Italian powerhouse Pierluigi was a man of many talents
ONE of the more colourful Italian internationals of recent years, Pierluigi Camiscioni, has passed away aged just 67.
In latter years Camiscioni, who used to roll up to Italy matches as a spectator on his Harley Davidson Easy Rider, was a powerhouse lock at domestic level mainly for Rome and L’Aquila – he won two Italian Championships with the latter – and appeared seven times for Italy in the 70s.
In Italy though he was best known as one of the most highly-regarded restaurateurs on the Adriatic coast and the stuntman double for Bud Spencer, one of those film stars who are virtually unknown globally but are huge in Italy and certain areas of continental Europe. Spencer was often voted the No.1 film star in Hungary for example.
Spencer – christened Carlo Pedersoli – starred in a string of spaghetti western type films as well as hard man detective movies and Camiscioni was a very convincing double for the rugged star who was a bit of a unit himself as a former Italian 100m swimming champion and record holder and waterpolo international.
Camiscioni, after beginning his career as a restaurateur in Rome, had been spotted by Pedersoli’s son who was also a player at Lazio, and persuaded to spend more than two years solid on the road filming a series of films and TV specials in Costa Rica and Miami.
Using the wages from that stint in show business he then concentrated on his restaurant empire again, this time in San Benedetto and Grottomare on the Adriatic where his father and four uncles also ran well known restaurants.