Franco Nero

Franco Nero (born November 23, 1941, in San Prospero Parmense, Emilia-Romagna) is an Italian screen icon whose career has spanned decades, languages, and genres. Also credited as Frank Black, Frank Nero, and by his birth name Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero, he built an international reputation not only as an actor, but also as a producer and director.

Nero’s global breakthrough arrived with the title role in Django (1966), a defining Spaghetti Western performance that turned him into a pop-culture fixture and opened the door to a prolific run of leading and supporting parts—well over 200 across film and television. In the 1960s and 1970s, he became closely associated with Italy’s high-energy genre cinema, moving fluidly through westerns, gialli, and crime thrillers.

His filmography ranges from epic and historical work such as The Bible: In the Beginning... (as Abel) and TV roles including Saint Paul (as Gamaliel) and David (as Natan), to Hollywood visibility in Die Hard 2 (as General Ramon Esperanza). Later projects continued to showcase his versatility, including appearances in contemporary international hits.

Off-screen, Nero’s long partnership with Vanessa Redgrave began during Camelot; they married in 2006 and share a son, actor Carlo Gabriel Nero.