Franco Zeffirelli

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Franco Zeffirelli
Image:Franco zeffirelli.jpg
Born	February 12 1923 (age 85) Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Franco Zeffirelli (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923), is an Italian film director. He is also an opera director, designer and producer of opera, theatre, film and television.

Internationally, he is best known for having directed the 1968 film version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for which he was nominated to receive an Academy Award. His 1977 television mini-series Jesus of Nazareth also won acclaim and is still shown on Easter weekend in many countries.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Politics 3 Selected filmography 4 See also 5 External links

Biography

Zeffirelli was born and grew up in Florence, under the auspices of the British expatriate community and was particularly involved with the so-called Scorpioni who inspired his semi-autobiographical 1999 film Tea With Mussolini.

During World War II, he fought as a partisan before he met up with the British soldiers of the 1st Scots Guards and became their interpreter. In the post war years, he studied art and architecture at the University of Florence, and worked with directors such as Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini and Luchino Visconti.

In the 1960s, he made his name designing and directing his own plays in London and New York, and soon transferred his ideas to cinema.

Zeffirelli has also been a major director of opera productions since the 1950s in Italy, Europe, and the USA. Of particular note is his 1964 Royal Opera House production of Tosca with Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi, and several productions for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, including La bohème and Turandot.

In November 2004 he was awarded an honorary knighthood by the United Kingdom. In 1999 he received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Zeffirelli is openly gay. Director Bruce Robinson claimed to have been sexually assaulted by him during the filming of Romeo and Juliet in which Robinson had a minor acting role.

Politics

Zeffirelli has also been a member of the Italian senate since 1996, representing the Forza Italia party.

Selected filmography

• Callas Forever (2002)
• Don Giovanni (2000)
• Tea With Mussolini (1999)
• Jane Eyre (1996)
• Il tabarro (Puccini) (1994)
• Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) (1994)
• Storia di una capinera also known as Sparrow (1993)
• Hamlet (1990)
• Otello (1986) — BAFTA winner, foreign language film; with Plácido Domingo
• Tosca (1985)
• La bohème (1982)
• La traviata (1982) — Academy Award nominee, BAFTA winner, art direction; with Teresa Stratas and Plácido Domingo
• Endless Love (1981)
• The Champ (1979)
• Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
• Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) also known as Fratello sole, sorella luna
• Romeo and Juliet (1968) also known as Giulietta e Romeo -- Academy Award nominee, director
• The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
• La bohème (1965)
• Falstaff (1964)

See also

• Withnail and I
• The Scorpioni

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