Biography

Handsome, charming, and versatile actor Ray Lovelock was born on June 19, 1950 in Rome, Italy to an Italian mother and English father. Lovelock's father was an allied British soldier who in 1944 liberated Italy from a fascist regime. Ray's father met and eventually married his mother while stationed in Italy. Lovelock was the third of four sons and the only artist of the quartet. Ray first became interested in acting while attending college as a teenager. He began as an extra in both movies and TV commercials to make extra money. An acting agent discovered Ray performing in the Roman nightclub the Piper in a rock band with longtime friend and fellow thespian Tomas Milian. This led to his first role in the spaghetti Western Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967).

However, it was Ray's part in the hugely successful The Violent Four (1968) that really launched his acting career. Lovelock was fine as David, a free-spirited hippie drifter who falls under the seductive spell of three sexy witches in the eerie Queens of Evil (1970) (besides playing the lead in this picture, Ray also sang the haunting folk theme song. Lovelock sung the title tracks for many films that he appeared in throughout the years.) He was likewise excellent as reluctant hero George in the terrific zombie horror cult classic Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) and as Mimsy Farmer's smooth race car driver lover Edgar in the morbid giallo Autopsy (1975). Ray gave a memorably slimy performance as apathetic criminal gang leader Aldo in the brutal The Last House on the Beach (1978). Lovelock had a recurring role as surgeon Dr. Hans Rudolf on the Italian TV series "Incantesimo." His wife Gioia was also his agent. They met in 1968 and got married in 1970. Their daughter Francesca Lovelock was born in 1971 and works as an assistant director and production manager in Naples. An avid soccer lover, Ray served as the captain of an Italian actors soccer team who played soccer matches to raise money for charity. Lovelock died of cancer at age 67 on November 10, 2017.
- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders

Born in Rome, to an Italian mother and English father.

An avid football fan who was captain of a celebrity team that played matches to raise money for charity.

Was discovered by a talent agent while singing in a nightclub act.

Father of Francesca Lovelock.

Performed in a rock band with Tomas Milian in the 1960s.

Good parts are a challenge. I can't say that I took only parts that I liked. I accepted some to survive, to give myself and my family a nice life.

Every part is a challenge to me. Even when I play bad guys and rotten criminals.

[My wife and I] We never cared that much about money. Especially at that time, because as you get older you start putting things in proportion, but money has never been my life's goal. So the way I approached things was: "Now I'll do a picture and with the money I make I'll get by for as long as I can, while turning down the things I don't like" (...) Eventually, however, when I found myself with only 50,000 lire in the bank, I had to be less choosy and, in order to survive, accept parts that were worse than those I'd rejected.