Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Burt Kennedy

Burton Raphael ‘Burt’ Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director best known for his work in Western films and television, where he blended taut action with wry humor across a four-decade career. Born in Muskegon, Michigan on September 3, 1922, to vaudeville performers who headlined as the Dancing Kennedys, he joined their act at age five, touring the country and developing an early affinity for performance and storytelling.

Kennedy's path to Hollywood was shaped by his World War II service in the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, where he earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart for his role in liberating the Philippines. After the war, he settled in California, studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse on the GI Bill before transitioning to writing radio Westerns. His breakthrough came in 1956 when he sold his original screenplay “Seven Men from Now” to John Wayne's Batjac Productions, launching a series of collaborations with director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott that included “The Tall T” (1957), “Ride Lonesome” (1959), and “Comanche Station” (1960), taut, psychologically layered Westerns celebrated for their spare dialogue and moral complexity.

Transitioning to directing in the early 1960s, Kennedy helmed a string of lighthearted Western comedies and adventures, including “The Rounders” (1965), “The War Wagon” (1967) starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, “Support Your Local Sheriff!” (1969) and its sequel “Support Your Local Gunfighter!” (1971) with James Garner, and “Dirty Dingus Magee” (1970) featuring Frank Sinatra. His style emphasized character-driven narratives, ensemble casts, and subtle satire of genre conventions, earning praise for films like “Welcome to Hard Times” (1967), often regarded as his most visually striking and thematically ambitious work. He also directed episodes of popular TV series such as ‘The Lawman’, ‘The Virginian’, and ‘Combat!’, extending his influence into television. Later honored with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame in 1996 and the Nebraskaland Days Buffalo Bill Award in 2000, Kennedy died of cancer at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, survived by two daughters and five grandchildren; he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Burt Kennedy directed four Spaghetti westerns: “The Canadians” in 1961, “El regreso de los siete Magnificos” (Return of the Seven) in 1966, “Hannie Caulder” in 1970 and “La spina dorsale del diavolo” (The Deserter) with Niksa Fulgosi.

KENNEDY Burt (aka Z.X. Jones) (Burton Raphael Kennedy) [9/3/1922, Muskegon, Michigan, U.S.A. – 2/15/2001, Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.A. (poisoned)] – producer, director, writer, son of dancers John F. Reed [1889-1946], Gertrude Amelia Hagen [1892-1978] brother of director, writer, dancer actor Ken Kennedy [1918-1999] married to Sue Ella Hampton [1927-1978] (1952-1972) father of Susan Dacus Kennedy-McNutt [1956-2018], Bridget D. Kennedy [1958-    ], married to director, actress Sheila Teresa Foster [1953-2010] (1973-19??).

The Canadians – 1961

Return of the Seven – 1966

Hannie Caulder - 1970

The Deserter – 1971 (co)

Spaghetti Western – 1981 [Film was never made.]

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Robert de Nesle

Robert de Nesle was a French film producer, director, screenwriter, and composer known for his prolific output in post-war French cinema. He founded and controlled the production company Comptoir Français de Productions Cinématographiques (CFPC), which he used to oversee more than 100 films across genres including adventure, comedy, horror, and erotic cinema from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Born in Rouen, France on August 1, 1906, Nesle entered the film industry during the mid-20th century and quickly established himself as a key figure in independent production. His early works included directing and producing “Après vous, duchesse...” (1954), a comedy, as well as co-producing adventure films like “Le Vicomte de Bragelonne” (1954) and “Les Légions de Cléopâtre” (1960). By the 1960s, he backed notable projects such as Georges Franju's acclaimed adaptation “Judex” (1963), a stylish homage to silent-era serials. In his later career, Nesle shifted toward exploitation cinema, frequently collaborating with Spanish director Jesús Franco on titles including “Les possédées du diable” (1974) and “Das Frauenhaus” (1977), which explored themes of horror and sensuality.

Robert de Nesle co-wrote on screenplay for a Spaghetti western, “Johnny West il Mancino” (Johnny West) with Jerez Aloza, Gianfranco Parolini and  Giovanni Simonelli.

de NESLE, Robert (aka Robert Hughe) [8/1/1906, Rouen, Seine-Inférieure, France – 4/21/1978, Paris, Île-de-France, France] – producer, director, assistant director, writer, composer, owner of the Production company CFPC (Comptoir Français de Productions Cinématographiques).

Johnny West – 1965 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Armando Nannuzzi

Armando Nannuzzi was an Italian cinematographer and camera operator known for his prolific career spanning six decades, during which he worked on over 100 films from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Born in Rome on September 21, 1925, Nannuzzi began in the film industry as a camera operator in the early 1940s before advancing to cinematographer by the mid-1950s.

He formed notable collaborations with director Luchino Visconti on films including “Sandra” (1965) and “The Damned” (1969), and also served as cinematographer on high-profile projects such as Sergei Bondarchuk's epic “Waterloo” (1970), the comedy sequel “La Cage aux Folles II” (1980), Stephen King's “Maximum Overdrive” (1986), during the filming of which he lost his right eye in an on-set accident involving a malfunctioning radio-controlled prop, leading to a lawsuit against King and others that was later settled out of court, and Roger Corman's “Frankenstein Unbound” (1990).

Nannuzzi occasionally directed films, among them” L'albero dalle foglie rosa” (1974) and “Holiday Hookers” (1976), and received multiple award nominations, including two from BAFTA, along with other wins and nominations across his career.

Armando died on May 14, 2001, in Ostia, near Rome.

Armando Nannuzzi was a co-cinematographer on two Spaghetti westerns: “Il mio nome è Nessuno” (My Name is Nobody) with Giuseppe Ruzzolini and Giuseppe Ruzzolini and “Valdez, il mezzosangue” (Chino) with Godofredo Pacheco in 1973.

NANNUZZI, Armando [9/21/1925, Rome, Lazio, Italy – 5/14/2001, Ostia, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – director, cinematographer, cameraman.

My Name is Nobody – 1972 (co)

Chino – 1973 (co)