dodo wants her back very badly and has erotic daydreams about her. A beautiful young student in his class asks him for a ride home and seduces the lucky man, but still he wonders about his wife and her lover.

The Voyeur

1994
All Ladies Do It
5.1

After five years of marriage, Diana discovers the joys of adultery, claiming that she can save her failing relationship through betrayal.

All Ladies Do It

1992
The Passion of the Christ
7.5

A graphic portrayal of the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life.

The Passion of the Christ

2004
The Last Temptation of Christ
7.2

Jesus, a humble Judean carpenter beginning to see that he is the son of God, is drawn into revolutionary action against the Roman occupiers by Judas -- despite his protestations that love, not violence, is the path to salvation. The burden of being the savior of mankind torments Jesus throughout his life, leading him to doubt.

The Last Temptation of Christ

1988
Double Team
5.2

A CIA agent is interned for failing to kill an international terrorist. Escaping from his island exile, he teams up with a flamboyant arms dealer and sets out to find the terrorist and rescue the agent's family. Together they're a two-man arsenal... with enough voltage to rock the free world.

Double Team

1997
Piranha II: The Spawning
4.3

A scuba diving instructor, her biochemist boyfriend, and her police chief ex-husband try to link a series of bizarre deaths to a mutant strain of piranha fish whose lair is a sunken freighter ship off a Caribbean island resort.

Piranha II: The Spawning

1982
The Nativity Story
6.9

Mary and Joseph make the hard journey to Bethlehem for a blessed event in this retelling of the Nativity story. This meticulously researched and visually lush adaptation of the biblical tale follows the pair on their arduous path to their arrival in a small village, where they find shelter in a quiet manger and Jesus is born.

The Nativity Story

2006
Zombie Flesh Eaters 2
5.2

When a terrorist's body, infected with a stolen chemical, is recovered by the US military, the corpse is cremated, unintentionally releasing a virus and bacteria into the atmosphere over a small island.

Zombie Flesh Eaters 2

1988
Quiet Flows The Don
4.3

With World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the Russian Civil War as backdrop, it's an old-fashioned, blood-and-guts narrative, filled with earthly humor and a wealth of colorful characters. The story concerns the fluctuating fortunes of Grigory Melekhov, a young Cossack who is both a hero and a victim of the uprising.

Quiet Flows The Don

2006
Absurd
5.5

A priest-doctor chasing a man with supernatural regenerative abilities, who has recently escaped from a medical lab, reaches a small town where the mutant goes on a killing spree.

Absurd

1981
Hands of Steel
5.3

A story about a cyborg who is programmed to kill a scientist who holds the fate of mankind in his hands.

Hands of Steel

1986
Achtung! The Desert Tigers
3.9

During World War II, an American major is captured by the Germans and thrown into a POW camp run by a sadistic Nazi officer, whose main pleasures are whipping the local female population and torturing prisoners. The major organizes an escape attempt using the camp's nubile female doctor as a hostage.

Achtung! The Desert Tigers

1977
Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s
7.7

A documentary concerning the violent Italian 'poliziotteschi' cinematic movement of the 1970s which, at first glance, seem to be rip-offs of American crime films like DIRTY HARRY or THE GODFATHER, but which really address Italian issues like the Sicilian Mafia and red terrorism. Perhaps even more interesting than the films themselves were the rushed methods of production (stars performing their own stunts, stealing shots, no live sound) and the bleed-over between real-life crime and movie crime.

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s

2012
Cellini: A Violent Life
5.4

The story of Benvenuto Cellinin (1500-1571), a soldier and one of the most important craftsmen and artists of Renaissance Italy whose life was marked by many achievements and adventures, but also crimes. There is also the mini-series version consisted of three 90 minutes episodes, broadcasted by RaiDue.

Cellini: A Violent Life

1990
Ritual of Love
6.0

This movie is based on the true story that made headlines all over the world: the story of a relationship gone sour between a Japanese man very much in love with a French model. Some time later, it was discovered that the woman was turned into "sushi." At that time the man had already eaten a few body parts. To the arresting officers in Paris, he justified his acts as a proof of profound passion. In the late 80's many books and films find inspiration by the sinister love story.

Ritual of Love

1990
Sinbad of the Seven Seas
4.1

Sinbad returns from the sea to find his country subjected to the will of two unscrupulous sorcerers.

Sinbad of the Seven Seas

1989
Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye
5.5

In a small Scottish village, horribly murdered bodies keep turning up. Suspicion falls upon the residents of a nearby castle that is haunted by a curse involving a killer cat.

Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye

1973
The Day Christ Died
6.3

A dramatization of the events from the Last Supper through the arrest and trial of Jesus to the Crucifixion.

The Day Christ Died

1980
Catacombs
4.9

In the 17th century, an order of monks in Italy capture and entomb a demon that has possessed a member of their group. 400 years later, school teacher Elizabeth Magrino visits the monastery in order to do some research. What she and the current monks do not realize is that the evil hiding within the catacombs has unwittingly been released.

Catacombs

1988