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Italian Kirk Morris (born Adriano Bellini) was one of the many towering figures in the peplum genre that dominated Italian sword-and-sandal films in the early 1960s. Born in Venice on August 26, 1942, he was a gondolier and the winner of the 1961 "Mr. Italia" bodybuilding competition when an Italian film producer discovered him. Kirk was swiftly pulled from the canals and into the spotlight to pursue a career as a campy muscleman star.
Director Tanio Boccia cast Kirk in the lead role of Il trionfo di Maciste (1961) (The Triumph of Maciste), where the youthful, pearly-toothed newcomer made a strong impression on screen. From then on, Kirk was seen as the perfect specimen to headline low-budget spectacles, serving as a beefcake hero to balance out the goofy special effects and awkward dubbing. Among the many heavily muscled actors and bodybuilders of the era—such as Steve Reeves, Gordon Scott, Dan Vadis, Ed Fury, Gordon Mitchell, Reg Park, Alan Steel, Brad Harris, Mark Forest, Richard Harrison, and Sergio Ciani—Kirk stood out by frequently dyeing his pompadour hair from dark to blond and bearing a slightly sulky resemblance to Elvis Presley. Otherwise, his stoic portrayals of Hercules, Samson, and Maciste were on par with his bronzed, brawny peers.
Kirk played Maciste, a son of Hercules, in several films including Hercules in the Valley of Woe (1961), The Witch's Curse (1962) (also known as Maciste in Hell), Colossus and the Headhunters (1963), Atlas Against the Czar (1964), and Hercules of the Desert (1964). The mythological stories, typically set in ancient Egypt, Greece, or Rome, followed familiar formulas—rescuing damsels, freeing slaves, restoring rightful rulers, battling evil monarchs, and overcoming deadly serpents, beasts, witches, and demons.
Though his hero's name often changed, Kirk's role remained consistent: flex muscles and save the day. He portrayed Samson in Clash of Steel (1962); Sansone in Sansone contro i pirati (1963) (Samson Against the Pirates); Hercules in Hercules, Samson and Ulysses (1963); Sandar Khan in Terror of the Steppes (1964); Anthar, son of Hercules, in Anthar l'invincibile (1964); Nadir in Desert Raiders (1964); Ercole in Maciste il vendicatore dei Maya (1965) (Maciste, Avenger of the Mayans); and Kadir in The Falcon of the Desert (1965).
By 1966, Italian sword-and-sandal films had fallen out of favor and lost their core audience. Though Kirk continued acting through the late 1960s, most of his roles were supporting. He played a scientist romantically involved with a voluptuous alien in the campy sci-fi adventure Star Pilot (1966), and portrayed the ill-fated outlaw Ringo in the Terence Hill spaghetti western Crazy Westerners (1967).
Kirk returned to top billing in the spaghetti western Sapevano solo uccidere (1968) (I'll Die for Vengeance), playing Jeff Smart, a man seeking revenge against a Mexican gang. The film also featured fellow bodybuilders Alan Steel and Gordon Mitchell. His final films were the Italian/German action drama The Seven Red Berets (1969) and the Italian combat story I 7 di Marsa Matruh (1970), where he played a Scottish soldier.
Eventually, Kirk moved to the United States and entered the advertising industry. Years later, he returned to Italy and the film world—not as an actor, but as a producer.
