Duccio Tessari

Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns.^[1]

Duccio Tessari
Tessari in 1984
Born	(1926-10-11)11 October 1926 Genoa, Liguria, Italy
Died	6 September 1994(1994-09-06) (aged 67) Rome, Lazio, Italy
Occupations	Film director screenwriter
Spouse	Lorella De Luca

Born in Genoa, Tessari started in the fifties as documentarist and as screenwriter of peplum films. In 1964 he co-wrote Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, one year later he gained an impressive commercial success and launched the Giuliano Gemma's career with A Pistol for Ringo and its immediate sequel, The Return of Ringo.^[1] In 1975, Tessari launched the most popular and successful European depiction of Zorro, when he directed Zorro starring Alain Delon as the titular masked hero. The movie was a smash hit in Europe, Russia, Japan and China.

He later touched different genres and worked in RAI, directing some successful TV-series. He died of cancer in Rome, at 67.^[2] He was married to actress Lorella De Luca.^[1][2]

Filmography

Note: The films listed as N/A are not necessarily chronological.

Title	Year	Credited as				Notes	Ref(s)
		Director	Screenwriter	Screen story writer	Other
Kanonenserenade [de]	1958		Yes		Yes	Assistant director	[3]
The Last Days of Pompeii	1959		Yes		Yes	Assistant director	[4]
Carthage in Flames	1960		Yes				[5]
Messalina			Yes	Yes			[6][7]
Goliath and the Dragon			Yes				[8]
Colossus and the Amazon Queen					Yes	Assistant director	[9]
The Revolt of the Slaves			Yes				[10]
Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis	1961		Yes				[11]
Goliath and the Vampires			Yes				[12][13]
The Colossus of Rhodes			Yes				[14][15]
Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World			Yes				[14][16]
The Wonders of Aladdin			Yes				[17]
Hercules in the Haunted World			Yes				[14][15]
Duel of the Titans			Yes				[18][19]
My Son, the Hero	1962	Yes	Yes				[20]
Marco Polo			Yes				[21]
Il fornaretto di Venezia	—	Yes	Yes				[22]
The Avenger of Venice	1964		Yes				[23][24]
A Fistful of Dollars			Yes				[25][24]
Secret of the Sphinx	—	Yes	Yes				[26]
A Pistol for Ringo	1965	Yes	Yes	Yes			[27][28]
The Return of Ringo		Yes	Yes	Yes			[29][30]
Una voglia da morire	—	Yes	Yes				[31]
Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang	1966	Yes	Yes	Yes			[32][33]
Seven Guns for the MacGregors			Yes				[34][35]
Dick Smart 2.007	—		Yes				[36]
Per amore... per magia...	1967	Yes	Yes				[37][38][39]
La dama de Beyrut	—			Yes			[40]
The Cats	1968	Yes	Yes				[41]
Better a Widow	—	Yes	Yes				[42]
Train for Durango	—		Yes	Yes			[43]
Sundance and the Kid	1969	Yes	Yes				[44][45][46]
Quella piccola differenza	—	Yes	Yes				[47]
La morte risale a ieri sera	1970	Yes	Yes				[48]
The Bloodstained Butterfly	—	Yes	Yes				[49]
Long Live Your Death	1971	Yes	Yes				[50][51]
Winged Devils	—	Yes	Yes				[52]
The Heroes	—	Yes					[53]
Tony Arzenta	1973	Yes					[54]
Three Tough Guys	1974	Yes					[55]
Puzzle	—	Yes	Yes				[56]
Zorro	1975	Yes					[57]
Sexycop	1976	Yes	Yes				[58]
Safari Express	—	Yes	Yes	Yes			[59]
The Fifth Commandment	1978	Yes	Yes	Yes			[60]
Un centesimo di secondo	—	Yes	Yes				[61]
Tex and the Lord of the Deep	1985	Yes	Yes				[62][63]
Please, Let the Flowers Live [de]	1989	Yes	Yes				[64]
There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs	—	Yes	Yes				[65]