Sergio Ciani (7 September 1931 – 5 September 2015), best known as Alan Steel, was an Italian bodybuilder and actor. Born in Rome, Ciani started his career as a

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

; then he became the

body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

for

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagon ...

in ''

Hercules Unchained ''Hercules Unchained'' ( it, Ercole e la regina di Lidia , "Hercules and the Queen of Lydia") is a 1959 Italian-French epic fantasy feature film starring Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina in a story about two warring brothers and Hercules' tribulati ...

'' and in ''

The Giant of Marathon ''The Giant of Marathon'' ( it, La battaglia di Maratona) is a 1959 international co-production sword and sandal film, loosely based on the Battle of Marathon. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava. It starred Steve Reeves as Philli ...

'', in which he also played a minor role. In the early 1960s he adopted the stage name Alan Steel and starred the leading roles in a number of

peplum film Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget H ...

s with good commercial success. He had the distinction as being one of the very few native Italians to play the heroes of the peplum features. In addition to playing roles named either Hercules, Ursus, or Samson, he played Robin Hood in the 1976 adventure film ''Storia di arcieri, pugni e occhi neri''. With the decline of the genre Steel thinned out his appearances, until his retirement at the end of the 1970s. Ciani died in his sleep at his house in Ostia, Rome, at age 79, just two days short of what would have been his 80th birthday.

Partial filmography

* ''

Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renov ...

'' (1958) as Palace Guard (uncredited) * ''

'' (1959) as Megreo * ''

'' (1959) as Euros * ''

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

'' (1961) as Macigno aka Hercules * ''

The Fury of Hercules ''The Fury of Hercules'' ( it, La furia di Ercole) is a 1962 peplum film written and directed by Gianfranco Parolini. Plot Hercules is reached by the slave Daria, who informes him that his country has fallen into the hands of the tyrant Meniste ...

'' (1962) as Kaldos * ''

The Rebel Gladiators ''The Rebel Gladiators'' ( it, Ursus il gladiatore ribelle/ ''Ursus, the Rebel Gladiator'') is a 1962 Italian peplum film directed by Domenico Paolella starring Dan Vadis, Josè Greci and Alan Steel. Plot The newly crowned emperor Commodus ki ...

'' (1962) as Commodus * ''

The Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

'' (1962) * ''

Samson and the Slave Queen ''Samson and the Slave Queen'' ( it, Zorro contro Maciste) is a 1963 Italian '' peplum'' directed by Umberto Lenzi. It was originally made as a Maciste film in Italy, in which the fabled strongman meets Zorro. It was redubbed into a "Samson" movie ...

'' (1963) as Samson (in U.S. version) / Maciste * ''

Hercules and the Masked Rider ''Hercules and the Masked Rider'' ( it, Golia e il cavaliere mascherato, also known as ''Goliath and the Masked Rider'') is a 1963 Italian peplum film written and directed by Piero Pierotti and starring Alan Steel and Mimmo Palmara. A crossover ...

'' (1963) as Golia / Paco / Hercules * ''

Hercules and the Black Pirates ''Hercules and the Black Pirates'' ( it, Sansone contro il corsaro nero/ ''Samson Against the Black Pirate''), also known as ''Hercules and the Pirates'' and ''Hercules and the Black Pirate'', is a 1963 Italian pirate-peplum film directed by Luig ...

'' (1964) as Samson * ''

Hercules Against Rome ''Hercules Against Rome'' ( it, Ercole contro Roma) is a 1964 '' peplum'' film directed by Piero Pierotti. Plot A childhood friend enlists Hercules to protect the Roman Emperor Gordiano, who is in danger from his own mutinous Praetorian Guards. ...

'' (1964) as Ercole * ''

Hercules Against the Moon Men ''Hercules Against the Moon Men'' ( it, Maciste e la regina di Samar, "Maciste and the Queen of Samar") is a 1964 Franco-Italian international co-production sword and sandal film. It was directed by Giacomo Gentilomo in his final film and stars Al ...

'' (1964) as Maciste / Hercules * ''

Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas ''Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas'' ( it, Sansone e il tesoro degli Incas) is a 1964 film written and directed by Piero Pierotti and starring Alan Steel. Originally conceived as a peplum film, given the contemporary success of ''A Fistfu ...

'' (1964) as William Smith / Samson * ''

Samson and His Mighty Challenge ''Samson and His Mighty Challenge'' is a 1964 Italian sword-and-sandal film, released in 1965 at the very tail end of the peplum craze. Its original title was ''Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili'' (''Hercules, Samson, Maciste, and ...

'' (1964) as Hercules * ''

3 Avengers ''3 Avengers'' ( it, Gli invincibili tre, also spelled as ''The 3 Avengers'' and ''The Three Avengers'') is a 1964 Italian peplum film written and directed by Gianfranco Parolini and starring Alan Steel.Michele Giordano. ''Giganti buoni''. Grem ...

'' (1964) as Ursus * '' A... For Assassin'' (1966) as Giacomo * ''Un colpo da re'' (1967) as The Swede * ''Addio mamma'' (1967) as Franco Rinaldi, Patrizia's husband * ''Sapevano solo uccidere'' (1968) as Pedro * ''La furia dei Khyber'' (1970) as Capitano Miller * ''

Fasthand ''Fasthand'' ( it, Mi chiamavano "Requiescat"... ma avevano sbagliato, es, Mano rápida, also known as ''Fasthand is Still My Name'' and ''Fast Gun Is Still My Name'') is a 1973 Italian-Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to ...

'' (1973) as Cpt. Jeff Madison * ''

The Little Cowboy ''The Little Cowboy'' (originally titled ''Küçük Kovboy'') is a 1973 Turkish western film, directed by Guido Zurli, starring Cüneyt Arkın. Plot Yumurcak lives in a village in the wild west. On his way from school, he is kidnapped by the ...

'' (1973) as Monty Donovan * ''Dagli archivi della polizia criminale'' (1973) as Larry Brenton * ''Storia di arcieri, pugni e occhi neri'' (1976) as Robin Hood * ''Korkusuz cengaver'' (1976) as Korsan (uncredited) * ''Io tigro, tu tigri, egli tigra'' (1978) * ''Baby Love'' (1979) (final film role)

References

External links

* 1931 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Italian male actors Italian bodybuilders Italian male film actors Male actors from Rome People associated with physical culture {{Italy-actor-stub