Franco Zeffirelli

Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019) was an Italian director and producer of movies and television. He was also an opera director and a designer of Italian operas.

Zeffirelli in May 2008

He was a former senator of Catania (1994–2001). His political party was the Forza Italia party.

He received an honorary knighthood from the British government in 2004 when he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.^[1]

Zeffirelli was born Gianfranco Zeffirelli on 12 February 1923 in Florence, Italy. He was openly gay.^[2] In 2007 and 2018, he was accused of sexually harassing an actor and a movie director.^[3] Zeffirelli died after a long illness on 15 June 2019 in Rome at the age of 96.^[4]