The Hunt for Trash
May 2005
In 2005 I visited Enzo G Castellari for the 2nd time and while there attempted to make some headway on the whereabouts of the long since vanished Mark Gregory last heard of in 1989, working as a waiter (???).
Marco lived in the via Nomentana area of Rome in the early 1980s and was "discovered" by Enzo in a gym (see photos). When I visited the gym the current owners had heard of the brothers Bonadonna who owned it in 1982 (one of which played Hawk, the cholesteroly-challenged Rider who gets killed by the Scavengers in Bronx 1) but had never heard of Marco.
Enzo and his son Andrea (who fondly describes being reunited aged 13 with Marco on the set of Bronx Warriors 2 and Marco hugging him) recorded a message in Italian on a cassette which I then copied and took to 2 of the Marco de Gregorios listed in the Rome phone book, armed also with a letter asking Marco to get in touch with Enzo & Andrea as they really miss him.
Neither of the two guys I've spoken to so far were him.
My heart was a-racing as I waited for the first Marco (photo below) to come to the door, only to find it was a short bloke who looked nothing like Trash and had never heard of him.
In 2008 I will go back to visit Enzo again in Rome and make further attempts to locate the mysterious Mr Gregory.
One of the "other" Marco de Gregorios that live in Rome.
This chap lives 10
horrible miles from
the centre, down a bumpy lane that is
murder to navigate on a motor scooter.
Update 2010
I've been back to Rome to teach for a couple of years and visited several flats in the Eternal City. No Marco but I did get to meet Alessandro Prete who played Little Strike in part 2. He is now a successful actor and theatre director. We met at the premiere of his play "La Ultima Notte". Here he is performing the signature Little Strike "kapow!" gesture.
The gym where Marco was found by Enzo G.
Difficult to find and hidden round the back of a large block of flats, not far from Vatican City. This is where Marco was first spotted by Enzo back in 1981.
Enzo G Castellari and his son Andrea's message to Marco on YouTube (in Italian)
Video footage of "The Hunt for Trash"
A video diary (first one shot on a Nokia 6230i so excuse crappy quality).
1).
May 12th 2005
(with Enzo G Castellari)