Akademik

(1941-)

(Born Francesco Sparanero.) Actor. Abandoning a university degree in economics, Nero studied acting at the Piccolo Teatro of Milan before moving to Rome to make his screen debut in a small part in Alfredo Gianetti's La ragazza inprestito (Engagement Italiano, 1964). A year later he began appearing in a wide variety of films, from B-graders like Antonio Margheriti's I criminali della galassia (Wild, Wild Planet, 1965) to art films like Carlo Lizzani's La Celestina P. R. (Celestial Maid at Your Service, 1965) and Antonio Pietrangeli's Io la conoscevo bene (I Knew Her Well, 1966). He soon made his mark in what would remain one of his most famous roles, as the deadly tongue-in-cheek gunslinger in Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966). He subsequently played Abel in John Huston's production of The Bible: In the Beginning (1966) and his rugged good looks and flashing blue eyes made him a natural choice for the part of Lancelot in Joshua Logan's Camelot (1967). While filming Camelot he met English actress Vanessa Redgrave, who became his long-term partner. A year later, with a growing international reputation, he received the David di Donatello for his interpretation of Captain Bellodi in Damiano Damiani's adaptation of Leonardo Sciascia's mafia novel, Il giorno della civetta (The Day of the Owl, 1968).

   Nero continued to appear in a host of films in the 1970s, alternating with ease between Italian and foreign productions, and between popular genre and auteur cinema. Alongside Westerns like Viva la muerte . . . tua! (Don't Turn the Other Cheek, 1971) and crime thrillers such as Il cittadino si ribelle (The Citizen Rebels, 1973), he also appeared in Luis Bunuel's Tristana (1970) and played the ill-fated Socialist deputy, Giacomo Matteotti, in Florestano Vancini's Il delitto Matteotti (The Assassination of Matteotti, 1973). For the next two decades he continued to exhibit an enormous versatility as he moved between international action thrillers like Enter the Ninja (1981) and Die Hard 2 (1990) and auteur films like Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Querelle (1982) and Pupi Avati's Fratelli e sorelle (Brothers and Sisters, 1992). The 1990s, however, saw him less on the big screen and more on European television, featuring in everything from German telefilms such as Das Babylon Komplott (The Babylon Conspiracy, 1993) to Italian miniseries such as Desideria e l'anello del drago (The Dragon Ring, 1994). In 2003, after appearing in almost 150 films, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Milano Film Festival. Still much in demand as an actor, he also tried his hand at producing and directing in Forever Blues (2005), a much-praised effort that was awarded the Fregene Fellini Prize for direction.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira