Giovanni Lombardo Radice

Giovanni Lombardo Radice (23 September 1954 – 27 April 2023) was an Italian film actor, also known as John Morghen.

Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Born	(1954-09-23)23 September 1954 Rome, Italy
Died	27 April 2023(2023-04-27) (aged 68) Rome, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Other names	John Morghen
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1980–2023

Lombardo Radice began his career in theater before he starred in Ruggero Deodato's The House on the Edge of the Park (1980). Throughout the 1980s, Radice appeared in many Italian cult films such as Cannibal Apocalypse (1980), City of the Living Dead (1980), Stage Fright (1987) and The Church (1989). Radice is best known for his villainous roles in Italian horror films, and notably for the spectacular and gruesome death scenes his characters semi-regularly fall victim to.[1][2] In several interviews, he reportedly stated that he wished he had never portrayed Mike Logan in Cannibal Ferox, criticizing the movie for being both fascist and racist and abusive towards animals. Radice created his stage name, John Morghen, by taking the anglicized form of his first name (Giovanni becomes John) and using his grandmother's maiden name as his last name (Morghen). His family practically disowned him when they discovered he was using his family name to create incredibly violent films.[3]

Lombardo Radice's uncle is Pietro Ingrao, the first member of the Italian Communist Party to be Head of Parliament in the 1970s. His father was the mathematician Lucio Lombardo Radice.[4] The writer Marco Lombardo Radice was his elder brother.[5] Radice often posted texts criticizing social injustice, capitalism and corruption in Italy.

Lombardo Radice wrote about having a cocaine addiction when younger.

Lombardo Radice died on 27 April 2023, at the age of 68,[6] the same day as his Cannibal Apocalypse co-star Ramiro Oliveros.