Maurizio Merli's rise to fame was largely attributed to his uncanny resemblance to Franco Nero, leading him to become a versatile and charismatic leading man in Italian cinema throughout the 1970s.
His early career began with an uncredited extra role in Luchino Visconti's The Leopard (1963). Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Merli maintained a low profile, appearing in minor roles in Italian films.
His breakthrough came with director Tonino Ricci, who cast him as the lead in Zanna Bianca alla riscossa (1975),an unofficial sequel to Lucio Fulci's White Fang (1973). The film's success led to Merli being cast in Violent Rome (1975),a crime drama that also bore similarities to Franco Nero's High Crime (1973).
Violent Rome's success catapulted Merli to international stardom, and he went on to star in over a dozen crime films between 1975 and 1979, working with notable Italian directors such as Umberto Lenzi, Stelvio Massi, and Fernando Di Leo.
Merli's busy period saw him typecast as the hard-nosed detective in nearly every film he starred in, with his performances ranging from so-so to nearly brilliant at times. He was known to go overboard during fight scenes, often hurting the stuntmen.
Merli's chemistry with co-star Tomas Milian, with whom he did not get along in real life, added to the tension and drama on screen in films such as The Tough Ones (1976) and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977).
However, Merli's typecasting ultimately led to the demise of his career as Italian filmmakers shifted their focus to fantastic films in the early 1980s, leaving Merli without a place in the industry.
In his later years, Merli was a devoted health enthusiast, but he tragically collapsed after overexerting himself in a tennis match and died of Myocardial Infarction at the age of 49.
