Franco Zeffirelli, who directed the world’s greatest opera singers and brought Shakespeare to the cinema-going masses, has died. He was 96.
In a statement, his foundation said he died in Rome on Saturday. “Ciao Maestro,” said the announcement.
Often appreciated more by the public than critics, Mr. Zeffirelli was the last of a generation of Italian film giants who came of age after the Second World War, including Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Vittorio De Sica.
He directed over two dozen films, working with stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness, Faye Dunaway, and Jon Voight.
Mr. Zeffirelli’s opera productions for the stage included singers such as Maria Callas, Placido Domingo, Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto and Jose Carreras.
In a 2013 interview to mark his 90th birthday, he said the general public would remember him most for his 1968 film of Romeo and Juliet , the 1977 television mini-series Jesus of Nazareth , and Brother Sun, Sister Moon , his 1972 film tribute to St. Francis of Assisi.
Romeo and Juliet , one of several times Mr. Zeffirelli brought Shakespeare to the screen, was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director Oscars. His 1990 Hamlet starred Mel Gibson.
A homosexual and devout Catholic, he revealed in his 2006 autobiography that he had been seduced by a priest when he was a teenager. But he said it was not molestation because there was no violence. Mr. Zeffirelli hated the term “gay”, saying it was ”undignified”.
