Vital stats: three wives, thirteen children, one heart bypass operation and more than one hundred and fifty film appearances.

What a man.

Played, among others, Attila the Hun, Quasimodo the hunchback, Zorba the Greek, Paul Gaugin, Aristoteles Onassis, Antonio Stradivari, Zeus and countless fearsome, lovable, ruthless and endearing gangsters, cowboys, shootists and, occasionally, farmers.

Truly a staple, and a living piece of Hollywood history. Sexier at 85 than Sean Connery can ever dream to be, that upstart Celtic whippersnapper.

Update: He died in 2001, about a year after I first wrote this. Not from old age, oh no! Not him - he got throat cancer. Well, you wouldn't want to die healthy, would you?

God, I loved that man.