Silvestri, Umberto

[PeplumParadise]

Umberto Silvestri, in Maciste, il gladiatore più forte del mondo (1962)

Umberto Silvestri was an actor and athlete who also performed stuntwork, active in Italian films at least from the late 1930's until the start of the 1970's.

Umberto was born on September 6th 1915 in Rome, Italy.

He was a championship Greco-Roman wrestler and rugby player. As a wrestler Umberto represented Italy in the Olympics in 1936, 1948 and 1952, won medals at the 1947 European Championships and 1951 Mediterranean Games and won 12 Italian titles. As a rugby player he won 2 caps for Italy in 1949.

Umberto's earliest known film role dates from 1939. He continued working in films, largely in the peplum genre, for the next 30 years, not very prolifically, but with a few bursts of activity in the early 50's and early 60's. His last known film appearance was in Bertolucci's Il conformista in 1970.

He died on May 28th 2009 in Rome at the age of 93.

I have been the moderator for Umberto's Facebook Page for many years now and through my work there I have been in contact with members of Umberto's family, who have kindly shared many private photos which can be seen by following the link.

I have found several undocumented roles for Umberto, so there could always be more.

Filmography

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1939

1. Imputato alzatevi .... Nightclub customer who joins the brawl (uncredited)
   
   1941
2. La corona di ferro .... Farka (uncredited)
   
   1943
3. Harlem .... Himself (credited as "Silvestri")
   
   1945
4. Tutta la città canta .... Leonardo, the house servant (credited)
   
   1947
5. Dove sta Zazà? .... role? (credited?)
   
   1949
6. Fabiola .... Gladiator (uncredited)
   
   1950
7. Il leone di Amalfi .... Dosso (credited)
   
   1951
8. Tizio Caio Sempronio .... Spartaco (credited)
   
   1952
9. La regina di Saba .... Isachar (credited)
   
   1953
10. Spartaco .... Lentulus (poster credit)
    
    1954
11. Teodora, imperatrice di Bisanzio .... The guard who is blinded (credited)
12. Touchez pas au grisbi .... Ramon's partner (credited as "Silvestri")
13. Ulisse .... Krakos / Polyphemus (uncredited)
    
    1959
14. Ben-Hur .... Galley guard (uncredited)
    
    1962
15. Il gladiatore di Roma .... Gladiator trainer (uncredited)
16. Maciste, il gladiatore più forte del mondo .... Bruto (credited)
17. Ursus gladiatore ribelle .... Challenger to Commodus (uncredited)
    
    1963
18. Il vendicatore mascherato .... Prisoner (credited)
19. Io Semiramide .... Bodyguard of Semiramide (credited)
    
    1964
20. Sette a Tebe .... role? (credited as "Bert Silver")
    
    1970
21. Il conformista .... Hired killer (credited)

Titles to check

• La pantera nera (1942) ANICA
• La figlia del mendicante (1950) ANICA

[PeplumParadise]

Imputato alzatevi (1939) as Nightclub customer who joins the brawl.

[PeplumParadise]

La corona di ferro (1941) as Farka

[PeplumParadise]

Harlem (1943) credited as "Silvestri". Along with several other athletes, Umberto plays Himself.

[PeplumParadise]

Dove sta Zazà? (1947) Umberto can be seen on this fotobusta for the film, role uncertain.

[PeplumParadise]

Fabiola (1949) as Gladiator, rather hard to recognise as he's only seen in shadowy silhouette (he's the one in the background).

[PeplumParadise]

Il leone di Amalfi (1950) credited, as Dosso

[PeplumParadise]

Tizio Caio Sempronio (1951) credited, as Spartaco

[PeplumParadise]

La regina di Saba (1952) credited, as Isachar

[PeplumParadise]

Spartaco (1953) credited, as Lentulus.

I'm not sure why my old images for this film are all slightly different sizes since they all come from the same DVD source. At some point I will revisit the film to get matching images.
Thanks to Vecchiaguardia for providing the credit shot