ZEFFIRELLI, FRANCO

(1923-)

(Born Gianfranco Corsi.) Art director, costume designer, director of theater, opera, and film. Zeffirelli became active in student theater while studying architecture at the University of Florence. In the immediate postwar period he abandoned his architectural studies and embarked on a career as a theatrical set and costume designer, working onstage withLuchino Viscontibefore serving as one of the assistant directors on Visconti's ill-fatedLa terra trema(The Earth Trembles, 1948). After serving a further apprenticeship with Visconti onBellissima(1951) andSenso(The Wanton Countess, 1954), Zeffirelli directed his first feature, the light comedyCamping(1957).After this foray into film he returned to work extensively on the stage, designing and directing a number of acclaimed theatrical productions in London and New York. In 1962 he received the Tony Award for his design and direction of a much-lauded production of Shakespeare'sRomeo and Julietat the Old Vic in London.

In the late 1960s Zeffirelli achieved international renown for his innovative Shakespearean film adaptations, beginning in 1967 with a flamboyant version ofThe Taming of the Shrewthat starred Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and was nominated for two Oscars. A year later he cast two unknown teenage actors in a youthful version ofRomeo and Julietthat was nominated for four Academy Awards, in the event winning two of them, as well as fiveDavid di Donatello.

Zeffirelli subsequently alternated between directing theater and opera on stage, and films such asBrother Sun, Sister Moon(1973), but he also often managed to combine stage and screen, as in the filmed versions ofLa traviata(1982),Cavalleria rusticana(1982), andOtello(1986). In 1990 he returned to Shakespeare with his screen adaptation ofHamlet(1990), with Mel Gibson playing the lead. In the following years he filmed a creditable adaptation of Charlotte Bronte'sJane Eyre(1996), effectively recreated the Florence of his youth inUn the con Mussolini(Tea with Mussolini, 1999), and created a tribute to one of the divas he often worked with on the stage inCallas Forever(2002).

In 2004, having been elected to the Italian Senate in the ranks ofForza Italia, Zeffirelli was recognized for his services to the performing arts in Britain with the award of an honorary British knighthood.