| Franco Nero | |
|---|---|
Franco Nero, August 2008 |
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| Born | Francesco Sparanero 23 November 1941 Parma, Italy |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Spouse | Vanessa Redgrave, married on 31 December 2006 (5 years, 48 days) |
| Children | Carlo Gabriel Nero, Franquito |
Franco Nero (born 23 November 1941) is an Italian actor.
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Nero was born Francesco Sparanero[1][2][3][4][5][6] in San Prospero Parmense (province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna), the son of a sergeant in the carabinieri,[7] originally from San Severo. He grew up in Bedonia and in Milan. He studied briefly at the Economy and Trade faculty of the local university, before leaving to study at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano.
Nero's first film role was a small part in La ragazza in prestito (1964), and he had his first lead role in Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966) a Spaghetti Western and one of his best known films. In 1966 from Django he went on to appear in eight more films released that year including Texas, addio (1967) and Tempo di massacro.
In 1967, he appeared in Camelot as Lancelot, where he met his long time romantic partner, and later on in life his wife, Vanessa Redgrave. Following this he appeared in the mafia film Il giorno della civetta opposite Claudia Cardinale released in 1968.
A lack of proficiency in English tended to limit these roles, although he also appeared in other English language films including The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Enter the Ninja (1981) and Die Hard 2 (1990).
Although often typecast in films like Los amigos (1972) or Keoma (1976) he has attempted an impressive range of characters, such as Abel in John Huston's epic The Bible: In The Beginning (1966), the humiliated engineer out for revenge in Street Law, the gay lieutenant in Querelle (1982) and Serbian mediaeval hero in Banović Strahinja (1983). He has appeared in over 150 films, and has written, produced and starred in one: Jonathan degli orsi (1993).[8]
More recently, he starred in Hungarian director Gábor Koltay's Honfoglalás (Conquest) in 1996, in Li chiamarono... briganti! (1999) by Pasquale Squitieri and subsequently in Koltay's Sacra Corona (Holy Crown) in 2001.
In 2009 he played an eccentric author called "Mario Puzzo" in Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling ("Murder is my trade, darling", Italian title "Tesoro, sono un killer"). German critics found his performance was the best part of the film: "Having Franco nero playing in this film is really a great joy - it is only regrettable that besides his appearances there is so much else too." ("Dass Franco Nero in diesem Film mitspielt, macht wirklich großen Spaß – schade nur, dass nach seinen Auftritten noch so viel Film übrig ist.") [9]
In 2010, Nero appeared in the film Letters to Juliet with Redgrave.
In 2011, he received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Canada[10].
His romantic involvement with British actress Vanessa Redgrave began in 1967 when they met on the set of Camelot. In 1969, they had a son, Carlo Gabriel Sparanero (known professionally as Carlo Nero), a screenwriter and director. After separating for many years, during which they both had relationships with other people, they reunited and married on 31 December 2006.[11] Carlo Nero directed Redgrave in the cinematic adaptation of Wallace Shawn's play The Fever.
Nero walked his future stepdaughter Natasha Richardson down the aisle when she married actor Liam Neeson. She died on 18 March 2009, due to a skiing-related head injury.[12]