Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film Django (1966), which made him a pop culture icon and launched an international career that includes over 200 leading and supporting roles in a wide variety of films and television productions.
Biography[]
Born in Parma (a province in San Prospero Parmense, Italy), Nero grew up in Bedonia and 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 Pelle viva (1962). Soon after, he had his first lead role in Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966), a Spaghetti Western which has since gained a cult following and a status as one of his best-known films. Later in that year, he went on to appear in eight more films, including Texas, Adios and Massacre Time.
In 1967, he appeared in Camelot as Lancelot, where Nero met his longtime romantic partner, and later his wife, Vanessa Redgrave.
Nero's earlier English-language roles were initially limited as he had not mastered the language yet, but he eventually landed more roles in English-language films, including The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Enter the Ninja (1981) and Die Hard 2 (1990).
In some of his more recent roles, he has made notable appearances in the films Letters to Juliet (2010), Cars 2 (2011), Django Unchained (2012), The Lost City of Z (2016), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), and The Pope's Exorcist (2023).
Nero has also directed two feature films: Forever Blues (2005) and The Man Who Drew God (2022), which he also wrote and starred in.
Dub Actors[]
| Actor | No. of Titles | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Himself | 5 | 
|
| Frank Latimore | 1 | |
| Tony Russel | ||
| Marc Smith | 
| |
| Dan Sturkie |
|
Filmography[]
Original Actor[]
| Year | Character | Title | Dub Voice | Dub Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Django | Django | Tony Russel | Italy |
| Tom Corbett | Massacre Time | Dan Sturkie | ||
| Unknown | United States | |||
| 1970 | Yodlaf Peterson | Compañeros | Himself | Italy |
| 1971 | Deputy D.A. Traini | Confessions of a Police Captain | Frank Latimore | |
| 1974 | Carlo Antonelli | Street Law | Himself | |
| Giacomo Solaris | How to Kill a Judge | |||
| 1976 | Keoma Shannon | Keoma | ||
| 1979 | Mike Di Donato | The Shark Hunter | ||
| 1981 | Cole | Enter the Ninja | Marc Smith | United Kingdom |
External Links[]
- Franco Nero at the Internet Movie Database