Ray Nazarro

Ray Nazarro
Born	September 25, 1902(1902-09-25) Boston, Massachusetts
Died	September 8, 1986(1986-09-08) (aged 83) Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Other names	Nat Nazarro Raymond Nazarro Nat Nazzaro Ray Nazzaro
Occupation	Film and television director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1929-1964

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

Biography

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, 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 1945-1955 he worked at a furious pace, directing as many as 13 pictures in one year. These were almost all B-westerns, very quickly but also very well made, lean and uncluttered, 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 picked up his career in Europe with spaghetti westerns and 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
1929	In and Out	Credited as Nat Nazzaro
1930	Darktown Follies	Credited as Nat Nazzaro
1932	Runt Page	Credited as Raymond Nazarro
1934	Jimmy the Gent	Writer, story "The Heir Chaser"
1945	Texas Panhandle
1946	Laugh Jubilee	Credited as Nat Nazarro Writer
1947	West of Dodge City
1948	Phantom Valley
1949	Bandits of El Dorado	Alternative title: Tricked
1950	Hoedown
1951	China Corsair
1952	The Rough, Tough West
1953	Kansas Pacific
1954	Southwest Passage
1955	Top Gun
1956	The White Squaw
1957	The Hired Gun
1958	Apache Territory
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	The Bullfighter and the Lady (Shared with Budd Boetticher)

External links

• Ray Nazarro at the Internet Movie Database
• Ray Nazarro at Find a Grave