Ray Nazarro

Ray Nazarro (September 25, 1902 - September 8, 1986) was an American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter

Biography

Born in Boston, Nazarro entered the movie business during the silent era, and began directing short films in 1929 with In and Out (billed as "Nat Nazarro"). He spent the next 13 years working 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).

At the end of the '50s, 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

Award nominations