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{{Short description|Italian-American film producer (1919–2010)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

factoids

Torre Annunziata, Campania, Kingdom of Italy>Italy20101008df=yes}}|death_place = Beverly Hills, California, U.S.|resting_place = Torre Annunziata, ItalyItaly|United States}}Film producer|businessman}}|years_active = 1938–2010|spouse = {hide}ubl }}Veronica De Laurentiis>Veronica and Raffaella|relatives = {hide}ubl }}Agostino ”Dino” De Laurentiis ({{IPA-it|ˈdiːno de lauˈrÉ›nti.is|lang}}; 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; alongside Carlo Ponti, he brought Italian cinema to the international scene in the post-World War II period. He produced or co-produced over 500 films, with 38 of his Hollywood films receiving Academy Award nominations. He was also the creator and operator of DDL Foodshow, a chain of Italian specialty foods stores.

Early life

Agostino De Laurentiis was born in Torre Annunziata, which was then in the 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 the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1937 and 1938, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.WEB,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/8127250/Dino-De-Laurentiis.html,ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/8127250/Dino-De-Laurentiis.html, 12 January 2022, subscription, live, Dino De Laurentiis, 11 November 2010, Telegraph.co.uk, 21 December 2017, {{cbignore}}

Career

Film production

De Laurentiis produced his first film, (:it:L’ultimo_combattimento|L’ultimo Combattimento), in 1941. His company, the Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, moved into film production in 1946. In the early years, De Laurentiis produced Italian neorealist films such as Bitter Rice (1949) and the early Fellini works La Strada (1954) and Nights of Cabiria (1956), often in collaboration with producer Carlo Ponti. In the 1960s, De Laurentiis built his own studio facilities. He produced such films as Barabbas (1961), a Christian religious epic; (The Bible: In the Beginning...) (1966); Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die, an imitation James Bond film; Navajo Joe (1966), a spaghetti Western; Anzio (1968), a World War II film; Barbarella (1968) and (Danger: Diabolik) (1968), both successful comic book adaptations; and The Valachi Papers (1972), released before its originally scheduled date in order to capitalize on the popularity of The Godfather.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} His studio financially collapsed during the 1970s.In the 1980s, he had his own studio: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) based in Wilmington, North Carolina. The studio made Wilmington an unexpected center of film and television production.NEWS, Laurentiis has others looking our way,news.google.com/newspapers?id=ClhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pBMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6404%2C2504922, Wilmington Morning Star, 1C, 9 July 1984, 9 January 2015, In 1990, he obtained backing from an Italian friend and formed another company: Dino De Laurentiis Communications in Beverly Hills.De Laurentiis produced a number of successful films, including The Scientific Cardplayer (1972), Serpico (1973), Death Wish (1974), Mandingo (1975), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Shootist (1976), Drum (1976), Ingmar Bergman’s The Serpent’s Egg (1977), Ragtime (1981), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Blue Velvet (1986) and Breakdown (1997). De Laurentiis’ name became well known through the 1976 King Kong remake, 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 movie Hurricane (1979); the remake of Flash Gordon (1980); David Lynch’s Dune (1984); and King Kong Lives (1986). De Laurentiis also produced several adaptations of Stephen King works, including The Dead Zone (1983), Cat’s Eye (1985), Silver Bullet (1985), and Maximum Overdrive (1986). De Laurentiis’ company was involved with the horror sequels Halloween II (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992).De Laurentiis also produced the first Hannibal Lecter film, Manhunter (1986), an adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon. He passed on adapting the novels’ sequel, The Silence of the Lambs (1991),{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} but produced the two follow-ups, Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002), a re-adaptation of the novel. He also produced the prequel Hannibal Rising (2007), which tells the story of how Hannibal becomes a serial killer.

DDL Foodshow

DDL Foodshow was an Italian specialty foods store with three locations: two in New York City and one in Beverly Hills. They were opened in the mid-1980s, and were owned and operated by De Laurentiis.WEB,www.foodandwine.com/articles/lets-do-lunch, Let’s Do Lunch, George, Kalogerakis, Foodandwine.com, February 2002, 12 November 2010, 27 March 2018,www.foodandwine.com/articles/lets-do-lunch," title="web.archive.org/web/20180327105022www.foodandwine.com/articles/lets-do-lunch,">web.archive.org/web/20180327105022www.foodandwine.com/articles/lets-do-lunch, dead, The first store was opened in the restored palm court in the ornate lobby of the historical Endicott Hotel now a co-op on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in close proximity to the older establishment, Zabar’s food emporium on Broadway.Greene, Gael, “Dino’s Food Show”, New York Magazine, 20 December 1982. Cf. p.82. 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”.NEWS, Mink, Claudia Gellman, Food’s the Star In New De Laurentiis Show,www.newspapers.com/clip/55941693/st-louis-post-dispatch/, 23 July 2020, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7 March 1983, D1, Food critic Gael Greene wrote a scathing review on the opening in New York. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune a 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.“NEWS, Daniels, Mary, Are discriminating New Yorkers going to buy this deli with a difference?,www.newspapers.com/clip/55942205/chicago-tribune/, 23 July 2020, Chicago Tribune, 16 January 1983, A review in The San Francisco Examiner said that it was “worth a peek and a purchase”.NEWS, Alexander, Dick, DDL isn’t your run-of-the-meal delicatessen,www.newspapers.com/clip/55942444/the-san-francisco-examiner/, 23 July 2020, San Francisco Examiner, 4 September 1983, Sifton, Sam, “Eataly Offers Italy by the Ounce”, The New York Times, 19 October 2010DDL Foodshow was later considered to be a forebear of the new Italian specialty goods food-store restaurant dining attraction Eataly.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

Personal life

De Laurentiis’ brief first marriage in Italy was annulled.NEWS,www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-11/dino-de-laurentiis-producer-of-film-spectacles-dies-at-91.html, Dino De Laurentiis, Producer of Film Spectacles, Dies at 91, Laurence, Arnold, Business Week, 11 November 2010, 11 November 2010, dead,www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-11/dino-de-laurentiis-producer-of-film-spectacles-dies-at-91.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20101114084850www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-11/dino-de-laurentiis-producer-of-film-spectacles-dies-at-91.html,">web.archive.org/web/20101114084850www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-11/dino-de-laurentiis-producer-of-film-spectacles-dies-at-91.html, 14 November 2010, In 1949, De Laurentiis married Italian-British actress Silvana Mangano, with whom he had four children: Veronica, an author and actress; Raffaella, a fellow film producer; Federico, a fellow film producer who died in a plane crash in 1981; and Francesca. His granddaughter through Veronica is chef Giada De Laurentiis, while his nephew through his brother Luigi is fellow film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis. He and Mangano divorced in 1988,NEWS,www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/italian-film-producer-dino-de-laurentiis-dies/article1794981/, Reuters, Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis dies, The Globe and Mail, 11 November 2010, 11 November 2010, and she died of lung cancer the following year.Having lived in the U.S. since 1976,NEWS, John Francis, Lane,www.theguardian.com/film/2010/nov/11/dino-de-laurentiis-obituary, Obituary: Dino De Laurentiis, The Guardian, 11 November 2010, 11 November 2010, De Laurentiis became an American citizen in 1986.NEWS,articles.latimes.com/1988-02-20/business/fi-11407_1_independent-film, Al, Delugach, Los Angeles Times, 20 February 1988, De Laurentiis Resigns From Film Group, 9 January 2015, In 1990, De Laurentiis married American producer Martha 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

On 10 November 2010, at the age of 91, De Laurentiis died at his home in Beverly Hills, California.NEWS,content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/11/filmmaker-dino-de-laurentiis-dies-at-age-91/1, Filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis Dies at Age 91, USA Today, 11 November 2010, 11 November 2010, NEWS,news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/11/movie-producer-dino-de-laurentiis-dies/?hpt=T2, CNN, Movie Producer Dino de Laurentiis dies, 11 November 2010, 11 November 2010, 13 November 2010,news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/11/movie-producer-dino-de-laurentiis-dies/?hpt=T2," title="web.archive.org/web/20101113233020news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/11/movie-producer-dino-de-laurentiis-dies/?hpt=T2,">web.archive.org/web/20101113233020news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/11/movie-producer-dino-de-laurentiis-dies/?hpt=T2, dead, NEWS,www.npr.org/2010/11/11/131244809/dino-de-laurentiis-for-decades-a-big-picture-guy, Bob, Mondello, NPR, Dino De Laurentiis: For Decades, A Big-Picture Guy, 11 November 2010, 11 November 2010, NEWS,www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-dino-delaurentiis-20101113-story.html, Funeral services for De Laurentiis will be held Monday, Los Angeles Times, 13 November 2010, Los Angeles, 0458-3035, 9 January 2015,

Awards and recognitions

In 1958, De Laurentiis won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for producing La 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 film Federico Fellini.In 2001, De Laurentiis received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.WEB,www.oscars.org/governors/thalberg, Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, 17 July 2014, In 2012, De Laurentiis posthumously received the America Award of the Italy–USA Foundation.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

Filmography

Films produced{| class=“wikitable” ! Year || Title || Director || Notes 1946 ‘’Black Eagle (1946 film)’’ >Riccardo Freda >|The Bandit (1946 film)>The Bandit Alberto Lattuada 1947 ‘’The Captain’s Daughter (1947 film)’’ >Mario Camerini >|Bullet for Stefano >Duilio Coletti >| 1948 Bitter Rice Giuseppe De Santis The Street Has Many Dreams >|The Wolf of the Sila >|Anna (1951 film)>Anna Alberto Lattuada 1952 Europe ‘51 Roberto Rossellini Lieutenant Giorgio >| Raffaello MatarazzoToto in Color >Steno (director)>Steno 1953 Funniest Show on Earth Mario Mattoli The Unfaithfuls >Mario Monicelli >|Man, Beast and Virtue >| 1954 La Strada Federico Fellini Attila (1954 film)>Attila Pietro Francisci Woman of Rome >Luigi Zampa >|The Gold of Naples >Vittorio De Sica >|Poverty and Nobility >|Where Is Freedom? >|A Slice of Life (1954 film)>A Slice of Life Alessandro Blasetti, Paul Paviot An American in Rome >| 1955 ‘’Ulysses (1955 film)’’ >|The River Girl >Mario Soldati >|Mambo (film)>Mambo Robert Rossen The Miller’s Beautiful Wife >| 1956 ‘’War and Peace (1956 film)’’ >King Vidor >|Nights of Cabiria >|1958 This Angry Age René Clément Tempest (1958 film)>Tempest Alberto Lattuada The Great War (1959 film)>The Great War Mario Monicelli 1960 Everybody Go Home Luigi Comencini Five Branded Women >Martin Ritt >|Under Ten Flags >|Crimen (film)>Crimen Mario Camerini The Hunchback of Rome >Carlo Lizzani >| 1961 ‘’The Last Judgment (1961 film)’’ >|A Difficult Life >Dino Risi >|The Fascist >Luciano Salce >|The Best of Enemies (1961 film)>The Best of Enemies Guy Hamilton Black City (film)>Black City Duilio Coletti 1962 ’’Mafioso (film)’’ >|The Italian Brigands >| 1963 Il Boom Vittorio De Sica The Verona Trial >|My Wife (1964 film)>My Wife Luigi Comencini, Mauro Bolognini, Tinto Brass Battle of the Bulge (1965 film)>Battle of the Bulge {{Citation needed Ken Annakin >| Uncredited 1966 (The Bible: In the Beginning) John Huston Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die >Henry Levin (film director)>Henry Levin Navajo Joe >Sergio Corbucci >|The Hills Run Red (1966 film)>The Hills Run Red Carlo Lizzani 1967 ‘’The Stranger (1967 film)’’ >Luchino Visconti >|Matchless (film)>Matchless Alberto Lattuada The Witches (1967 film)>The Witches Luchino Visconti, Mauro Bolognini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi (director), Vittorio De Sica >| 1968 ‘’(Danger: Diabolik (film)Mario Bava >|Barbarella (film)>Barbarella Roger Vadim Anzio (film)>Anzio Edward Dmytryk, Duilio Coletti Bandits in Milan >|Caprice Italian Style >Pier Paolo Pasolini, Steno >| 1969 ‘’Fräulein Doktor (film)’’ >Alberto Lattuada >|Brief Season >Renato Castellani >|L’amante di Gramigna>The Bandit Carlo Lizzani 1970 A Man Called Sledge Vic Morrow Waterloo (1970 film)>Waterloo Sergei Bondarchuk The Deserter (1971 film)>The Deserter Burt Kennedy 1972 ‘’The Valachi Papers (film)’’ >Terence Young (director)>Terence Young The Assassin of Rome >Damiano Damiani >|The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life >Ettore Scola >| 1973 Serpico Sidney Lumet Chino (1973 film)>Chino John Sturges Mean Frank and Crazy Tony >Michele Lupo >| 1974 ‘’Death Wish (1974 film)’’ >Michael Winner >|Two Missionaries >Franco Rossi (director)>Franco Rossi Crazy Joe (film)>Crazy Joe Carlo Lizzani Three Tough Guys >Duccio Tessari >|Mandingo (film)>Mandingo Richard Fleischer 1976 ‘’King Kong (1976 film)’’ >John Guillermin >|Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson >Robert Altman >|Drum (1976 film)>Drum Steve Carver The Serpent’s Egg (film)>The Serpent’s Egg Ingmar Bergman The Shootist >Don Siegel >|Orca (1977 film)>Orca Michael Anderson (director) >|1978 The Brink’s Job William Friedkin King of the Gypsies (film)>King of the Gypsies Frank Pierson Hurricane (1979 film)>Hurricane Jan Troell Flash Gordon (film)>Flash Gordon Mike Hodges 1981 ‘’Beyond the Reef (film)’’ >|Halloween II (1981 film)>Halloween II Rick Rosenthal Ragtime (film)>Ragtime MiloÅ¡ Forman 1982 ‘’Fighting Back (1982 American film)’’ >Lewis Teague (film director)>Lewis Teague Conan the Barbarian (1982 film)>Conan the Barbarian John Milius (Amityville II: The Possession) >Damiano Damiani >|(Halloween III: Season of the Witch) >| Tommy Lee Wallace 1983 Amityville 3-D Richard Fleischer The Dead Zone (film)>Dead Zone David Cronenberg 1984 ‘’The Bounty (1984 film)’’ >Roger Donaldson >|Firestarter (1984 film)>Firestarter Mark L. Lester Conan the Destroyer >|Dune (1984 film)>Dune David Lynch 1985 Maximum Overdrive Stephen King Marie (1985 film)>Marie Roger Donaldson Silver Bullet (film)>Silver Bullet Daniel Attias Cat’s Eye (1985 film)>Cat’s Eye Lewis Teague Year of the Dragon (film)>Year of the Dragon Michael Cimino Red Sonja (1985 film)>Red Sonja Richard Fleischer 1986 ‘’Crimes of the Heart (film)’’ >Bruce Beresford >|Raw Deal (1986 film)>Raw Deal John Irvin Blue Velvet (film)>Blue Velvet David Lynch Trick or Treat (1986 film)>Trick or Treat Charles Martin Smith Tai-Pan (film)>Tai-Pan Daryl Duke Manhunter (film)>Manhunter Michael Mann (film director) >|King Kong Lives >| 1987 Million Dollar Mystery Richard Fleischer Hiding Out >Bob Giraldi >|Evil Dead II >Sam Raimi >|The Bedroom Window (1987 film)>The Bedroom Window Curtis Hanson From the Hip (film)>From the Hip Bob Clark Collision Course (1989 film)>Collision Course Lewis Teague 1990 ‘’Sometimes They Come Back (film)’’ >Tom McLoughlin >|Desperate Hours >| 1992 ‘’Once upon a Crime (1992 film)’’ >Eugene Levy >|Kuffs >Bruce A. Evans >|Army of Darkness >|Body of Evidence (1993 film)>Body of Evidence Uli Edel 1995 ‘’Solomon & Sheba (1995 film)’’ > Robert M. Young (film director) >|Slave of Dreams >| Rumpelstiltskin (1995 film)>Rumpelstiltskin Mark Jones (screenwriter) >|Assassins (1995 film)>Assassins Richard Donner 1996 ‘’Unforgettable (1996 film)’’ >John Dahl >|Bound (1996 film)>Bound The Wachowskis Breakdown (1997 film)>Breakdown rowspan=2Jonathan Mostow >|U-571 (film)>U-571 Hannibal (2001 film)>Hannibal Ridley Scott Red Dragon (2002 film)>Red Dragon Brett Ratner The Last Legion >Doug Lefler >| 2007 ‘’Hannibal Rising (film)’’ >Peter Webber >|Virgin Territory >David Leland >|

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons}}

• Dino De Laurentiis Company Official site
• {{IMDb name|id=0209569}}
• Who Was Dino De Laurentiis? {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115203226www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/52301/who-was-dino-de-laurentiis |date=15 November 2010 }} – image slideshow by Life magazine

{{Navboxes|title = Awards for Dino De Laurentiis|list ={{David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures}}{{Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement}}{{Thalberg Award}}{{The Life Career Award}}{{Nastro d’Argento Best Producer}}}}{{Authority control}}