Franco Zeffirelli’s beautifully directed Emmy award-winning 1977 production of Jesus of Nazareth remains one of the most popular film versions to depict the life of Christ. Following the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection, the film features a stellar cast led by Robert Powell as Jesus.
production details
UK – Italy | ITV – ITC – RAI | 2×180 minutes | 1977
Writers: Anthony Burges, Suso Cechi d’Amico, Franco Zefferelli
Music: Maurice Jarre
Director: Franco Zefferelli
cast
Robert Powell as Jesus
Olivia Hussey as Virgin Mary
Yorgo Voyagis as Joseph
Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene
Christopher Plummer as Herod Antipas
Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas
Ian McShane as Judas Iscariot
Ernest Borgnine as The Centurion
James Farentino as Simon Peter
Michael York as John the Baptist
James Earl Jones as Balthazar
Peter Ustinov as Herod the Great
Ian Holm as Zerah
Valentina Cortese as Herodias
Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate
Claudia Cardinale as The Adulteress
Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus
Tony Vogel as Andrew
John Duttine as John the Evangelist
Lee Montague as Habbukuk
Mark Eden as Quartus
Robert Beatty as Proculus
Maria Carta as Martha
Simon MacCorkindale as Lucius
Ralph Richardson as Simeon
Stacy Keach as Barabbas
Marina Berti as Elizabeth
John Phillips as Naso
Martin Benson as Pharisee
Oliver Tobias as Joel
Donald Pleasence as Melchior
Norman Bowler as Saturninus
Roy Holder as Enoch
Renato Rascel as The Blind Man
Cyril Shaps as Obsessed Boy’s Father
Ian Bannen as Amos
Francis de Wolff as Simon the Pharisee
Donald Sumpter as Aram
Tony Lo Bianco as Quintilius
Ken Jones as Jotham
Cyril Cusack as Yehuda the Rabbi
James Mason as Joseph of Arimathea
Fernando Rey as Gaspar
Keith Skinner as Obsessed Boy
Murray Salem as Simon the Zealot
Bruno Barnabe as Ezra
Jonathan Adams as Adam
Nikki Van der Zyl as Salome
Derek Godfrey as Elihu
Jonathan Muller as James I
Sergio Nicolai as James II
John Eastham as Bartholomew
Keith Washington as Matthew
David Garfield as Amos
Robert Rietty as Various small roles
Nancy Nevinson as Abigail
Christopher Reich as Circumcision Priest
Lorenzo Monet as Jesus at 12 yrs old
Steve Gardner as Philip
John Tordoff as Malachi
Isabel Mestres as Salome
Renato Montalbano as Jairus
Bruce Lidington as Thomas
Mimmo Craig as Thaddeus
Oliver Smith as Saul
Regina Bianchi as Anna
Robert Brown as A Pharasee
Renato Terra as Abel
Michael Cronin as Eliphaz
Forbes Collins as Jonas
Michael Haughey as Nahum
Robert Davey as Daniel
George Camiller as Hosias
Antonello Campodifiori as Ircanus
Tim Pearce as Rufus
Paul Curran as Samuel
Lionel Guyett as Haggai
Peter Harlowe as Valerius
Carl Forgione as Plotinus
Pino Colizzi as Jobab
Norman Eshley as Joseph
Immad Cohen as Young Jesus
Stefan Kalipha as Melchior’s aide
Harold Bennett as Elder
Andrew Manson as Zealot and Various
