--- name: "Lamberto Maggiorani" canonical: "https://film.one/person/lamberto-maggiorani" fi1m_id: "lamberto-maggiorani" imdb_id: "nm0536009" tmdb_id: 42416 wikidata_id: "Q635456" roles: ["Actor"] born: "28 August 1909" died: "22 April 1983" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-25T04:08:26.756482+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Lamberto Maggiorani ## Identity Lamberto Maggiorani - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/lamberto-maggiorani - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** lamberto-maggiorani - **IMDb ID:** nm0536009 - **TMDB ID:** 42416 - **Wikidata ID:** Q635456 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamberto_Maggiorani, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q635456, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536009/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/42416 Actor. Born 28 August 1909 in Roma, Lazio, Italy. Died 22 April 1983. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 28 August 1909, Roma, Lazio, Italy - **Died:** 22 April 1983 - **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 acting, 1 other - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 93 (1), 1950s 91 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamberto_Maggiorani, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q635456, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536009/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/42416 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Bicycle Thieves*](https://film.one/film/bicycle-thieves.md) (93), [*Umberto D.*](https://film.one/film/umberto-d.md) (91) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Lamberto Maggiorani > Lamberto Maggiorani makes Antonio’s distress in *Bicycle Thieves* painfully difficult to watch, without making him a model of dignified suffering. We recommend that performance wholeheartedly; his later, smaller parts never gave him a comparable opportunity. In *Bicycle Thieves* (1948), Antonio has to remain a father while his son can see how badly he is struggling. Lamberto Maggiorani makes that responsibility uncomfortable to watch. We felt ashamed of looking so closely at him, because he cannot keep his distress from the child beside him. His awkwardness is what makes the performance so affecting: Antonio never becomes a neatly composed illustration of hardship. Vittorio De Sica cast him as Antonio from factory work, without formal acting training. The subsequent career brought occasional minor or uncredited roles through the 1950s and 1960s, rather than another opportunity on that scale. He appeared uncredited in De Sica’s *Umberto D.* (1952), then had a bit part as the Sick Man in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s *Mamma Roma* (1962). These are not grounds for inventing a story of steady artistic development. Nor should smaller roles be taken as evidence that the first performance was a fluke. The work with De Sica gives us plenty to consider on its own. It is tempting to assume that a factory worker needed only to appear before the camera to make Antonio convincing. That overlooks what happens when Enzo Staiola’s Bruno watches him: Antonio’s distress becomes harder to bear because his child is taking it in. De Sica’s pairing of the two gives the search for the stolen bicycle much of its force. Not every choice around them helps. Alessandro Cicognini’s score sometimes adds a sweetness that presses too hard on suffering already clear in the performances. Placing a child beside Antonio also risks making Bruno little more than a means of increasing our pity, though Staiola largely prevents that. We would turn the music down before asking Maggiorani to do anything differently. Watch *Bicycle Thieves* for the two actors, and allow for the unnecessary prompting. ## Biography Lamberto Maggiorani was an Italian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Antonio Ricci in Vittorio De Sica's *Bicycle Thieves* (1948). A factory worker and non-professional actor at the time of casting, he had previously worked as a turner. Following the film's success, Maggiorani faced difficulties returning to his previous employment and took occasional work as a bricklayer while pursuing further acting roles with limited success. He appeared in small or uncredited parts in films including *Umberto D.* (1952), *Mamma Roma* (1962) and *We All Loved Each Other So Much* (1974). He died in Rome on 22 April 1983. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) ### Performed in (1) — the average rests on these - *Bicycle Thieves* (1948), Fi1m 93, as Antonio — [page](https://film.one/film/bicycle-thieves.md) ### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *Umberto D.* (1952), Fi1m 91, as (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/umberto-d.md) ## Complete filmography (17) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *We All Loved Each Other So Much* (1974), as Antonio Ricci in 'Ladri di biciclette' (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Ostia* (1970), as Padre di Monica - *Crazy Sea* (1963), Actor - *Ro.Go.Pa.G.* (1963), as Man in the Tableau-Vivant (segment "La ricotta") (uncredited) - *Mamma Roma* (1962), as Sick Man - *The Last Judgment* (1961), as Poor man - *Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge* (1956), as Bandito - *Don Camillo's Last Round* (1955), as un cittadino democristiano - *Lo scocciatore* (1953), as Via Padova portiere - *Vacation with a Gangster* (1952), as galeotto - *Umberto D.* (1952), as (uncredited) — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/umberto-d.md) - *Salvate mia figlia* (1952), Actor - *Anna* (1951), as malato ferito allo stomaco - *Attention! Bandits!* (1951), as Marco - *A Tale of Five Cities* (1951), Actor - *Santa Lucia Luntana...* (1951), Actor - *Bicycle Thieves* (1948), as Antonio — Fi1m 93, [page](https://film.one/film/bicycle-thieves.md) ## Gallery - ![Lamberto Maggiorani](https://film.one/media/person/59945/gallery-f32bee369920.png) Lamberto Maggiorani — Film diretto da Vittorio De Sica e prodotto da P.D.S., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Lamberto_Maggiorani_%284%29.png/1280px-Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Lamberto_Maggiorani_%284%29.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Lamberto Maggiorani ed Enzo Staiola in una scena di "Ladri di biciclette" (De Sica, 1948) (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/59945/gallery-bc105aca3329.jpg) Lamberto Maggiorani ed Enzo Staiola in una scena di "Ladri di biciclette" (De Sica, 1948) (2016) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Ladri-biciclette-pioggia.jpg/1280px-Ladri-biciclette-pioggia.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Lianella Carell e Lamberto Maggiorani in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948)](https://film.one/media/person/59945/gallery-837585ebc5c0.png) Lianella Carell e Lamberto Maggiorani in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948) — Film diretto da Vittorio De Sica e prodotto da P.D.S., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Carell_e_Maggiorani.png/1280px-Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Carell_e_Maggiorani.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Ida Bracci Dorati, Lamberto Maggiorani ed Enzo Staiola in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948)](https://film.one/media/person/59945/gallery-dfa43ec9fe11.png) Ida Bracci Dorati, Lamberto Maggiorani ed Enzo Staiola in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948) — Film diretto da Vittorio De Sica e prodotto da P.D.S., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Ida_Bracci_Dorati.png/1280px-Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Ida_Bracci_Dorati.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Lamberto Maggiorani in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948)](https://film.one/media/person/59945/gallery-56711a621e52.png) Lamberto Maggiorani in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948) — Film diretto da Vittorio De Sica e prodotto da P.D.S., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Lamberto_Maggiorani.png/1280px-Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Lamberto_Maggiorani.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Lamberto Maggiorani in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948)](https://film.one/media/person/59945/gallery-d344793828bd.png) Lamberto Maggiorani in una scena del film italiano Ladri di biciclette (1948) — Film diretto da Vittorio De Sica e prodotto da P.D.S., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Lamberto_Maggiorani_%282%29.png/1280px-Ladri_di_biciclette_%281948%29_Lamberto_Maggiorani_%282%29.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/lamberto-maggiorani