What was Dino De Laurentiis' net worth?
Dino De Laurentiis was an Oscar-winning Italian-American film producer who had a net worth of $120 million at the time of his death in 2010. De Laurentiis founded the production company Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica in 1946 and produced more than 180 projects, including "La Strada" (1954), "War and Peace" (1956), "The Bible: In the Beginning" (1966), "King Kong" (1976), "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), "Dune" (1984), and "Hannibal" (2001). Dino also produced the Stephen King films "Dead Zone" (1983), "Firestarter" (1984), "Maximum Overdrive" (1985), "Silver Bullet" (1985), "Cat's Eye" (1985), and "Sometimes They Come Back" (1990).
Though De Laurentiis was primarily known for feature films, he produced an episode of the 1968 miniseries "Odissea" as well as the 1995 TV movies "Solomon & Sheba" and "Slave of Dreams." He briefly worked as an actor, appearing in the films "L'orologio a cucù" (1938), "Heartbeat" (1939), "Department Store" (1939), "Small Hotel" (1939), "I Met You Too Late" (1940), "Boccaccio" (1940), and "The Last Fight" (1941). Dino also owned and operated the Italian specialty foods store DDL Foodshow, which had two New York locations and one in Los Angeles. De Laurentiis passed away in November 2010 at the age of 91.
Early Life
Dino De Laurentiis was born Agostino De Laurentiis on August 8, 1919, in Torre Annunziata, Kingdom of Italy. His father owned a pasta factory, and during his youth, Dino sold spaghetti made by the factory. De Laurentiis attended Rome's Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia from 1937 to 1938, but his studies were interrupted when World War II began. Dino had an older brother named Luigi, who was also a film producer.
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Career
De Laurentiis' first film was 1940's "L'ultimo Combattimento," and by the end of the decade, he had produced "L'amore canta" (1941), "Return of the Black Eagle" (1946), "The Bandit" (1946), "The Captain's Daughter" (1947), "Bullet for Stefano" (1947), "Bitter Rice" (1948), "The Street Has Many Dreams" (1948), and "The Wolf of the Sila" (1949). In the '50s, Dino produced films such as "Anna" (1951), "Funniest Show on Earth" (1953), "The Unfaithfuls" (1953), "Woman of Rome" (1954), "An American in Rome" (1954), "Ulysses" (1955), "War and Peace" (1956), "Tempest" (1958), and "The Great War" (1959), and he won an Academy Award for 1954's "La Strada," which was directed by Federico Fellini. De Laurentiis produced more than 30 films in the '60s, including "The Hunchback of Rome" (1960), "The Last Judgment" (1961), "The Best of Enemies" (1961), "Mafioso" (1962), "The Hills Run Red" (1966), "The Stranger" (1967), "The Witches" (1967), "Barbarella" (1968), and the 1966 John Hutson-directed epic "The Bible: In the Beginning," which starred Ava Gardner, Peter O'Toole, and George C. Scott. He then produced "Waterloo" (1970), "The Valachi Papers" (1972), "The Assassin of Rome" (1972), "Serpico" (1973), and "Death Wish" (1974), and in 1976, he produced "King Kong," which grossed $90.6 million against a $24 million budget. That year he also moved to America, and he became a U.S. citizen 10 years later.
In the '80s, Dino launched De Laurentiis Entertainment Group in Wilmington, North Carolina, and he is credited with bringing the film industry to the city, which came to be known as "Wilmywood" and "Hollywood East." In 1990, he opened Dino De Laurentiis Communications in Los Angeles. De Laurentiis produced numerous horror movies in the '80s and early '90s, including "Halloween II" (1981), "Amityville II: The Possession" (1982), "Amityville 3-D" (1983), "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" (1983), "Trick or Treat" (1986), "Evil Dead II" (1987), "Army of Darkness" (1992), and several adaptations of Stephen King novels and short stories. Around this time, he also produced notable films such as "Flash Gordon" (1980), "Ragtime" (1981), "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), "Conan the Destroyer" (1984), "Dune" (1984), "Blue Velvet" (1986), and "King Kong Lives" (1986). De Laurentiis produced 1986's "Manhunter," which was based on Thomas Harris' 1981 novel "Red Dragon," the first book in his "Hannibal Lecter" series. Dino later produced three more films featuring Hannibal Lecter: "Hannibal" (2001), "Red Dragon" (2002), and "Hannibal Rising" (2007). In the late '90s, De Laurentiis produced the films "Unforgettable" (1996), "Bound" (1996), and "Breakdown" (1997), and in the last decade of his life, he produced "U-571" (2000), "The Last Legion" (2007), and "Virgin Territory" (2007).
Personal Life
After his first marriage was annulled, Dino married actress Silvana Mangano on July 17, 1949. Dino and Silvana had four children together, daughters Veronica, Raffaella, and Francesca and son Federico. Raffaella and Federico both became film producers, but sadly Federico died in a plane crash at the age of 26. De Laurentiis and Mangano divorced in 1988, and Silvana died the following year. Dino married producer Martha Schumacher on April 7, 1990, and they remained married until his death in 2010. Martha produced several films with Dino, such as "Breakdown" and "Hannibal," and they had two daughters together, Dina and Carolyna. Famed chef Giada De Laurentiis is one of Dino's grandchildren.
Death
On November 10, 2010, Dino passed away at his Beverly Hills home at the age of 91. According to his daughter Raffaella, De Laurentiis was surrounded by his family when he died. After Dino's death, his granddaughter Giada paid tribute to him, telling "The Hollywood Reporter," "My grandfather was a true inspiration. He was my biggest champion in life and a constant source for wisdom and advice. I will miss him dearly."
Awards and Nominations
In 1957, De Laurentiis won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for "La strada," and in 2001, he was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Dino received eight David di Donatello Awards: Best Production (Migliore Produzione) for "Le notti di Cabiria" (1957), "Tutti a casa" (1961), "The Bible: In the Beginning…" (1966), and "Banditi a Milano" (1968), Best Film (Miglior Film) for "Waterloo" (1971), a Golden Plate (1965), a Cinecittà Award (2000), and a 50th Anniversary David (2006). He earned six nominations from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, winning the Silver Ribbon for Best Producer (Produttore del Miglior Film) for "La strada" in 1955, "Le notti di Cabiria" in 1958, and "Tutti a casa" and "Il gobbo" in 1961. De Laurentiis received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1997) and the PGA Awards (2004), and he earned a Palm Springs International Film Festival Distinguished Achievement Award in 2000. Dino won a Laceno d'Oro for Best Producer at the 1960 Avellino Neorealism Film Festival and a Golden Cup for "Lo scopone scientifico" at the 1973 Golden Goblets, and he received a Pietro Bianchi Award (1999) and Career Golden Lion (2003) at the Venice Film Festival. In 2002, he earned a Career Award at the Flaiano International Prizes and "The General" Honorary Award at the Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival, and in 2012, he posthumously received the Italy-USA Foundation's America Award.
Real Estate
In 1987, Dino and his wife Martha paid $2.8 million for a 6-acre property in Beverly Hills that features a 6,000 square-foot mansion. A few months after Martha's death in late 2021, this home came to market with a $37.5 million asking price:
