Charles Southwood

Charles Southwood was an American actor in Europe and the founder of Death Cigarettes.

Charles Southwood
Born
Charles Allen Southwood

August 30, 1937
Los Angeles, California
DiedApril 8, 2009
Grants Pass, Oregon
EducationOregon State University
OccupationActor

Biography

Southwood is connected with Spaghetti Westerns.[1]

Born in Los Angeles in 1937, his family moved to Oregon at the end of World War II. He earned a degree in philosophy at Oregon State University.

He travelled to Europe where he worked at a variety of jobs before becoming a stand in for Lex Barker on Woman Times Seven in 1966. He was spotted by an agent who led him into lead roles in Spaghetti Westerns.[2]

Death Cigarettes

Southwood founded Death Cigarettes for "truth-in-advertising".[3][4]

Returning to Oregon, he came up with the idea of "Death Cigarettes" in 1991. Deciding to be honest about the effect of cigarettes, Southwood, a smoker from age 13 to 40, decided to be brutally honest about his cigarettes. In addition to the standard warnings, Death Cigarettes were packed in their own coffin: a stark little black package bearing a skull and crossbones.[3] Southwood traveled to the Southern United States, where the major U.S. tobacco companies found his idea "antithetical to their interests." He found a small tobacco company in Holland that was willing to manufacture his cigarettes, and he briefly took up smoking again to get the blend of tobaccos just right, however he couldn't find a cigarette distributor willing to move his product into stores. "I think they're afraid of pressure from the major cigarette manufacturers".[5]

See also Death cigarettes (by BJ Cunningham) sold in England from 1991-1999.[6]

Personal life

Southwood was married to Anick, a University teacher and had two children a son, Chris and a daughter Amelie.[7]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1968Three Silver DollarsAlan Burton
1968Stranger Make the Sign of the CrossFrank - Bounty Hunter
1970C'è Sartana... vendi la pistola e comprati la bara!Sabbath
1970Roy Colt and Winchester JackWinchester Jack
1971They Call Me HallelujahGrand Duke Alexey Wissayolovich Kropotkin
1971Manhunt for MurderInsp. Marvin Hobbart
1972There Was Once a CopNarcotics Agent
1972She No Longer Talks She ShootsBeatnik
1973Some Too Quiet GentlemenCharles
1973Profession: AdventurersHenry Ralstrom
1981Documenteurthe Man on a Water Bed(final film role)

References

  1. O'Regan, John; Wilkinson, Jane; Robinson, Mike (2015-10-14). Travelling Languages: Culture, Communication and Translation in a Mobile World. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-74970-7.
  2. http://www.lesgensducinema.com/biographie/Charles%5B%5D SOUTHWOOD.htm
  3. Elliott, Stuart (1993-05-12). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Death cigarettes carry mixed message: Don't smoke, but do buy this product". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  4. Journal of the National Cancer Institute: JNCI. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health. May 1992.
  5. Krier, Beth Ann (1991-05-08). "Here's One New Cigarette That's Death on Smoking". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  6. "Poster ban on Death cigarettes". The Independent. 1994-05-13. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  7. Bishoff, Don Will Company Make a Killing? The Register-Guard 6 November 1991
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