Franco Zeffirelli

In 1996, it was revealed that Franco Zeffirelli is a gay. He however, likes to call himself as homosexual, because he finds the term more elegant. He has two adopted sons, who look after his affairs. Other than that he is very discreet about his personal life.

Franco Zeffirelli was born on 12 February 1923, in the outskirts of Florence out of an extramarital affair between Ottorino Corsi, wool and silk dealer, and Alaide Garosi, a fashion designer. Both of them were married and so he could neither be given his father’s name nor could his mother take him home.

His mother placed him with a peasant family, but did not really abandon him. Originally he was named Gianfranco Corsi, but later she changed it to Franco Zeffiretti (meaning "little breezes" as mentioned in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte). However, it was misspelled during registration and thus he became Zeffirelli.

After her husband’s death two years later, Alaide Garosi’s brought her son home. Unfortunately, she died from tuberculosis within four years and so six years old Franco went to live with his father’s cousin Lide and grew up under the patronage of the English expatriate community, known as the Scorpioni.

He had his schooling at Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, an esteemed art school founded during the Renaissance. On passing out from there in 1941, he entered the University of Florence with art and architecture on the advice of his father. Here he came in touch with the University’s theatre group.

By now Italy had joined the Second World War as an Axis power. Zeffirelli joined the resistance group and started working as an interpreter for the British soldiers of the 1st Scots Guards.

Franco Zeffirelli began his career as a screen painter. In 1946, he met Luchino Visconti and joined his Morelli-Stoppa Company as an actor and assistant director. After working with him in different films, most important of which was ‘La terra trema’ (1948), he decided to concentrate on stage design.

His first major work in this field was 1952-1953 production of ‘L’Italiana in Algeri’. It was a two act drama giocoso by Gioachino Rossini, held at La Scala, Milan.

Concurrently, he kept on assisting well-known film directors and worked in films like ‘Bellissima’ (1951), 'Senso' (1954), 'Lo Scapolo' (1955) and 'Andrea Chenier ' (1955). Since then he has been successfully shuttling between opera, theatre and films.

In 1960s, he successfully designed and directed his own plays in London and New York; but soon his interest turned to film direction. He first chose William Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’, starting work in 1966. The film had Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the lead role and was shot in Italy.

However, before he could finish it, flood on the Arno River (in November 1966) caused havoc in Florence, killing more than a hundred people, destroying many invaluable art pieces. Zeffirelli stopped the work to make a documentary on it.

‘Taming of the Shrew’ (1967), ‘Romeo Juliet’ (1968), ‘Hamlet’ (1990) and ‘Tea with Mussolini’ (1999) are some of Zeffirelli’s best pictures. In the field of opera, his most important works were ‘La trant viata’, ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’, ‘La Bohème’, ‘Tosca’, ‘Falstaff’, and ‘Carmen’.

Television miniseries titled ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ is another of his important work. First aired from 27 March to 24 April 1977, it has been re-telecast several times. Even today in many countries, the miniseries is telecast every Christmas and Easter