- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Sep 27, 1878
- Died
- Jun 24, 1947 (aged 68)
- Place of birth
- Genova, italy
Bartolomeo Pagano
Italian motion picture actor of the Silent Era. 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. As the originator of this role, he went on to play the character for the next 14 years in a series of sequels. Pagano became an international star. 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.
