
Franco Nero
Department: Acting
Biography
Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born November 23, 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. 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 programmes. During the 1960s and 1970s, Nero was actively involved in many popular Italian "genre trends", including poliziotteschi, 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), and John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017). Nero has had a long relationship with Vanessa Redgrave, which began during the filming of Camelot. They were married in 2006, and are the parents of the actor Carlo Gabriel Nero.
Known For

Touch and Die
1991

Die Hard 2
1990

The Bible: In the Beginning...
1966

Saint Paul
2000

David
1997

Django
1966

Blood Brothers
1974

Amore e libertà - Masaniello
2006

Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained
2021

Texas, Adios
1966

Keoma
1976

La battaglia di Gorthene
—

The Battle of Neretva
1969

Massacre Time
1966

Tristana
1970

The Wild, Wild Planet
1966

The Man with Bogart's Face
1980

The Fifth Cord
1971

Jonathan of the Bears
1995

Victory March
1976

Compañeros
1970

Bathory: Countess of Blood
2008

The Last Four Days
1974

Killing Is My Business, Honey
2009

The Case Is Closed, Forget It
1971

Day of the Cobra
1980

The Assassination of Matteotti
1973

Brothers and Sisters
1992

Vasco Rossi - È solo un rock'n'roll show
2005

Enter the Ninja
1981

Detective Belli
1969

Cars 2
2011

The Mercenary
1968

Force 10 from Navarone
1978

Restless Heart: The Confessions of Augustine
2010

Django Unchained
2012

The Conquest
1996

Camelot
1967

Along the River
2016

Mimi
1979

The Virgin and the Gypsy
1970

Marina Cicogna - La vita e tutto il resto
2021

Rasputin
2010

21 Hours at Munich
1976

The Fifth Day of Peace
1970

Redneck
1973

Street Law
1974

Hitch Hike
1977

Devil's Crude
1985

Talk of Angels
1998

A Quiet Place in the Country
1968

Cry, Onion!
1975

Li chiamarono... briganti!
1999

White Fang
1973

Django Strikes Again
1987

The Day of the Owl
1968

Fumata blanca
2002

The Shark Hunter
1979

High Crime
1973

War of the Planets
1966

The Flower in His Mouth
1975

The Dragon Ring
1994

Challenge to White Fang
1974

The Harder They Come
1972

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s
2012

Sahara Cross
1977

Man, Pride and Vengeance
1967

The Girl
1987

Mein Herz in Chile
2008

Hans
2006

Harmonie
2020

Amelia Lópes O'Neill
1992

Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears
1973

Top Line
1988

La rabbia
2008

The Salamander
1981

Confessions of a Police Captain
1971

The Tramplers
1965

How to Kill a Judge
1975

Submission
1976

Don't Turn the Other Cheek
1971

Vacation
1971

Gold
1992

La ragion pura
2001

Red Bells Part I: Mexico in Flames
1982

The Blue-Eyed Bandit
1980

Red Bells Part II: I Saw the Birth of a New World
1982

New Order
2012

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Last Works
1982

Memories They Told Me
2013

Post Coitum
2004

Race to Danger
1988

Crazy Dog
2012

Márió, a varázsló
2008

Prigioniero di un segreto
2010

Young Toscanini
1988

Obsessive Rhythms
2014

The Hired Killer
1966

Death Rite
1975

Django, Sartana, Trinita' et les autres…
2014

The Falcon
1983

A Double Victory
1989

The Last Alchemist
2012

Killer Mermaid
2014

Giorni felici
2023

Megiddo: The Omega Code 2
2001

The Monk
1972

In the Hand of Dante
2025

Grog
1982

Smiling Maniacs
1975

On Our Way
2023

The Pope's Exorcist
2023

Sardinia Kidnapped
1968

Die achte Todsünde: Das Toskana-Karussell
2002

Un altare per la madre
1986

Elio Petri: Notes About a Filmmaker
2005

Das Babylon Komplott
1993

Desert of Fire
1997

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2014

Il tesoro di Damasco
1998

Sacra Corona
2001

The Man from Rome
2022

The Visitor
1979

The Last Gunfighter
2002

In the Company of Compañeros
2001

Mirka
2000

A Night at the Grand Hotel
2008

Io e il re
1995

Test of Memory
1993

Figli di Maam
2014

The Duel
2021

The Legend of Valentino
1975

The Outsider: The Cinema of Antonio Margheriti
2013

Road to Ruin
2016

Earth
2015

Mineurs
2007

We Are Cinema
2021

Run for Your Life
1988

I Tarantiniani
2013

Entree Des Artists
2020

Die Försterbuben
1984

André schafft sie alle
1985

The Pirate
1978

Handy
2013

Rack Up
1997

I Knew Her Well
1965

The Temptation Of Gracie
—

Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern
2006

Le rose di Danzica
1979

Django Lives!
—

The Innocent Sleep
1996

Love Island
2014

Forever Blues
2005

Pope Joan
1972

Summer Solstice
2005

The Estate
2025

Der Fall Lucona
1993

The Crusaders
2001

La Celestina P… R…
1965

Breath of Life
1990

Franco Cristaldi e il suo cinema Paradiso
2009

John Wick: Chapter 2
2017

The Time of Their Lives
2017

The Lost City of Z
2017

Uninvited
2000

Dropout
1970

The Neighborhood
2017

Bad Inclination
2003

The Repenter
1985

The Broken Key
2017

The Final Inquiry
2007

Magdalene
1988

Agony
2017

Iceman
2017

The Versace Murder
1998

Kamikaze '89
1982

The Uncrowned Heart
2003

The Spaghetti West
2005

Il crimine non va in pensione
2017

A Rose in Winter
2019

Red Land
2018

The Holy Family
2006

Guardians of the Clouds
2004

The Collini Case
2019

Sergio Corbucci: The Smiling Man
2015

Sweet Country
1987

Ultimo stadio
2002

Italian Engagement
1964

Ed è subito sera
2019

Bastardi
2008

Giornata Nera
2006

Un delitto
1963

Christmas in Rome
2019

The Medal
1997

The Third Eye
1966

Road to Capri
2015

Querelle
1982

Letters to Juliet
2010

Istintobrass
2013

Off the Rails
2021

Azzurro profondo
1993

The Dark Dance
2020

Recon
2019

Havana Kyrie
2019

Red Chairs - Parma and the Cinema
2014

Immortalist
2020

Bella Mafia
1997

The Man Who Drew God
2023

Silent Life: The Story of the Lady in Black
2023

The Match
2021

The Jester from Transylvania
2024

Two Men Alone
2021

Father
2011

Two Families
2007

Buon Lavoro
2022

Compagni d'arte
2024

Titanus 1904
2024

Franco Nero: Back in the Saddle
2001

Scorched Skin
1962

Winds of Passion
2000

Roma elastica
—

The Run
2025

From Time to Time
1992

Chimera
2001

Il Vecchio Terribile
2026

Ulisse - The pleasure of discovery
2001

Viva el lunes
1995

The Hitchhiker
1983

Delicious
2016

Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons
2008

Der Fürst und das Mädchen
2003

Il sangue e la rosa
2008

Painted Lady
1997

Liebe, Lügen, Leidenschaften
2002

Blaues Blut
1989

Emigratis
2016

Desert of Fire
1997

The Last Days of Pompeii
1984

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999

Through the Night with...
2002

Desideria e l'anello del drago
1995

The Return of Sandokan
1996

I promessi sposi
1989

Rosamunde Pilcher - Magic of Love
2005

Young Catherine
1991

Na sowas!
1982

L'inchiesta - Anno Domini XXXIII
2007

Django
2023

Augustine: The Decline of the Roman Empire
2010

La voce del sangue
2001

Der große Preis
1974

David
1997

Davide
1997

Saint Paul
2000

Mein Herz in Chile
2008

The Crusaders
2001

Le rose di Danzica
1981