Ray Nazarro | |
|---|---|
| Born | Raymond Alfred Nazarro September 25, 1902 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | September 8, 1986 (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Film and television director, producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1929-1964 |
Ray Nazarro (aka "Ray" and "Nat;" né Raymond Alfred Nazarro; September 25, 1902 – September 8, 1986) was an American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. Budd Boetticher called him a "ten day picture guy".[1]
Career
Born in Boston, Nazarro entered the movie business during the silent era. He initially worked in two-reelers, honing an approach to filmmaking that was quick, lean and eminently desirable—to producers, at least—before he became a feature film director at Columbia Pictures, beginning with Outlaws of the Rockies (1945).
Nazarro did the vast majority of his work for Columbia, and was one of the busiest directors on the lot of any major studio—from 1945-55 he worked at a furious pace, directing as many as 13 pictures in one year. These were almost all B-westerns, made very quickly but with some polish. They were lean and uncluttered—a technique he learned in his years directing shorts—with an emphasis on action but also a serious elegiac view of the west. Among them were Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951) and The Black Dakotas (1954).
In 1952, Navarro received an Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Story for Bullfighter and the Lady. Budd Boetticher, who had been a bullfighter, told his life story to Nazarro when he was working for him as an assistant director. Boetticher says he wrote it down and Nazarro typed it up and sold the project to Dore Schary at MGM. Boetticher says this is why Nazarro has credit.[1]
The same year, his contract with Columbia ended,[2] having made around 60 films for them.[3] He next made Gun Belt for United Artists and followed that with The Bandits of Corsica, also for UA, and Kansas Pacific for Allied Artists Pictures,[3] although both were released before Gun Belt. He continued making films for UA and Columbia until 1958's Apache Territory.[3] He also made The Hired Gun (1957) for MGM.[3]
At the end of the 1950s, with the market for B-westerns drying up in America, Nazarro restarted his career in Europe, making spaghetti westerns. He also began working in television. His last film was the German-made Jayne Mansfield thriller Dog Eat Dog, released in 1964.
Nazarro died on September 8, 1986, and is buried in Chapel of the Pines Crematory.
Selected filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Notes | |
| 1932 | Runt Page | Credited as Raymond Nazarro; Short film | |
| 1934 | Jimmy the Gent | Writer, story "The Heir Chaser" | |
| 1935 | Roaring Roads | as Reymond Nazarro | |
| 1945 | Outlaws of the Rockies | ||
| 1945 | Song of the Prairie | ||
| 1945 | Texas Panhandle | ||
| 1946 | Roaring Rangers | ||
| 1946 | Throw a Saddle on a Star | ||
| 1946 | Gunning for Vengeance | ||
| 1946 | Galloping Thunder | ||
| 1946 | That Texas Jamboree | ||
| 1946 | Two-Fisted Stranger | ||
| 1946 | The Desert Horseman | ||
| 1946 | Cowboy Blues | ||
| 1946 | Heading West | ||
| 1946 | Singing on the Trail | ||
| 1946 | Terror Trail | ||
| 1946 | Lone Star Moonlight | ||
| 1947 | Over the Santa Fe Trail | ||
| 1947 | The Lone Hand Texan | ||
| 1947 | West of Dodge City | ||
| 1947 | Law of the Canyon | ||
| 1947 | Buckaroo from Powder River | ||
| 1947 | Last Days of Boot Hill | ||
| 1947 | Rose of Santa Rosa | ||
| 1948 | Six-Gun Law | ||
| 1948 | Phantom Valley | ||
| 1948 | Song of Idaho | ||
| 1948 | West of Sonora | ||
| 1948 | Blazing Across the Pecos | ||
| 1948 | The Arkansas Swing | ||
| 1948 | Trail of Larado | ||
| 1948 | Singin' Spurs | ||
| 1948 | El Dorado Pass | ||
| 1948 | Quick on the Trigger | ||
| 1948 | Smoky Mountain Melody | ||
| 1949 | Challenge of the Range | ||
| 1949 | Home in San Antone | ||
| 1949 | Laramie | ||
| 1949 | The Blazing Trail | ||
| 1949 | South of Death Valley | ||
| 1949 | Bandits of El Dorado | ||
| 1949 | Renegades of the Sage | ||
| 1950 | Trail of the Rustlers | ||
| 1950 | The Palomino | ||
| 1950 | Outcast of Black Mesa | ||
| 1950 | Texas Dynamo | ||
| 1950 | Hoedown | ||
| 1950 | David Harding, Counterspy | ||
| 1950 | Streets of Ghost Town | ||
| 1950 | The Tougher They Come | ||
| 1950 | Frontier Outpost | ||
| 1951 | Al Jennings of Oklahoma | ||
| 1951 | Flame of Stamboul | ||
| 1951 | Fort Savage Raiders | ||
| 1951 | China Corsair | ||
| 1951 | Cyclone Fury | ||
| 1951 | The Kid from Amarillo | ||
| 1952 | Indian Uprising | ||
| 1952 | Laramie Mountains | ||
| 1952 | Montana Territory | ||
| 1952 | The Rough, Tough West | ||
| 1952 | Cripple Creek | ||
| 1952 | Junction City | ||
| 1953 | Kansas Pacific | First film released by another studio (Allied Artists) after contract with Columbia ended | |
| 1953 | The Bandits of Corsica | Second film made for United Artists | |
| 1953 | Gun Belt | First film made (for United Artists) since leaving Columbia | |
| 1954 | Southwest Passage | ||
| 1954 | The Lone Gun | ||
| 1954 | The Black Dakotas | ||
| 1955 | Top Gun | ||
| 1956 | The White Squaw | ||
| 1957 | The Phantom Stagecoach | ||
| 1957 | The Hired Gun | Made for MGM | |
| 1957 | Domino Kid | ||
| 1958 | Return to Warbow | ||
| 1958 | Apache Territory | Last US made film | |
| 1964 | Dog Eat Dog | ||
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Notes | |
| 1951 | The Range Rider | Unknown episodes | |
| 1954–1956 | Annie Oakley | 14 episodes | |
| 1955 | Buffalo Bill, Jr. | 8 episodes | |
| 1955–1960 | Fury | 8 episodes, produced two episodes | |
| 1959 | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | 3 episodes | |
Award nominations
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Academy Award | Nominated | Best Writing, Motion Picture Story | Bullfighter and the Lady (Shared with Budd Boetticher) |
References
- ^ a b Budd Boetticher: The Last Interview Wheeler, Winston Dixon. Film Criticism; Meadville Vol. 26, Iss. 3, (Spring 2002): 52-0_3.
- ^ Finler, Joel W. (April 2, 1992), The Hollywood Story (Second ed.), Mandarin, p. 458, ISBN 0-7493-0637-8
- ^ a b c d "Obituaries: Ray Nazarro". Variety. October 29, 1986. p. 190.
External links
- Ray Nazarro at IMDb
- Ray Nazarro at Find a Grave