Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli has died aged 96, Italian media report.
The Florence native directed stars including Elizabeth Taylor in the 1967 film Taming of the Shrew and Dame Judi Dench on stage in Romeo and Juliet.
Italian media said Zeffirelli died after a long illness which had grown worse in recent months.

Franco Zeffirelli’s bold ideas and enduring energy made him one the 20th Century’s most creative and prolific directors.

Gianfranco Zeffirelli was born on 12 February 1923 on the outskirts of Florence.
The illegitimate son of a philandering merchant, young Franco’s surname was given to him by his mother.
She wanted “Zeffiretti”, a word meaning “little breezes” taken from a Mozart opera, but the wrong spelling appeared on his birth certificate, and he became Zeffirelli.

source: BBC