Alan Steel

Alan Steel

Most of the stars of Italy's sword-and-sandal action movies of the 1950s and 1960s were Americans (with the occasional Britisher) imported over to play the muscleman roles. Sergio Ciani was the exception, a native Italian who started out in movies as one of Steve Reeves' doubles in Hercules (1957). By 1960, working under the name Alan Steel, he was starring in his own ancient-world action movie, Giant of Marathon; the following year, he joined American Brad Harris in Samson, portraying Millstone, the rival and soon ally to Harris' Samson. He subsequently got to play Hercules in Hercules Against the Moon Men and Hercules Against Rome (both 1964). After the mid-'60s, with the decline of the sword-and-sandal genre, he began working in other action categories and historical costume movies, including Westerns and one Robin Hood film. He worked into the 1970s. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide