Franco Zeffirelli

His Biblical television miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977) won both national and international acclaim and is still frequently shown at Christmas and Easter in many countries. A member of the Forza Italia party, he served as the Senator for Catania between 1994 and 2001. A Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic since 1977, Zeffirelli also received an honorary British knighthood in 2004. Zeffirelli was awarded the Premio Colosseo in 2009 by the city of Rome.

Zeffirelli was born Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli in the outskirts of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, after an affair between Florentine Alaide Garosi, a fashion designer, and Ottorino Corsi, a wool and silk dealer from Vinci. Since both were married, Alaide was unable to use her surname or Corsi's for her child. She came up with "Zeffiretti", which are the "little breezes" mentioned in Mozart's opera Idomeneo, of which she was quite fond. However, it was misspelt in the register and became Zeffirelli. When he was six years old, his mother died and he subsequently grew up under the auspices of the English expatriate community and was particularly involved with the so-called Scorpioni, who inspired his semi-autobiographical film Tea with Mussolini (1999). Italian researchers found that Zeffirelli was one of a handful of living people traceably consanguineous with Leonardo da Vinci. He was a descendant of one of da Vinci's siblings. Zeffirelli graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze in 1941 and, following his father's advice, entered the University of Florence to study art and architecture. After World War II broke out, he fought as a partisan with the Italian Resistance, before he met up with British soldiers of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards and became their interpreter. After the war, he re-entered the University of Florence to continue his studies, but when he saw Laurence Olivier's Henry V in 1945, he directed his attention toward theatre instead. While working for a scene painter in Florence, he was introduced to Luchino Visconti, who hired him as an assistant director for the film La Terra trema, which was released in 1948. Visconti's methods had a deep impact on Zeffirelli's later work. He also worked with directors such as Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini. In the 1960s, he made his name designing and directing his own plays in London and New York City and soon transferred his ideas to the cinema.

Zeffirelli was a major director of opera productions from the 1950s in Italy and elsewhere in Europe as well as the United States. He began his career in the theatre as assistant to Luchino Visconti. Then he tried his hand at scenography. His first work as a director was buffo operas by Gioachino Rossini. He became a friend of Maria Callas and they worked together on a La traviata in Dallas, Texas, in 1958. Of particular note is his 1964 Royal Opera House production of Tosca with Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi. In the same year, he created Callas' last Norma at the Paris Opera. He also staged at the Vienna State Opera: Don Giovanni (1972), La Bohème (1963), and Carmen with Elena Obraztsova and Plácido Domingo in 1978. Zeffirelli also collaborated with Joan Sutherland, designing and directing her performances of Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 1959. Over the years he created several productions for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, including La bohème, Tosca, Turandot and Don Giovanni. When the new Metropolitan Opera opened at Lincoln Center, he directed its first production, Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, starring Leontyne Price.

In 1996, Zeffirelli came out as gay, but thereafter preferred to be discreet about his personal life. Zeffirelli said that he considered himself "homosexual" rather than gay, as he felt the term "gay" was less elegant. Zeffirelli adopted two adult sons, men with whom he had lived and who worked for him for years, managing his affairs.

Writer and film director Bruce Robinson claimed to have been the target of unwanted amorous attention from Zeffirelli during the filming of Romeo and Juliet, in which Robinson played Benvolio. Robinson says that he based the lecherous character of Uncle Monty in the film Withnail and I on Zeffirelli. In 2018, the American actor Johnathon Schaech alleged that Zeffirelli sexually assaulted him during the filming of Sparrow (Storia di una capinera, 1993). Zeffirelli's son Giuseppe "Pippo", adopted by the filmmaker as an adult, issued a statement at the time denying the allegation.

Zeffirelli died at his home in Rome on 15 June 2019, aged 96.

La Bohème (1965; production designer only) Florence: Days of Destruction (1966) (documentary short) The Taming of the Shrew (1967) Romeo and Juliet (1968) – Academy Award nominee, director Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) Jesus of Nazareth (1977) Cavalleria rusticana (1978) with Tatiana Troyanos and Plácido Domingo (live Metropolitan Opera House – stage director) Pagliacci (1978) with Teresa Stratas, Sherrill Milnes and Plácido Domingo (live Metropolitan Opera House – stage director) Carmen (1978) The Champ (1979) Endless Love (1981) – Razzie Award nominee Pagliacci (1982) with Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas Cavalleria rusticana (1982) with Plácido Domingo and Elena Obraztsova La Bohème (1982) (live Metropolitan Opera – stage director) La Traviata (1982) – Academy Award nominee, BAFTA winner, art direction; with Teresa Stratas and Plácido Domingo Tosca (1985) (live Metropolitan Opera – stage director) Otello (1986) – BAFTA winner, foreign language film; with Plácido Domingo and Katia Ricciarelli Young Toscanini (1988) Hamlet (1990) Don Giovanni (live Metropolitan Opera – stage director) Don Carlo with Luciano Pavarotti and Daniela Dessì (live La Scala – stage director) Storia di una capinera (also known as Sparrow; 1993) with Sheherazade Ventura Jane Eyre (1996) Tea with Mussolini (1999) Callas Forever (2002)