Raymond Massey

See also: Other Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood. While working on Camelot he became close to Vanessa Redgrave, and in 1969 they had a son, Carlo Gabriel Nero, a screen-writer and director. Massey has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for movies at 1719 Vine Street and one for television at 6708 Hollywood Blvd. He has appeared in almost 150 films and has written, produced and starred in one - Jonathan degli orsi (1993). On July 29, 1983 he died in Los Angeles, California from pneumonia and is buried in New Haven, Connecticut. Although often typecast in films like Los amigos (1972) or Keoma (1976) he has attempted an impressive range of characters, like Abel in John Huston's epic The Bible (1966) and the gay lieutenant in Querelle (1982). His brother was Vincent Massey, the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada. A certain lack of facility with English tended to limit these roles, although he also appeared in other English language films including The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), Force 10 From Navarone (1978) and Die Hard 2 (1990).

He has two children who followed him into acting: Anna Massey and Daniel Massey. In 1967 he appeared in his first English language film, Camelot as Lancelot. Massey became well-known on television in the 1950s and 1960s, especially in his role as Doctor Gillespie in the series Doctor Kildare. In 1966 from Django he went on to appear in eight more films released that year including Texas, Addio and Tempo di Massacro. Following the war, he became an American citizen. His first film role was a small part in La Ragazza in Prestito (1964), he had his first lead role in Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966) a Spaghetti Western and one of his most well-known films. He rejoined the Canadian Army during World War II, and was wounded and invalided out in 1943. He studied briefly at the Facoltà di Economia e Commercio before leaving to study at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano.

Despite being Canadian, Massey became famous for his quintessential American roles, as Abraham Lincoln in 1940's Abe Lincoln in Illinois (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor), in 1941's Santa Fe Trail, in which he played abolitionist John Brown, and as Lincoln again in 1962's How the West Was Won. He was born Franco Spartanero in San Prospero and grew up in Bedonia and Milan. Early in Massey's career, Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), heard Massey perform and was struck by the close similarity of Massey's speaking voice to that of his father. Franco Nero (November 23, 1941) is an Italian actor. G. Wells' Things to Come. In 1936 he starred in H.

His first movie role was High Treason in 1927, and he played Sherlock Holmes in The Speckled Band in the following year. However, drawn to the theater, in 1922 he appeared on the London stage. Severely wounded in action in France, he was sent home where he eventually worked in the family business, selling farm implements. His first stage appearance was in Siberia, where he entertained the American troops who were on occupation duty.

At the outbreak of World War I he joined the Canadian Army. He was educated at Upper Canada College, the University of Toronto and at Balliol College, Oxford, England. Born in Toronto, Ontario, he was the son of Hart Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 - July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor.