Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally asFranco Nero, is an Italian actor. His breakthrough role was as thetitle character in theSpaghetti Western filmDjango (1966), which made him apop culture icon and launched an international career that includes over 200 leading and supporting roles in a wide variety of films and television productions.^[1]

Franco Nero
Nero in 2016
Born	Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (1941-11-23)23 November 1941 (age 83) San Prospero Parmense, Parma, Italy
Occupation(s)	Actor, producer, director
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Vanessa Redgrave ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	2, includingCarlo
Relatives	Natasha Richardson (stepdaughter) Joely Richardson (stepdaughter)

During the 1960s and 1970s, Nero was actively involved in many popular Italian "genre trends", includingpolizieschi,gialli and Spaghetti Westerns. His best-known films include:The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966),Camelot (1967),The Day of the Owl (1968),The Mercenary (1968),Battle of Neretva (1969),Tristana (1970),Compañeros (1970),Confessions of a Police Captain (1971),The Fifth Cord (1971),High Crime (1973),Street Law (1974),Keoma (1976),Hitch-Hike (1977),Force 10 from Navarone (1978),Enter the Ninja (1981),Die Hard 2 (1990),Letters to Juliet (2010),Cars 2 (2011),John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), andThe Pope's Exorcist (2023).

Nero has had a long relationship withVanessa Redgrave, which began during the filming ofCamelot. With Redgrave, Nero starred in two films directed byTinto Brass:Dropout (1970) andLa Vacanza (1971). They were married in 2006, and are the parents of the actorCarlo Gabriel Nero (b.1969).

Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero^{[2][3][4][5][6]} was born inSan Prospero Parmense (Parma, Emilia-Romagna), the son of a commissioned officer in theCarabinieri.^[7] His parents were originally fromSan Severo (Foggia, Apulia).^[8][9] He grew up inBedonia and inMilan. He studied briefly at the Economy and Trade faculty of the local university, before leaving to study at thePiccolo Teatro di Milano.^[10]

Nero's first film role was a small part inPelle viva (1962),^[11] and he had his first lead role inSergio Corbucci'sDjango (1966) aSpaghetti Western and one of his best-known films.^[12] In 1966 fromDjango he went on to appear in eight more films released that year includingTexas, Adios (1966) andMassacre Time.

In 1967, he appeared inCamelot asLancelot, where Nero met his longtime romantic partner, and later his wife,Vanessa Redgrave.^[13][14] Following this he appeared in the mafia filmIl The Day of the Owl oppositeClaudia Cardinale released in 1968.^[15]

A lack of proficiency in English tended to limit these roles, although Nero also appeared in other English-language films includingThe Virgin and the Gypsy (1970),Force 10 from Navarone (1978),Enter the Ninja (1981) andDie Hard 2 (1990).^[16]

Although often typecast in films likeLos amigos (1973) orKeoma (1976) he has attempted an impressive range of characters, such asAbel inJohn Huston's epicThe Bible: In The Beginning (1966), the humiliated engineer out for revenge inStreet Law, the gay lieutenant inQuerelle (1982), andSerbian mediaeval hero inThe Falcon (1983). Nero has appeared in over 150 films, and has written, produced and starred in one:Jonathan degli orsi (1993).^[17]

More recently, Nero starred in Hungarian directorKoltay Gábor [hu]'sHonfoglalás (Conquest) in 1996, inLi chiamarono... briganti! (1999) byPasquale Squitieri and subsequently in Koltay'sSacra Corona (Holy Crown) in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, Nero played an eccentric author called "Mario Puzzo" inMord 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 after his appearances there is still so much film left."^[18]

In 2010, Nero appeared in the filmLetters to Juliet with Redgrave.^[19][20] In 2011, he appeared as a guest star on the season 13 premiere episode ofLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit. His character, although Italian, was based onDominique Strauss-Kahn.^[21] In the same year, he received a star on theItalian Walk of Fame inToronto, Ontario, Canada.^[22]

In 2012, Nero made acameo appearance in the filmDjango Unchained in one scene alongsideJamie Foxx, who stars as Django Freeman in the film. Nero, playing the original Django, questions Foxx's Django about how his name is spelled, and asks him to spell it, referencing a scene from Nero's role as Django in the originalDjango film. Upon learning that their names are spelled the same way, Nero's Django says "I know" to Foxx's Django.^[23]

In 2016 and 2017, he interpretedGabriele Tinti's poetry, giving voice to the masterpieces in theNational Roman Museum.^[24][25]

Nero appears in the dark comedy feature filmThe Immortalist in 2020, along withSherilyn Fenn,Paul Rodriguez,Aries Spears and Jeff DuJardin, directed by Vlad Kozlov.^[26]

In June 2024,principal photography was completed onThe Estate, a feature drama, executive produced by Nero, his wife Vanessa Redgrave, and sonCarlo Gabriel Nero. The film is written and directed by his son, and stars Nero and Vanessa Redgrave.^[27]

His romantic involvement with English actressVanessa Redgrave began in 1966 when they met on the set ofCamelot. In 1969, they had a son, Carlo Gabriel Redgrave Sparanero (known professionally asCarlo Gabriel 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.^[28] Carlo Nero directed Redgrave in the cinematic adaptation ofWallace Shawn's playThe Fever.^[29]

Nero dated actressesCatherine Deneuve,Goldie Hawn andUrsula Andress in the 1970s.^[30][31][32]

In 1983, he had a second son, Frank Sparanero (also known as Frankie Nero or Frank Nero Jr). Born inRome by Danica Pevec (a.k.a. Alexandra Romanov), Frankie began his acting career withPupi Avati in 1996 at a filmFestival and then 1999 with the filmBuck and the Magic Bracelet byTonino Ricci. In addition to being an actor, he is also an artist, architect and photographer.

In December 1987, a paternity suit was filed against him in court inColombia where he was filming a movie. Mauricia Mena claimed that Nero had fathered her son Franquito after a brief romantic affair.^[33]

In 1994, Nero walked his future stepdaughterNatasha Richardson (1963–2009) down the aisle when she married actorLiam Neeson.^[34] Her father,Tony Richardson, had died in 1991.^[35]

• 1985 –Will Change The World/Cambierà (Lovers, LVNP 802, 7" – with his son Carlo)

• Franco Nero atIMDb
• Franco Nero at theTCM Movie Database