Spaghetti western film star Bud Spencer dies

ROME (AFP) - Italian actor Bud Spencer, who starred in a string of spaghetti westerns, died on Monday in Rome aged 86, his family announced.

“With our deepest regrets, we have to tell you that Bud is flying to his next journey,” the family said on Spencer’s Twitter account in English.

Spencer, born Carlo Pedersoli in the southern Italian city of Naples in 1929, played in 16 films alongside Terence Hill, whose real name was Mario Girotti.

Spencer died in hospital in Rome, La Repubblica daily wrote.

As news of his death broke, a flood of online eulogies poured out.

“Ciao #BudSpencer We loved you so much,” Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tweeted.