Bartolomeo Pagano
Bartolomeo Pagano (27 September 1878 – 24 June 1947) was an Italian motion picture actor. Before his cinema career, Pagano was a stevedore who worked at the port of Genoa. There, he was discovered and selected to play the role of Maciste, a muscular slave, in the silent movie classic Cabiria in 1914.
Bartolomeo Pagano

Luigi Maggi · Pg 82 - Reich, Jacqueline (2015) The Maciste Films of Italian Silent Cinema, Indiana University Press ISBN: 9780253017482. · Public domain
- Name
- Bartolomeo Pagano
- Born
- 27 September 1878
- Birthplace
- Genoa, Liguria, Italy
- Died
- 24 June 1947
- Occupation
- Actor
- Nationality
- Italy and Kingdom of Italy.
- Languages
- Italian and English.
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Documentary summary
Bartolomeo Pagano (27 September 1878 – 24 June 1947) was an Italian motion picture actor. Before his cinema career, Pagano was a stevedore who worked at the port of Genoa. There, he was discovered and selected to play the role of Maciste, a muscular slave, in the silent movie classic Cabiria in 1914.
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wikidata · Q696570 · wikipedia · Bartolomeo Pagano
In this article
Biography
Biography
Pagano became an international star, and legally changed his name to Maciste. In the 1920s he was one of the most well paid actors in Italy, receiving up to 600.000 lire a year. The actor retired from films in 1929 to marry and raise a family in his home town of Genoa. He died there, aged 68, and is buried on the family estate in Italy.

Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste by Frieda Riess
Frieda Riess

Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste by Frieda Riess
Frieda Riess
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Bartolomeo Pagano • Born — 27 September 1878 • Birthplace — Genoa, Liguria, Italy • Died — 24 June 1947 • Place of death — Genoa, Liguria, Italy • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1914–1929 (film)
Maciste
Maciste
In the role of Maciste, Pagano played a muscular African slave with dark skin who is transformed from his time and place in Roman antiquity into a light-skinned contemporary Italian.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• Cabiria (1914) • The Warrior (1916) • Maciste the Policeman (1918) • Maciste the Athlete (1918) • Maciste on Vacation (1921) • The Revenge of Maciste (1921) • Maciste and the Silver King's Daughter (1922) • Maciste and the Javanese (1922) • Maciste and the Chinese Chest (1923) • Maciste and Prisoner 51 (1923) • Emperor Maciste (1924) • Maciste's American Nephew (1924) • Maciste in Hell • Maciste against the Sheik (1926) • Maciste in the Lion's Cage (1926) • The Giant of the Dolomites (1927) • The Courier of Moncenisio (1927) • The Last Tsars (1928) • Judith and Holofernes (1929)
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
reference work
- “Bartolomeo Pagano”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q696570: Bartolomeo Pagano
Unverified · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.E. Giacovelli. Un secolo di cinema italiano, 1900-1999: Dagli anni Settanta a fine millennio. Lindau. 295. 2002. 88-7180-407-4.
- 2.Bianco e nero. Società Gestione Editoriale. 39. 72. 1978.
- 3.M. Cardillo. Tra le quinte del cinematografo: cinema, cultura e società in Italia 1900-1937. Dedalo. 198. 1987. 88-220-4522-X.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Maciste (1915-26). Ein früher Muskelmann als nationaler Serienheld. Bartolomeo Pagano, Körperkultur und Starkult, Edition Kulturwissenschaft, 2018Crossref registry
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Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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