Remembering Dante Maggio

Dante Maggio was born on March 2, 1909 in Naples, Campania, Italy. Born into an acting family he was the son of actor Domenico Maggio [1879-1943] and actress Antoinette Gravante [1880-1940]. He is the brother of actors Vincenzo Maggio [1902-1973], Beniamino Maggio [1907-1990], actress Pupella Maggio [1910-1999] and is the father of actor Enzo Maggio [1950- ].

 
As a rebellious and impulsive young man he ended up in reform school and before becoming an actor he worked in many trades including an ice cream man, a carpenter making theater props for the theater company of his father. It was here he made his stage debut telling short jokes. But it was with his father Mimi that he gained acting experience before moving on to star alongside with Achilles Maresca, Raffaele Viviani and then launching his career as a true actor with Anna Fougez.
 
In the 1937-38 season he appeared in Naples and took part in some sketches with Dapporto in “Visi e maschere”, then worked in Rome during the war in “Quello che bolle in pentola”  and “In picchiata sui cuori”. He then appears with his brother Benjamin in the immediate post-war period    
“Se il mondo fosse quadrato”.
 
The postwar period saw Dante make his film debut, after a miserable start in 1940 with a film which had poor distribution. And it is in films where he builds a most honorable career even if it is usally in supporting roles or character part, often of some importance. He became more and more absorbed in film which provided him excellent opportunities. He can also engage with the adopted son Angelo Maggio for the film “Mulatto” (1949) directed by Francesco De Robertis which receives only a lukewarm reception.
 
He was also active in television, where he appeared with his brother Beniamino in the version for the small screen of 'Rinaldo in campo’ (1963) under the direction of Garinei and Giovannini ,and in the sixties, according to the fashion of the moment, appears in some 20 Euro-westerns using the pseudonym Dan May. He’s probably best remembered as the carpenter and cell mate of Indio in “For a Few Dollars More” (1965). One of his last performances was the original television ‘Diagnosi’ in the episode ‘Per un bambino’ directed by Mario Caiano.
 
Dante died in Rome on March 3, 1992.
 
Today we remember Dante Maggio on what would have been his 105^th birthday.