Franco ZEFFIRELLI (1923)
Italian Film & Stage Director, Set Designer
Franco Zeffirelli began his career doing sumptuous set designs for opera productions at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera (some of which are so popular that they are still in use). He went on to direct opera, particularly with Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland. In the mid-1960s he turned to film direction with the Richard Burton / Elizabeth Taylor
The Taming of the Shrew (1967). He followed that up with his classic
Romeo & Juliet (1968) - which if you haven't seen you must find immediately. He also did
Hamlet (1990) with Mel Gibson, Jesus of Nazareth (1977) on television, and his autobiographical
Tea with Mussolini (1999).
Mr. Zeffirelli was openly gay and also was an Italian senator for a time.