Born in Zadar, Dalmatia (then Italy, now part of Croatia), he moved to Trieste in 1948 to attend the acting school of the Piccolo Teatro di Trieste, and then to Rome to enter the Accademia nazionale d'arte drammatica. Garko began his career in the 1950s playing roles of various genres, especially in westerns and Italian-style comedies; in his later years he devoted himself to films for RAI television. He gave life to the character of Sartana (together with directors Gianfranco Parolini and later Giuliano Carnimeo), the protagonist of numerous spaghetti-westerns. In the film Il compagno don Camillo (1965) he played the character of Scamoggia, the photographer sent by the party to document the twinning.
In addition to the films he starred in, he had various television experiences. Among the many, we recall his appearance in the television series Space 1999 as astronaut Tony Cellini, in the episode entitled The Dragon's Domain (in addition to voicing Gwent in the episode The Infernal Machine in the same series), and in the television series Suspects, in the role of industrialist Martin Fisher. From 2002 to 2004 he starred in the soap opera Vivere, playing entrepreneur Pierfrancesco Moretti. He took part in a number of commercials; among others an olive oil, a wine, and finally a medicine alongside comedian Fabrizio Fontana from 1995-1997. Active now mainly as a character actor from tv
| 2025 | Aquel último tiburón as Self |
| 2025 | Testa o croce? as Mr. Rupè |
| 2019 | George Hilton - Il mondo e' degli audaci as Himself |
| 2014 | Django, Sartana, Trinita' et les autres… as Lui-même |
| 2010 | Giallo Western as self |
| 2008 | Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1 as Self |
| 2006 | Ti ricordi di Lucio Fulci? as Self |
| 2006 | Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern as Self |
| 2005 | Mondo Garko as Himself |
| 2004 | Western all'italiana |
| 2002 | Un difetto di famiglia |
| 2001 | Sergio Leone: cinema, cinema as Self - Actor |
| 1997 | Con rabbia e con amore |
| 1992 | Body Puzzle as Police Chief |
| 1991 | Una prova d'innocenza as Cremonese |
| 1990 | In nome del popolo sovrano as Nicolas Charles Victor Oudinot |
| 1987 | Skipper |
| 1987 | Gila and Rik as Giovanni |
| 1986 | Black Tunnel |
| 1985 | Drei und eine halbe Portion as Fabo |
| 1984 | Shark - Rosso nell'oceano as Sheriff Gordon |
| 1983 | Hercules as Valcheus |
| 1983 | Il passo falso |
| 1983 | Babystrich im Sperrbezirk |
| 1983 | Amok as Le journaliste Breyten |
| 1982 | L'Occhio di Giuda as Harry |
| 1979 | Sette uomini d'oro nello spazio as Dirk |
| 1979 | Graf Dracula (beißt jetzt) in Oberbayern as Stan / Count Stanislaus |
| 1979 | Lo scugnizzo |
| 1979 | I contrabbandieri di Santa Lucia as Capitano Ivano Radovich |
| 1979 | Incontro con gli umanoidi (L'ultimo s.o.s.) (Uragano sulle Bermude) as Mike |
| 1978 | Summer Night Fever as Jacky / Playboy |
| 1977 | Maldoror as Il regista |
| 1977 | Drei Schwedinnen in Oberbayern as Otto Gruber |
| 1977 | Sylvia im Reich der Wollust as Jörg Bronner |
| 1977 | Sette note in nero as Francesco Ducci |
| 1974 | Siete chacales as Luis |
| 1973 | Il fiore dai petali d'acciaio as Dr. Andrea Valenti |
| 1973 | Campa carogna... la taglia cresce as Korano |
| 1973 | Gli Eroi as Schreiber |
| 1973 | Il boss as Police Commissioner Torri |
| 1972 | La notte dei diavoli as Nicola |
| 1972 | Uomo avvisato mezzo ammazzato... Parola di Spirito Santo as Holy Ghost |
| 1971 | Bad Man's River as Ed Pace |
| 1971 | Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto as Camposanto / 'The Stranger' |
| 1971 | Il venditore di morte as Silver |
| 1971 | Gli occhi freddi della paura as Peter Flower |
| 1970 | Sartana'nın acı intikamı as Sartana |
| 1970 | Waterloo as Drouot |
| 1970 | Buon funerale, amigos!… paga Sartana as Sartana |
| 1970 | Un condé as Dan Rover |
| 1970 | Un par de asesinos as Santana |
| 1970 | I tulipani di Haarlem as Bernardo |
| 1969 | Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino as Sartana |
| 1969 | La porta del cannone as Riccardo Cloro |
| 1969 | 5 per l'inferno as Lt. Glenn Hoffmann |
| 1968 | Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte as Sartana |
| 1968 | Lucrezia as Fabrizio Aldobrandi |
| 1968 | Rose rosse per il Führer as Alex Rostov / il tenente Mann |
| 1968 | Giorni di sangue |
| 1968 | I vigliacchi non pregano as Bryan Clarke |
| 1967 | Per 100,000 dollari ti ammazzo as John Forest |
| 1967 | 10.000 dollari per un massacro as Django |
| 1966 | Mille dollari sul nero as Sartana Liston |
| 1966 | Un uomo a metà as Michele's Brother |
| 1965 | Il compagno Don Camillo as Scamoggia |
| 1964 | Saul e David as David |
| 1963 | Il giorno più corto as Uomo alla stazione (uncredited) |
| 1962 | La leggenda di Enea as Turno, King of the Rusalie |
| 1962 | Diciottenni al sole as Nicola Molino |
| 1962 | La voglia matta as Piero |
| 1962 | Ponzio Pilato as Jonathan |
| 1961 | Maciste, l'uomo più forte del mondo as Kathar - Kahab's Son |
| 1961 | I mongoli as Henry de Valois |
| 1961 | Un soir sur la plage as Heinrich |
| 1960 | Kapò as Karl |
| 1960 | Morte di un amico as Aldo |
| 1959 | Ciao, ciao bambina! |
| 1958 | Pezzo, capopezzo e capitano as Un altro ufficiale |
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