Acting · Voghera, Lombardy, Italy · Born May 15, 1887
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lewis Montagna (born Luigi Montagna, May 16, 1887 – January 24, 1950), better known as Bull Montana, was an Italian-American professional wrestler and actor. Montagna was born on May 16, 1887 in Voghera, Italy and came to the United States as a child. He became a professional wrestler under the name of Bull Montana. He gravitated to films in 1917, appearing first in several of the vehicles of his close pal Douglas Fairbanks. In 1919 he appeared as a gruesome villain in Maurice Tourneur's masterpiece Victory alongside Lon Chaney. Numbered among his many friends was Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky, boxer, wrestler, and movie extra, who claimed Montagna offered to help him finance his 1930 autobiography. In the early 1920s Montana, as he was known, often wrestled with his friend Jack Dempsey prior to some of Dempsey's larger fights to help entertain the press and spectators. Montagna was usually cast as a thug, henchman or something not quite sympathetic, and sometimes not quite human (he was the apelike cave dweller in 1925's The Lost World opposite Wallace Beery as Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger). Tempering his on-screen brutishness with humor, Montana starred in his own series of two-reel comedies in the early 1920s, spoofing everyone from Robin Hood (Rob 'Em Good) to the Corsican Brothers (The Two Twins). He appeared in two Buster Keaton films including a role as a professional wrestler in the film Palooka from Paducah. He continued playing movie bits into the 1940s, notably as one of Buster Crabbe's antagonists in the 1936 series Flash Gordon. Like many mashed-face musclemen of the movies, Bull Montana is reputed to have been as gentle as a lamb in real life.
MovieSpaceship to the Unknown
1966
as Monkey-Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieBig City
1937
as Bull Montana
MovieFlash Gordon
1936
as Monkey Man
MovieNever Too Late
1935
as Monte, an escaped convict
MoviePalooka from Paducah
1935
as Bullfrog Kraus
MovieTiger Rose
1929
as Joe
MovieGlorifying the American Girl
1929
as Customer Requesting "Baby Face" (uncredited)
MovieLoud Soup
1929
as Convict
MovieHow to Handle Women
1928
as The Turk
The Fight Pest
1928
MovieGood Morning, Judge
1928
as First Crook
MovieLimousine Love
1928
as The Chauffer
MovieThe Sting of Stings
1927
as Bull Montana
MovieMany Scrappy Returns
1927
as Zozo's Husband
MovieOn the Front Page
1926
as Private Secretary
MovieThe Son of the Sheik
1926
as Mountebank
MovieThe Skyrocket
1926
as Film Comedian
MovieVanishing Millions
1926
as The Gorilla
MovieThe Uneasy Three
1925
The Bashful Buccaneer
1925
as Second Mate
MovieNo Father to Guide Him
1925
as Wanted Kidnapper in Photo (uncredited)
MovieThe Lost World
1925
as Ape Man
MovieDick Turpin
1925
as Bully Boy
MovieLaughing at Danger
1924
as Killer Murphy
Hello, 'Frisco
1924
as Bull Montana
MovieThe Fire Patrol
1924
as Fireman
MoviePainted People
1924
as Ed Decker
MovieHeld to Answer
1923
as 'Red' Lizard
MovieJealous Husbands
1923
as Portland Kid
MovieHollywood
1923
as Bull Montana
MovieThe Three Must-Get-Theres
1922
as Li'l Cardinal Richie-Loo
MovieThe Timber Queen
1922
MovieGay and Devilish
1922
as Tony
MovieThe Foolish Age
1921
as Bubbs
MovieCrazy to Marry
1921
as Dago Red (a crook)
One Wild Week
1921
as Red Mike
MovieHard Luck
1921
as Virginia's Husband
Hearts Are Trumps
1920
as Jake
MovieGo and Get It
1920
as The Gorilla
MovieThe Adventures of Daredevil Jack
1920
MovieWhat Women Love
1920
as Jose
MovieTreasure Island
1920
as Morgan
MovieWhen the Clouds Roll By
1919
as The Nightmare
MovieVictory
1919
as Pedro
MovieHis Majesty, the American
1919
as Undetermined Role
MovieEasy to Make Money
1919
as Charles 'Kid' Miller
MovieCowardice Court
1919
as Flash Morton
MovieBrass Buttons
1919
as Jake the Priest
MovieThe Unpardonable Sin
1919
as The Brute
MovieIn for Thirty Days
1919
as 'Hot Stove' Kelly
Fair Enough
1918
as 'Happy' Flanigan
MovieJohanna Enlists
1918
as Brakeman (uncredited)
MovieHe Comes Up Smiling
1918
as Baron Bean
MovieThe Border Legion
1918
as Red Pierce
MovieSnap Judgment
1917
as Bull Montana
MovieDown to Earth
1917
as Wild Man
MovieWild and Woolly
1917
as Bartender (Uncredited)
MovieIn Again, Out Again
1917
as Quenton Auburn - The Burglar
