Bartolomeo Pagano

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Bartolomeo Pagano (27 September 1878 – 24 June 1947) was an Italian film actor. He used to work as a stevedore at the port of Genoa before being discovered for cinema. In 1914 he created the role of Maciste in the silent film Cabiria, playing a very strong slave from ancient Rome. He then starred as Maciste in a string of sequels for about 14 years, becoming an international star and even changing his name to Maciste. In the 1920s he was one of Italy’s best-paid actors, earning up to 600,000 lire per year. Pagano retired from films in 1929 to marry and raise a family in Genoa. He died there in 1947 at age 68 and is buried on his family estate in Italy.