Ray Nazarro

American film and television director, producer, screenwriter

Ray Nazarro (aka "Ray" and "Nat;" né Raymond Alfred Nazarro; September 25, 1902 – September 8, 1986) was an American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. Budd Boetticher called him a "ten day picture guy."

Born in Boston, Nazarro entered the movie business during the silent era. He initially worked in two reelers. In 1945 he became a feature film director at Columbia Pictures, beginning with Outlaws of the Rockies. Nazarro was one of Hollywood's busiest directors, directing as many as 13 pictures in one year. He made budget westerns almost exclusively. From 1945 to 1948 he alternated between directing action westerns with Columbia's leading cowboy star Charles Starrett and directing the "rural rhythm" band The Hoosier Hot Shots in a series of musical comedy westerns. When the musical series lapsed in 1948, Nazarro concentrated on the Starrett westerns, now featuring the Durango Kid character. In 1950 Nazarro was assigned a non western "B" picture, David Harding, Counterspy. This resulted in Nazarro receiving more non western assignments and slightly higher budgets. He was also entrusted with more ambitious western stories, with an emphasis on action but also a serious, elegiac view of the West, like Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951) starring Dan Duryea. In 1952, Nazarro received an Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Story for Bullfighter and the Lady. Budd Boetticher, who had been a bullfighter, told his life story to Nazarro when he was working for him as an assistant director. Boetticher says he wrote it down, and Nazarro typed it up and sold the project to Dore Schary at MGM. Boetticher said that was the reason for Nazarro getting screen credit. after he had made around 60 films for the studio. He next made Gun Belt for United Artists and followed that with The Bandits of Corsica, also for UA, and Kansas Pacific for Allied Artists Pictures, although both were released before Gun Belt. He continued making films for UA and Columbia until Apache Territory (1958). He also made The Hired Gun (1957) for MGM. In the late 1950s, with the market for B westerns drying up in America, Nazarro restarted his career in Europe, making spaghetti westerns. He 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.

Film Year Film Notes 1932 Runt Page Credited as Raymond Nazarro; Short film 1934 Jimmy the Gent Writer, story "The Heir Chaser" 1935 Suicide Squad Writer 1935 Roaring Roads as Reymond Nazarro 1945 Outlaws of the Rockies 1945 Song of the Prairie 1945 Texas Panhandle 1946 Roaring Rangers 1946 Throw a Saddle on a Star 1946 Gunning for Vengeance 1946 Galloping Thunder 1946 That Texas Jamboree 1946 Two Fisted Stranger 1946 The Desert Horseman 1946 Cowboy Blues 1946 Heading West 1946 Singing on the Trail 1946 Terror Trail 1946 Lone Star Moonlight 1947 Over the Santa Fe Trail 1947 The Lone Hand Texan 1947 West of Dodge City 1947 Law of the Canyon 1947 Buckaroo from Powder River 1947 Last Days of Boot Hill 1947 Rose of Santa Rosa 1948 Six Gun Law 1948 Phantom Valley 1948 Song of Idaho 1948 West of Sonora 1948 Blazing Across the Pecos 1948 The Arkansas Swing 1948 Trail to Laredo 1948 Singin' Spurs 1948 El Dorado Pass 1948 Quick on the Trigger 1948 Smoky Mountain Melody 1949 Challenge of the Range 1949 Home in San Antone 1949 Laramie 1949 The Blazing Trail 1949 South of Death Valley 1949 Bandits of El Dorado 1949 Renegades of the Sage 1950 Trail of the Rustlers 1950 The Palomino 1950 Outcast of Black Mesa 1950 Texas Dynamo 1950 Hoedown 1950 David Harding, Counterspy 1950 Streets of Ghost Town 1950 The Tougher They Come 1950 Frontier Outpost 1951 Al Jennings of Oklahoma 1951 Flame of Stamboul 1951 Fort Savage Raiders 1951 China Corsair 1951 Cyclone Fury 1951 The Kid from Amarillo 1952 Indian Uprising 1952 Laramie Mountains 1952 Montana Territory 1952 The Rough, Tough West 1952 Cripple Creek 1952 Junction City 1953 Kansas PacificFirst film released by another studio (Allied Artists) after contract with Columbia ended 1953 The Bandits of Corsica Second film made for United Artists 1953 Gun Belt First film made (for United Artists) since leaving Columbia 1954 Southwest Passage 1954 The Lone Gun 1954 The Black Dakotas 1955 Top Gun 1956 The White Squaw 1957 The Phantom Stagecoach 1957 The Hired GunMade for MGM 1957 Domino Kid 1958 Return to Warbow 1958 Apache TerritoryLast US made film 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