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Franco Nero, The famous actor. Photo By 9EkieraM1 –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Franco Nero   

Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero, known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. He has worked in several Italian and English movies and is best known for his lead role of 鈥楧jango鈥� in the Italian 鈥淪paghetti Western鈥� film of the same name.   

He has performed leading and supporting roles since and is in a wide variety of films, like The Bible (1966), Hitch-Hike (1977), Die Hard 2 (1990), and Letters to Juliet (2010).   

Franco Nero is one of the most original and professional actors in Italian motion pictures. 

Here are the top 10 interesting facts about Franco Nero. 

1. Franco鈥檚 Dad Was A Police Officer 

Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero was born during World War II on 23rd November 1941 at San Prospero Parmense, in Parma, Italy. His childhood was simple as he grew up in the farming countryside in Bedonia and Milan.  

Franco鈥檚 father was a Carabinieri, a strict police officer who worked hard for his family and community. He has a brother named Raffaele Sparanero who is also an actor. 

2. He Went To Theater School 

Franco Nero (Django). Photo By Sergio Corbucci –

Franco started acting in school plays when he was as young as six years. His inclination for acting became obvious in his teenage years when he went beyond acting and began organizing student plays. 

He studied briefly at the Economy and Trade faculty of Milan University before leaving to study at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano. After a short stint at this leading theater school, he moved to Rome and went to Cinecitt脿 Studios which is considered the hub of Italian cinema. 

3. Franco Did Other Jobs On The Crew 

After moving to Rome, he joined a small group of friends and they started making documentaries. Not being sure what he wanted to do, Franco multi- tasked doing various jobs on the crew. He was also appearing in popular Italian photo novels.  

In Cinecitt脿, he was discovered as an actor by the director John Huston.  He would initially play insignificant characters in Italian films. The fact that he lacked proficiency in English did not help matters but he did not give up.  

Luckily in 1962, Franco debuted when he appeared in Pelle viva by Giuseppe Fina, with Elsa Martinelli. Within a short time, he had worked in science fiction, thriller, detective, comedy, adventure, and western films. 

His quality leap was in 1965 in Io la conoscevo bene by Antonio Pietrangeli, with Ugo Tognazzi and Stefania Sandrelli. 

4. He Met His Future Wife On A Movie Set 

Vanessa Redgrave, wife of Franco Nero. Photo By Georges Biard –

Franco鈥檚 success came after he got the role of the lonely gunfighter, dragging a coffin, in one of the best spaghetti westerns. He was the handsome face in Sergio Corbucci’s Django in 1966 which was his first lead role. Nero then filmed a few other westerns of that style as Ferdinando Baldi’s Texas, Adios (1966), and Lucio Fulci’s Massacre Time (1966). 

He was cast in Camelot as Lancelot in 1967. It is here where he met his longtime romantic partner and future wife, Vanessa Redgrave. This is the film that earned him his first Golden Globe nomination for his role. 

They dated for a while before parting ways. After separating for many years, during which they both had relationships with other people, they reunited and got married on 31 December 2006. The two have worked together in many movies after that, like in 2010 in the film Letters to Juliet. 

5. He is Not Only An Actor But He Also Writes, Produces, And Directs  

He played with Catherine Deneuve in Luis Bu帽uel’s Tristana (1970) and was directed by Sergey Bondarchuk in the war drama The Battle of Neretva (1969). Later, director Bondarchuk cast Nero for the role of famous American reporter “John Reed” in the two-part “Krasnye kolokola II” (1982).  

In the late 60s and during the 70s, Nero played many different roles, but most of them connected with the political and criminal genres, which criticized the Italian justice system. 

At the beginning of the 80s, he also began producing, writing, and directing. Between films, he participates in various theatrical events.   

6. Franco鈥檚 Two Sons Are In The Film Industry 

Franco Nero with his and Vanessa Redgrave’s son Carlo Gabriel Nero in 1979. Photo By Alan Light –

After meeting Vanessa Redgrave and falling head over heels in love with her on the set of Camelot in 1966, the couple was blessed with a son. They named him Carlo Gabriel Redgrave Sparanero, and he grew up to become a screenwriter and director. He is well known professionally as Carlo Gabriel Nero.  

Franco and Vanessa鈥檚 relationship did not last for very long. They moved on and even had other partners but as fate would have it, they two reunited and got married decades later, on 31 December 2006. Franco married into the Redgrave family of actors. 

In 1983 he had a second son, Frank Sparanero who is also known as Frankie Nero or Frank Nero Jr. He was born in Rome and began his acting career in 1996 at a film festival. In addition to being an actor, he is also an artist, architect, and photographer. 

Two of Franco鈥檚 stepdaughters are also actresses. Joely Richardson and the late Natasha Richardson are daughters of Vanessa. 

7. Franco Made A Cameo Appearance In Django Unchained 

In the early 80s, Nero was chosen for the role of the white ninja, “Cole”, in Enter the Ninja (1981) and in 1990 as terrorist “Gen. Esperanza”, opposite Bruce Willis, in Renny Harlin’s Die Hard 2 (1990).  

He has also played the roles of leading national heroes, such as “Garibaldi” (Italy), “Arpad” (Hungary), and “Banovic Strahinja” (Yugoslavia). In the USA, he has been in successful mini-series, such as “The Pirate” (Warner Bros), “The Last Days of Pompeii” (CBS), “Young Catherine” (TNT), “Bella Mafia” (CBS), “The Painted Lady”, “Saint Augustine”, and others.

In 2012, Nero made a cameo appearance in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. He also played the narrator in the film Rasputin (2010), directed by Louis Nero, and voiced the character of Uncle Topolino in the animated film Cars 2 (2011) directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Brad Lewis. 

Bruce Willis is on our famous bald people list.

8. He Was Knighted in Italy And Has A Star On The Walk Of Fame 

Franco Nero. Photo By 9EkieraM1 –

Over the years, Franco has received many awards and honors. In 1992, a knighthood of the Italian Republic was bestowed on him by the President of Italy for his artistic merits. 

 In 2011, he was honored by Brunel University of London with the honorary degree of doctor of Letters honoris causa. He also has a star on the Walk of Fame in Toronto. 

Another Italian actor you can read about is Michele Morrone.

9. Franco Does Charity Work 

Apart from his cinematographic work, Franco is a philanthropist and is associated with several charitable organizations that he works with. For close to 60 years, he has been a benefactor of the Don Bosco orphanage in Tivoli.  

Working with this village of orphans and young people at the mission keeps him young and full of life. It feels good to give back and to have a purpose to positively impact the lives of needy people. 

10. He Is Still Full Of Energy 

Franco does not have any health-related issues and he does not eat junk or unhealthy meals. He is energetic and still feels young physically. Being athletic, this actor is in good health and continues to be active in the entertainment industry many decades later. 

You can read about Roberto Mancini here and other famous Italians here.