Film Industry Figure. He was an Italian actor, prolific filmmaker and former competitive swimmer. Born Carlo Pedersoli, he finished school early with high honors and began to study chemistry and law in college. He had an interest in sports including competitive boxing and swimming before entering the film industry in 1950. In 1967 he Americanized his name to "Bud Spencer." He is best known for past roles in action-comedy films together with his long-time film partner Terence Hill. They both appeared in, produced and directed over 20 films together, like "God Forgives... I Don't!" in 1967, "Ace High" in 1968, "Boot Hill" in 1969, "They Call Me Trinity" in 1970, "Blackie the Pirate" and "Trinity Is Still My Name" both in 1971, "All the Way, Boys" in 1972, "Watch Out, We're Mad" in 1974, "Two Missionaries" in 1975, "Crime Busters" in 1976, "Odds and Evens" in 1978, "I'm For the Hippopotamus" in 1979, "Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure" in 1981, "Go For It!" in 1983, "Double Trouble" in 1984, "Miami Supercops" in 1985, and "Troublemakers" in 1994. He also produced numerous episodes of television shows and in the early 1960s composed songs for RCA. Spencer was also a professional swimmer in his youth: he was the first Italian to swim the 100 m freestyle in less than one minute. He achieved this on September 19, 1950, when he swam the 100 m in 59.5 s. In the 1951 Mediterranean Games, he received a silver medal in the same 100 m freestyle event. He participated in the 1952 and 1956 Olympic games but did not place in either. Starting in 1949, he was an award-winning professional water polo player but his swimming career ended in 1957. In 2010 his autobiography "Altrimenti mi arrabbio" was published in several languages. Later, he published a second part to his autobiography and a book on dieting. Recognized for his film industry achievements, a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of him was unveiled on November 11, 2017 in Budapest. For promoting American culture, he posthumously received the "America Award" in 2018 from the Italy–USA Foundation. In 2021, the Bud Spencer Museum opened in Berlin.