I’d completely forgotten about this guy until recently, when he was in a Lacey Chabert “goes to Italy movie” for Hallmark. He was probably 79 at the time (he’d be 81 now). Even at that age you could see the image of what once was. Then I realized I knew him from Force 10 From Navarone (big Alistair MacLean fan). I always thought Franco was the guy from the Fistful of Pesos movies, but that was Gian Maria Volontè (two below). Who died at the ripe old age of 61 in 1994. Another very beautiful Italian man. I’m beginning to think Italy cranks out beautiful men like they do beautiful women (no I’m not that way).
Franco’s bio page at IMDB provides some insight into his career. I thought it was a case of Hollywood didn’t know what to do with him, and he was never utilized fully, but that’s not the case. Evidently in the world of cinema, if you want to take the easy path you play the same character over and over. Think John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Humphrey Bogart. But if you want to have a longer, more varied and fulfilling career, you take a wide variety of roles and never let yourself become typecast.
As he said, “I am the busiest actor. Why? Because an actor either decides he wants to be a star and play the same role over and over, or be an actor and change all the time. If you’re a big Hollywood star, you make one movie a year at the most. I can make five in Europe.”
That coupling is just further evidence of … well something I’m sure. The hoity-toity English actress? Oh well. In the seventies it says he dated Catherine Deneuve, Goldie Hawn and Ursula Andress. He evidently likes unique looking women. In the late 60s and during the 70s, Nero played many different roles, but most of them connected with political and criminal genre, which criticized the Italian justice system. It makes me think Italy’s cliche of being “mobbed up” is true.
Anyway, I just find him an interesting character. He has a great charisma and presence. What’s funny to me at least, with women its not always the ‘pretty boy’ they find attractive. Or at least admit to. You just never know.
Iowa life 
Absolutely one of my all-time favorites! And yes, I’m a “worshiper” of the 1966 Eurowestern Django and bore people to distraction writing about it over at my blog! I even wrote about how an opera version of Django could be presented. His “the D is silent” cameo in Tarantino’s reboot of Django in 2012 made me smile, needless to say. Anyway, sometimes it’s easy to forget that he played the criminal leader of a narco-state in Die Hard 2 among his many roles.
That is fascinating, thanks for the info. Great tidbits. Yeah he was a busy actor alright. (I especially like the bit about it as an opera, that sounds cool) I realized after you said that that it was your post Most Laughably Weird Spaghetti Westerns that was the other memory trigger on him.