One of the legends of Italian cinema, filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli has passed away at the age of 96, BBC reported.

He directed stars including Elizabeth Taylor in the 1967 film Taming of the Shrew and Dame Judi Dench on stage in Romeo and Juliet.

Zeffirelli is best known for the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

He was also producer of operas and served in the Italian Senate from 1994 to 2001.