TV SERIES · 1977– · UK
Jesus of Nazareth
35 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
27 Interesting Facts About Jesus of Nazareth
- #001
Robert Powell resembled Jesus so strongly in photographs that whenever he stepped out of the dressing room in costume, the crew's foul language suddenly stopped.
- #003
Robert Powell's eye makeup consisted of a thin line of navy blue eyeliner on the upper lid and a thin line of white eyeliner on the lower lid. This had the effect of emphasizing the piercing blue of his eyes, giving him a piercing gaze, and combined with very little blinking it made the character appear otherworldly and supernatural.
- #004
Robert Powell stated that he did not like some Christian churches using photographs of him in his Jesus costume as objects of worship.
- #005
In a 2019 interview, Robert Powell admitted that although he is not personally religious, while filming the Sermon on the Mount scenes in front of hundreds of ecstatic and tearful extras he had an experience that could be described as a religious one. Many of the crew were also deeply affected and became quite emotional afterward, praising Powell for his intense performance.
- #006
To appear physically weakened after Jesus's imprisonment and torture, Robert Powell went on a near-starvation diet for 12 days before filming the crucifixion scenes, eating only cheese.
- #010
According to Ernest Borgnine, many local extras had to be dubbed because they could not speak English very well. Writer and director Franco Zeffirelli decided to avoid recording sound entirely on many episodes and sent the lead actors and actresses to the studio later to dub their own characters.
- #011
The role of the blind man was the last role of Italian comedy star Renato Rascel.
- #012
It was banned in Egypt after religious leaders objected to its content.
- #013
The idea of casting Robert Powell came about after Kathie Moody, the wife of executive producer Sir Lew Grade, told her husband after watching the actor's performance in Jude the Obscure (1971) that she was crazy about his "wonderful blue eyes."
- #015
Norman Eshley is the voice of Joseph. Robert Rietty is the voice of the rich man whom Jesus tells to sell his fortune, one of the shepherds, a Roman soldier, the head of the census, the blind man healed at the temple, and the messenger who mentions Lazarus.
- #016
Executive producer Sir Lew Grade and writer and director Franco Zeffirelli insisted that their adaptation of the life of Jesus should be "ecumenical," coherent even for non-believers and "acceptable to all denominations." To ensure the film's accuracy, the producers consulted experts from the Vatican, the Leo Baeck College in London and the Quran School in Meknes, Morocco. However, when Zeffirelli asked Rabbi Albert Friedlander to help him create a Bar Mitzvah scene for Jesus, Friedlander said such ceremonies had only been practiced from the fifteenth century onward. Zeffirelli nevertheless insisted on including it, and Friedlander tried to teach Lorenzo Monet to read a short passage of the Pentateuch in Hebrew, but he mumbled it and Zeffirelli was not satisfied (in the film the child Jesus mostly reads in English).
- #017
Over four days of Easter 2016 (Good Friday, Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, 25-28 March), the UK television channel Sky Arts aired one episode per day in order. The version they used was four two-hour (with commercials) edits, equal to eight hours, apparently from a remastered High Definition version. This was repeated at Easter 2020 (10-13 April).
- #019
The actor who played the young Jesus was dubbed.
- #020
Maria Schneider turned down the role of the Virgin Mary, a decision she later regretted. Schneider would go on to play a small role in Franco Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre (1996).
- #021
The character Zerah is fictional and is not based on any figure known or named in the Bible.
- #023
Franco Zeffirelli later became the godfather of Robert Powell's first child from his marriage.
- #024
This was Francis De Wolff's last television appearance before his death on 18 April 1984 at the age of 71.
- #025
Dame Elizabeth Taylor was interested in playing Mary Magdalene.
- #026
The Spanish actress Isabel Mestres, who played Salome, was dubbed by the German voice artist Nikki Van der Zyl.
- #027
Although Herod Antipas is one of the main characters, there is no explanation for why Jesus was not taken before King Herod Antipas (Luke 23). Since Antipas's visit is recorded only in Luke's gospel and does not appear in the others, it may have been omitted for reasons of timing.
- #028
In Chile it has become a Holy Week classic, broadcast every year since 1982 on National Television (TVN) and a tradition in the country's homes.
- #030
Peter Ustinov has only 25 lines.
- #031
Sir Tom Courtenay was offered the role of Jesus.
- #032
Those dubbed include Norman Bowler, Fernando Rey, Renato Rascel and Maria Carta.
- #033
Ernest Borgnine and Anthony Quinn appeared in both Barabbas (1961) and High Risk (1981).
- #034
Celia Johnson was initially considered for Herodias.
- #035
It was released in cinemas in France on 11 January 1978.
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