Dino De Laurentiis
Dino De Laurentiis | |
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![]() De Laurentiis in September 2009 | |
Born | Agostino De Laurentiis 8 August 1919 |
Died | 10 November 2010 | (aged 91)
Resting place | Torre Annunziata, Italy |
Citizenship |
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Occupations |
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Years active | 1938–2010 |
Spouses | |
Children | 6, includingVeronica,Raffaella,andFederico |
Relatives |
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Agostino"Dino"De Laurentiis(Italian:[ˈdiːnodelauˈrɛnti.is];8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian film producer and businessman who held both Italian and American citizenship. Following a brief acting career in the late 1930s and early 1940s, he moved into film production; alongsideCarlo Ponti,he broughtItalian cinemato the international scene in thepost-World War II period.He produced or co-produced over 500 films, with 38 of his Hollywood films receivingAcademy Awardnominations. He was also the creator and operator of DDL Foodshow, a chain of Italian specialty foods stores.
Early life[edit]
Agostino De Laurentiis was born inTorre Annunziata,Kingdom of Italy,on 8 August 1919. He grew up selling spaghetti made by his father's pasta factory. His older brother,Luigi De Laurentiis(1917–1992), later followed him into film production. He studied at theCentro Sperimentale di Cinematografiain 1937 and 1938, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak ofWorld War II.[1]
Career[edit]
Film production[edit]
De Laurentiis produced his first film,L'ultimo Combattimento,in 1941. His company, the Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, moved into film production in 1946. In the early years, De Laurentiis producedItalian neorealistfilms such asBitter Rice(1949) and the earlyFelliniworksLa Strada(1954) andNights of Cabiria(1956), often in collaboration with producerCarlo Ponti.
In the 1960s, De Laurentiis built his own studio facilities. He produced such films asBarabbas(1961), a Christian religious epic;The Bible: In the Beginning...(1966);Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die,an imitationJames Bondfilm;Navajo Joe(1966), aspaghetti Western;Anzio(1968), a World War II film;Barbarella(1968) andDanger: Diabolik(1968), both successful comic book adaptations; andThe Valachi Papers(1972), released before its originally scheduled date in order to capitalize on the popularity ofThe Godfather.[citation needed]
In 1973, De Laurentiis relocated his headquarters to New York and he was reportedly considering to produce an American television series.[2]His studio financially collapsed during the 1970s.[citation needed]In the 1980s, he had his own studio:De Laurentiis Entertainment Group(DEG) based inWilmington, North Carolina.The studio made Wilmington an unexpected center of film and television production.[3]In 1990, he obtained backing from an Italian friend and formed another company: Dino De Laurentiis Communications inBeverly Hills.
De Laurentiis produced a number of successful films, includingThe Scientific Cardplayer(1972),Serpico(1973),Death Wish(1974),Mandingo(1975),Three Days of the Condor(1975),The Shootist(1976),Drum(1976),Ingmar Bergman'sThe Serpent's Egg(1977),Ragtime(1981),Conan the Barbarian(1982),Blue Velvet(1986) andBreakdown(1997). De Laurentiis' name became well known through the 1976King Kongremake, which was a commercial hit;Lipstick(1976), a rape and revenge drama;Orca(1977), a killer whale film;The White Buffalo(1977), a western; the disaster movieHurricane(1979); the remake ofFlash Gordon(1980);David Lynch'sDune(1984); andKing Kong Lives(1986).
De Laurentiis produced several adaptations ofStephen Kingworks, includingThe Dead Zone(1983),Cat's Eye(1985),Silver Bullet(1985), andMaximum Overdrive(1986). De Laurentiis' company was involved with the horror sequelsHalloween II(1981),Evil Dead II(1987), andArmy of Darkness(1992). De Laurentiis also produced the firstHannibal Lecterfilm,Manhunter(1986), an adaptation of theThomas HarrisnovelRed Dragon.He passed on adapting the novels' sequel,The Silence of the Lambs(1991),[citation needed]but produced the two follow-ups,Hannibal(2001) andRed Dragon(2002), a re-adaptation of the novel. He also produced the prequelHannibal Rising(2007), which tells the story of how Hannibal becomes aserial killer.
DDL Foodshow[edit]
DDL Foodshow was an Italian specialty foods store with three locations: two inNew York Cityand one inBeverly Hills.They were opened in the mid-1980s, and were owned and operated by De Laurentiis.[4]
The first store was opened in the restored palm court in the ornate lobby of the historicEndicott Hotel,now a co-op on Manhattan'sUpper West Side,near the existingZabar'sfood emporium on Broadway.[5]The first NYC store opened in November 1982, and it was reported that the store "opened to crowds of 30,000 over the Thanksgiving weekend, when de Laurentiis himself greeted customers at the door". The store's assistant manager said that "it was like the premiere of a movie".[6]
The food criticGael Greenewrote a scathing review on the opening inNew York.[5]In an interview with theChicago Tribunea month later, she admitted that the store was "probably the most stunningly handsome grocery in the world, certainly in New York", but "the pricing was insane. They hadn't paid enough attention to the competition." She reported that she'd talked to De Laurentiis: "Dino's reaction was that I'm full of it. And we're meeting over a bowl of pasta to discuss it."[7]A review inThe San Francisco Examinersaid that it was "worth a peek and a purchase".[8][9]
DDL Foodshow was later considered to be a forebear of the new Italian specialty goods food-store restaurant dining attractionEataly.[10]
Personal life[edit]
De Laurentiis' brief first marriage in Italy was annulled.[11]
In 1949, De Laurentiis married Italian-British actressSilvana Mangano,with whom he had four children:Veronica,an author and actress;Raffaella,a fellow film producer;Federico,also a film producer who died in a plane crash in 1981; and Francesca. His granddaughter through Veronica is chefGiada De Laurentiis,while his nephew through his brother Luigi is fellow film producerAurelio De Laurentiis.He and Mangano divorced in 1988,[12]and she died of lung cancer the following year.
Having lived in the U.S. since 1976,[13]De Laurentiis became an American citizen in 1986.[14]
In 1990, De Laurentiis married American producerMartha Schumacher,who had produced many of his films since 1985. They had two daughters named Carolyna and Dina and remained married until his death in 2010. Schumacher died of cancer in 2021.
Death[edit]
On 10 November 2010, at the age of 91, De Laurentiis died at his home inBeverly Hills, California.[15][16][17][18]
Awards and recognitions[edit]
In 1958, De Laurentiis won theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Filmfor producingLa Strada.It was the only time where individuals could win the award instead of the country it was made in and in the case of the first Foreign Film Oscar, he and his fellow producer won the Academy Award, as opposed to the director of the filmFederico Fellini.
In 2001, De Laurentiis received theIrving G. Thalberg Memorial Awardfrom the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[19]
In 2012, De Laurentiis posthumously received the America Award of theItaly–USA Foundation.[citation needed]
Filmography[edit]
Films produced
References[edit]
- ^"Dino De Laurentiis".Telegraph.co.uk.11 November 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2022.Retrieved21 December2017.
- ^Brady, James (24 December 1973)."Dino De Laurentiis: Movie Mogul Italian Style Moves to New York".New York Magazine:62.
- ^"Laurentiis has others looking our way".Wilmington Morning Star.9 July 1984. p. 1C.Retrieved9 January2015.
- ^Kalogerakis, George (February 2002)."Let's Do Lunch".Foodandwine.com. Archived fromthe originalon 27 March 2018.Retrieved12 November2010.
- ^abGreene, Gael,"Dino's Food Show",New York Magazine,20 December 1982. Cf. p.82.
- ^Mink, Claudia Gellman (7 March 1983)."Food's the Star In New De Laurentiis Show".St. Louis Post-Dispatch.p. D1.Retrieved23 July2020.
- ^Daniels, Mary (16 January 1983)."Are discriminating New Yorkers going to buy this deli with a difference?".Chicago Tribune.Retrieved23 July2020.
- ^Alexander, Dick (4 September 1983)."DDL isn't your run-of-the-meal delicatessen".San Francisco Examiner.Retrieved23 July2020.
- ^Sifton, Sam,"Eataly Offers Italy by the Ounce",The New York Times,19 October 2010
- ^Sheraton, Mimi,"DDL FOODSHOW: A TASTER FINDS IT'S GOOD, AND NOT SO GOOD",The New York Times,4 May 1983, WednesdayLate City Final Edition, Section C, Page 1, Column 1
- ^Arnold, Laurence (11 November 2010)."Dino De Laurentiis, Producer of Film Spectacles, Dies at 91".Business Week.Archived fromthe originalon 14 November 2010.Retrieved11 November2010.
- ^"Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis dies".The Globe and Mail.Reuters. 11 November 2010.Retrieved11 November2010.
- ^Lane, John Francis (11 November 2010)."Obituary: Dino De Laurentiis".The Guardian.Retrieved11 November2010.
- ^Delugach, Al (20 February 1988)."De Laurentiis Resigns From Film Group".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved9 January2015.
- ^"Filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis Dies at Age 91".USA Today.11 November 2010.Retrieved11 November2010.
- ^"Movie Producer Dino de Laurentiis dies".CNN.11 November 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 13 November 2010.Retrieved11 November2010.
- ^Mondello, Bob (11 November 2010)."Dino De Laurentiis: For Decades, A Big-Picture Guy".NPR.Retrieved11 November2010.
- ^"Funeral services for De Laurentiis will be held Monday".Los Angeles Times.Los Angeles. 13 November 2010.ISSN0458-3035.Retrieved9 January2015.
- ^"Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award".17 July 2014.
External links[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Dino De Laurentiis CompanyOfficial site
- Dino De LaurentiisatIMDb
- Who Was Dino De Laurentiis?Archived15 November 2010 at theWayback Machine– image slideshow byLife magazine
- 1919 births
- 2010 deaths
- People from Torre Annunziata
- Italian film producers
- American film producers
- Italian emigrants to the United States
- Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni
- David di Donatello winners
- David di Donatello Career Award winners
- Nastro d'Argento winners
- De Laurentiis family
- Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipients