LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Oscar-winning Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis, who brought 500 films to the big screen including “La Strada,” “Serpico,” and “Three Days of the Condor,” has died at age 91, his family said today.
De Laurentiis, who produced several Italian classics such as Federico Fellini’s “La Strada,” for which he won an Oscar in 1957, died at his Beverly Hills home late on Wednesday.
“Dino De Laurentiis, patriarch of the De Laurentiis family, Academy Award-winning producer and film legend, died on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 10PM (PST) at his home in Beverly Hills, California surrounded by family. He was 91,” his Hollywood producer daughter Raffaella De Laurentiis said in a statement.
The cause of death was not immediately known.
The filmmaker’s granddaughter Giada, a chef who hosts a show on the U.S. Food Network TV channel, called him a “true inspiration.”
“He was my biggest champion in life and a constant source for wisdom and advice. I will miss him dearly,” Giada De Laurentiis said.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been determined.
De Laurentiis was born on Aug. 8, 1919 in Torre Annunziata, near Naples, but moved to the United States in the 1970s.
He entered the film industry at age 20, and went on to produce more than 500 movies, including those by Fellini and Roberto Rossellini.
He moved to the United States after the failure of his film studios in Rome, and turned to a string of big international productions known for their grandiose style, including expensive failures such as “Hurricane” and “Tai-Pan.”
He was behind the “King Kong” remake of 1976, the killer whale film “Orca,” several adaptations of Stephen King’s novels, and most recently “Hannibal,” the 2001 sequel to “The Silence of the Lambs.”
He also won critical praise for movies like “Blue Velvet” and “Ragtime” in the 198Os, and received a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2001.
