Dino De Laurentiis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dino De Laurentiis
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De Laurentiis in 2009
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| Born |
Agostino De Laurentiis
8 August 1919 Torre Annunziata, Kingdom of Italy
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| Died | 10 November 2010 (aged 91) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Cimitero Comunale Torre Annunziata |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Years active | 1938–2010 |
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| Children | 6, including Veronica and Raffaella |
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Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (born August 8, 1919 – died November 10, 2010) was a famous Italian-American film producer. He helped bring Italian movies to the world after World War II. Dino produced or helped produce over 500 films. Many of these movies were nominated for Academy Awards, which are like the biggest prizes in filmmaking. He even acted a little bit when he was younger.
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Early Life
Dino De Laurentiis was born in a town called Torre Annunziata in Italy. When he was a kid, he helped sell spaghetti from his father's pasta factory. He later studied filmmaking in Rome in 1937 and 1938. His studies stopped because of World War II.
Career in Film
Becoming a Producer
Dino De Laurentiis made his first movie in 1941. In 1946, his company, Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, started making films. In the early years, Dino produced Italian films that showed real life, like Bitter Rice (1949). He also worked on early movies by the famous director Federico Fellini, such as La Strada (1954) and Nights of Cabiria (1956). He often worked with another producer named Carlo Ponti.
In the 1960s, Dino built his own movie studios. He produced many different kinds of films. These included a religious epic called Barabbas (1961) and The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966). He also made action films like Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die and Westerns like Navajo Joe (1966). He even made movies based on comic books, such as Barbarella (1968) and Danger: Diabolik (1968). His studio faced financial challenges in the 1970s.
Moving to America
In 1976, Dino De Laurentiis moved to the United States. He became an American citizen in 1986. In the 1980s, he had his own studio called De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) in North Carolina. This studio helped make that area a big place for making movies and TV shows. In 1990, he started a new company in Beverly Hills.
Dino made many popular and well-liked films. Some of these include Serpico (1973), Death Wish (1974), and Three Days of the Condor (1975). He also produced Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Blue Velvet (1986). His name became very well known because of the 1976 King Kong remake, which was a big success. Other notable films he produced were Orca (1977) and Flash Gordon (1980).
Dino also produced several movies based on books by Stephen King. These included The Dead Zone (1983) and Cat's Eye (1985). His company was also involved with some horror movie sequels like Halloween II (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987).
He produced the first movie about the character Hannibal Lecter, called Manhunter (1986). Later, he produced Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002). He also made a movie about Hannibal's early life, Hannibal Rising (2007).
Family Life
Dino De Laurentiis had a short first marriage in Italy that was later ended. In 1949, he married actress Silvana Mangano. They had four children together: Veronica, Raffaella, Federico, and Francesca. Raffaella also became a film producer. Sadly, his only son, Federico, passed away in a plane crash in 1981. Dino dedicated his movie Dune to him. Dino and Silvana divorced in 1988.
In 1990, he married Martha Schumacher. She produced many of his films starting in 1985. They had two daughters, Carolyna and Dina. One of his grandchildren is Giada De Laurentiis, who is a famous chef and TV host on Food Network. Dino was also the younger brother of Luigi De Laurentiis, who was also a film producer. His nephew, Aurelio De Laurentiis, is also a producer and is the chairman of the S.S.C. Napoli football club.
Awards and Recognitions
In 1958, Dino De Laurentiis won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for producing La Strada. At that time, the award went to the producers and directors.
In 2001, he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. This is a special award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that honors producers who have made many great films.
In 2012, he was given the America Award by the Italy-USA Foundation. This award was given in his memory after he passed away.
Death
Dino De Laurentiis passed away on November 10, 2010, at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 91 years old.
See also
In Spanish: Dino De Laurentiis para niños
