Film while filming
Romeo and Juliet in 1967 Zeffirelli's first film as director was a version of
The Taming of the Shrew (1967), originally intended for
Sophia Loren and
Marcello Mastroianni but featuring the Hollywood stars
Elizabeth Taylor and
Richard Burton in their stead. Taylor and Burton helped fund production and took a percentage of the profits rather than their normal salaries. While editing
The Taming of the Shrew, Zeffirelli's native Florence was
devastated by floods. A month later, he released a short documentary, entitled
Florence: Days of Destruction, to raise funds for the disaster appeal. Zeffirelli's major breakthrough came the year after, when he presented two teenagers as
Romeo and Juliet (1968). It made Zeffirelli a household name – no other subsequent work by him had the immediate impact of
Romeo and Juliet. The film earned $14.5 million in domestic rentals at the North American box office in 1969. It was re-released in 1973 and earned $1.7 million in rentals. Film critic
Roger Ebert, for the
Chicago Sun-Times, wrote: "I believe Franco Zeffirelli's
Romeo and Juliet is the most exciting film of
Shakespeare ever made". After two successful film adaptations of Shakespeare, Zeffirelli went on to religious themes, first with a film about the life of
St. Francis of Assisi titled
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), then his extended mini-series
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) with an all-star cast. The latter was a major success in the ratings. He moved on to contemporary themes with a remake of the boxing picture
The Champ (1979) and the critically panned
Endless Love (1981). In the 1980s, he made a series of successful films adapting opera to the screen, with such stars as
Plácido Domingo,
Teresa Stratas,
Juan Pons and
Katia Ricciarelli. He returned to Shakespeare with
Hamlet (1990), casting
Mel Gibson in the lead role. His adaptation of the
Charlotte Brontë novel
Jane Eyre (1996) was a critical success. Zeffirelli frequently cast unknown actors in major roles:
Leonard Whiting (Romeo in
Romeo and Juliet),
Graham Faulkner (St. Francis in
Brother Sun, Sister Moon) and
Martin Hewitt (David Axelrod in
Endless Love).
Opera Zeffirelli was a major director of opera productions from the 1950s in Italy and elsewhere in Europe as well as the United States. He began his career in the theatre as assistant to Luchino Visconti. Then he tried his hand at scenography. His first work as a director was
buffo operas by
Gioachino Rossini. He became a friend of
Maria Callas and they worked together on a
La traviata in
Dallas, Texas, in 1958. Of particular note is his 1964
Royal Opera House production of
Tosca with Maria Callas and
Tito Gobbi. In the same year, he created Callas' last
Norma at the Paris Opera. He also staged at the
Vienna State Opera:
Don Giovanni (1972),
La Bohème (1963), and
Carmen with
Elena Obraztsova and
Plácido Domingo in 1978. Zeffirelli also collaborated with
Joan Sutherland, designing and directing her performances of
Gaetano Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor in 1959. Over the years he created several productions for the
Metropolitan Opera in New York, including
La bohème,
Tosca,
Turandot and
Don Giovanni. When the new
Metropolitan Opera opened at Lincoln Center, he directed its first production,
Samuel Barber's
Antony and Cleopatra, starring Leontyne Price. ==Honours==