Mark Damon

Biography

Mark Damon, born Alan Harris in Chicago in 1933 and died in Los Angeles in 2024, was an American actor who later became one of the best-known figures in film producing and international sales. He began acting in Hollywood in the mid-1950s, and his name became linked to Roger Corman's work with House of Usher (1960), a role that earned him a Golden Globe as New Star of the Year.

After that initial stage in the United States, he moved to Italy looking for more work. There he appeared in many films of the period, especially Spaghetti Westerns and low-budget genre pictures, sometimes as a hero and sometimes as a villain. Titles from those years include Pedro the Cruel (1963) and Johnny Yuma (1966). By the mid-1970s he had stopped acting to concentrate on producing.

In 1977 he returned to the United States and founded Producers Sales Organization, which sold American films to foreign distributors and became one of the first companies to challenge the major studios in that market. He later set up other firms, including Vision International and MDP Worldwide, and in 2005 he founded Foresight Unlimited. He is often credited with shaping the modern business of foreign film sales.

He was also a founding member of what is now the International Film & TV Alliance (IFTA), and he later served on its board. His legacy lies less in his screen work than in the way he helped organise the global distribution of independent and commercial cinema. He died in 2024 at the age of 91.

Key films

• House of Usher (1960): Roger Corman's film that brought him attention and a Golden Globe.
• Pedro the Cruel (1963): one of his European-era titles, shot in Italy.
• Johnny Yuma (1966): an Italian western from the period when he worked within the Spaghetti Western genre.
• A Train for Durango (1969): another Mario Caiano western that reflects his years in Italy.