Franco Merli

Franco Merli was an Italian actor born in Rome Italy on the 31st of October 1956 Much of Merlis earlier life is unknown but whilst working as a petrol station attendant at 16 he was discovered by the Italian poet and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini and was cast in Pasolinis Arabian Nights as Nur Ed Din thanks to his lean figure and dark complexion Later Merli would go on to play one of the male victims in Pasolinis last film Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom He became the face of the film the picture of him with a gun to his head being one of the most famous images from Salò He was cast in Salò as Pasolini found him easy to work with and he already knew Merli was comfortable with doing nude scenes however during filming when the gun was brought to his head he began to panic and had to be calmed down Rumours arised on set that he was homosexual which also caused him anxiety whilst filming the movie He also went on to play Fernando the transvestite prostitute and son of the main character in Ettore Scolas Ugly Dirty And Bad 1976 also titled Down Dirty After Pasolinis death Merli struggled to find further work in the industry as his usual roles were unconventional and thanks to him being the image of the controversial Salò Due to this he stopped acting altogether He died in Rome on the 17th of May in 2025 after a long period of illness