In the past several years John has worked as a actor, consultant, or choreographer in several of the History Channel’s “Civil War Combat” episodes, as well as shows on MTV such as "Viva La Bam," Discovery Channel’s “100 Greatest Discoveries,” Penn and Tellers HBO show, “Bullshit,” and various PBS documentaries.
Recently, John has been hired and cast in feature films shot in Virginia, “The New World” and “War of the Worlds.” In “The New World, “ John was a primary Jamestown militiaman and worked closely with the principal cast. In 2005, John co-wrote, co-starred, and choreographed the combat in “No Retreat from Destiny,” another LionHeart FilmWorks feature. Following this, John worked as a historical advisor, combat choreographer, and actor in a television special titled, “For Love of Liberty” – a documentary on African-American heroism in the military.
In addition to this acting work, John has worked at Pamplin Historical Park in Petersburg, VA and at Old Fort Jackson, GA, - but now as an outreach program historian for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Williamsburg, VA and military program interpreter/actor for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. These positions are increasing his reputation as an expert in American colonial and revolutionary periods. In association with these efforts John has been asked to recreate military fortifications and structures, utilizing his knowledge and ability to demonstrate military engineering.
In 2006, John published a groundbreaking interpretation article – “Interpreting Slavery and the Confederate Soldier,” which can be read in Civil War Historian Magazine. He will soon finish his first book on Civil War fortifications, titled, Gopher Hole Soldiers.
Currently, John has partnered with LionHeart FilmWorks, as a writer, producer, and host - to create early America themed documentaries, such as “Von Steuben’s Continentals: The First American Army,” "The Battle of Green Spring” and “The Siege of Yorktown,” etc. These series are designed for classrooms, touching on many educational objectives, and all those that have a love of soldier culture. John has been an integral part in the development of other LionHeart FilmWorks series ideas, such as “Women of the Revolution,” and “Rebellions in American History.”
Besides history, John is a huge sports fan and horror movie junkie. He currently lives in the Carytown community of Richmond, Virginia.
John Daniel Pagano is a product of the Hudson Valley community of Cornwall, New York. As a student-athlete in Cornwall, John excelled at three sports - Soccer-Track-Baseball - and studying military history. John graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with a B.A. in History and sought to research, write, and teach or interpret American military history to others.
John began his living history career as a member of notable educational organizations at home in New York. The 124th New York Infantry was a very famous combat unit in the Civil War, and the recreated regiment to which John was an NCO, then officer, conducted demonstrations, encampments, parades, and fund-raisers throughout the Hudson Valley. By the age of 21, John was the principal instructor and field commander. This experience began to shape his ideas of experiential archeology – understanding history by simulating it with exactness. From that time, John went on to be the founder of another recreated unit, the 23rd North Carolina Infantry.
By 1995, John was coupling his abilities in recreated history with the film industry. John was cast as a core-
group soldier/actor in the T.N.T. production, “Andersonville,” directed by the legendary John Frankenheimer. In preparation for recreating the look of Union soldiers, prisoners of war during the Civil War, John dropped 38 pounds to look the part. During this film, John was a background/extras wrangler and instructor. In the course of this film, John taught others how to look, dress, and conduct themselves as 1860’s soldiers. The talent did not go unnoticed, as John was cast in a speaking role during the film’s dramatic trial scenes.
Following this film, John was asked to command 300 men, a full scale Civil war regiment, as a colonel of the 1st/15th Arkansas Infantry – in the 130th Anniversary of The Battle of Franklin. This command was the most authentic recreation of a Confederate fighting unit since the war itself. From that moment, John went on to be a leading authority in Civil War tactics and military science. H was asked to give instruction on the topics and published several articles in tactical doctrine and soldier culture. John believes that being a complete historian means reading the materials and recreating the information to accurately interpret the words of the participants.
During these years John was asked to be involved in A&E’s “Civil War Journal,” – a progressive weekly documentary series that demonstrated the Civil War through highly accurate recreation scenes. In addition, John was heavily involved with various documentary filmmakers in acting and consulting parts for their projects. Following these episodes, John was hired by Historical Films Group in 1997 to be the Military Advisor/Historical Consultant on a docu-drama recreating the Battle of Antietam, MD during the Civil War. This was the first time that John had the chance to have full creative authority on combat choreography. This film, shown at the National Park Service Visitor Center at Antietam, has some of the best combat sequences ever recreated on film.
After creating another historical organization in 1997, The Hardtack Society, John was coupling his film and history work with being a classroom teacher. In 1999, John was hired by LionHeart FilmWorks to be the Military Advisor/Historical Consultant on the feature film, “Wicked Spring.” With this picture, John mixed his talents as actor, script advisor, and combat choreographer. After this production, John continued to work as a teacher, historian, and actor.
By 2000, John was working on documentaries and films on a regular basis – as a historical expert or as an actor. In 2001, John co-starred and advised in a recreated 'Twilight Zone' Episode, “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
In addition to his knowledge in Civil War themes, John has been a member in a variety of recreated military organizations such as the 109th Infantry in World War I, French and Indian War Virginia militia, and the 2nd Virginia Continental Line Regiment and Corps of Sappers and Miners of the War of Independence.
