**THE HUNT IS OVER** November 2022
On January 31st 2013 actor Mark Gregory (Marco de Gregorio), who played Trash in Bronx Warriors and its sequel Escape From The Bronx, committed suicide in Castel Madama, Rome. On March 4th 2022 Roberto Zanni published an article online revealing this. Up until this point no one knew. On March 13th 2022 I cycled 26 miles from my house in Rome to the cemetery where Mark is buried. The hunt for Trash is finally over...
Blog about the "Hunt for Trash"
Article on Marco after his death
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.
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.
2012
Well, after 8 years and two trips to see Enzo G. Not to mention pounding the pavements of Rome and burning petrol on a 50cc hire scooter to visit the Marco de Gregorios that still live in the Eternal City....we have possibly finally FOUND TRASH!!!
I discovered this guy about a year ago and emailed him but he never replied. Knowing Marco was shy of media attention even in 1982 I didn't try to contact again, just in case it really WAS him. A lot of factors added up. Lived near Rome, same name and similar features but as Marco would have been about 45....well, THIS dude looked well preserved to say the least.
However in December 2011 a guy named Richard "Leemo" Leeming got in touch to say that he knew someone who worked in forensics and could run a facial recognition match against a photo of Trash.
After waiting with baited breath I got the following email on January 11th 2012:
"The jaw line is exact, the eyes match also his nose has been aligned and he's obviously gained weight to make his face appear rounder. The lips appear the same but with him smiling I couldn't measure the distance.....it looks like we have our man".
So...this ladies and gentlemen may be TRASH in 2012.
He lives near Rome and is the
General Manager for a company that specialise in self empowerment and personal
growth.
However, I showed this photo
and others to Enzo Castellari and Andrea Girolami and both are adamant that it
is NOT Trash.
What do you think? Answers on
a postcard.
2016
Got interviewed last year for
the new Blu-ray of Escape From The Bronx. A 13 minute chat about this website
and my love of Enzo's two Bronx movies
It's called "THE HUNT FOR TRASH: Interview With Bronx Warriors Superfan Lance
Manley".
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"
