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Michael Cimino | |
|---|---|
 Cimino in 2003 | |
| Born | Michael Antonio Cimino February 3, 1939 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 2, 2016 (aged 77) |
| Education | Michigan State University (BA Graphic Arts, 1959) Yale University (BFA Painting, 1961; MFA Painting, 1963) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1972–2016 |
| Partner(s) | Joann Carelli (1967–1975)[1] Nongnuj Timruang (1977)[2] Barbra Streisand (1983)[3] Yvonne Sciò (2002) Kim Swennen (2008–2009) |
Michael Antonio Cimino (/tʃɪˈmiːnoʊ/ chim-EE-noh[4] Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔːnjo tʃiˈmiːno]; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. Notorious for his obsessive attention to detail and determination for perfection, Cimino achieved widespread fame with The Deer Hunter (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
With a background in painting and architecture, Cimino began his career as a commercial director in New York before moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s to take up screenwriting. After co-writing the scripts for both Silent Running (1972) and Magnum Force (1973), he wrote the preliminary script for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). The latter became his directorial debut and one of the highest-grossing films of that year.[5]
The accolades received for co-writing, directing, and producing The Deer Hunter led to Cimino receiving creative control of Heaven's Gate (1980). The film became a critical failure and a legendary box-office bomb, which lost production studio United Artists an estimated $37 million. Its failure was seen by many observers as the end of the New Hollywood era, with studios next shifting focus from director-driven films toward high-concept, crowd-pleasing blockbusters. More recently, however, Heaven's Gate has undergone a dramatic reappraisal, even being named by BBC Culture as one of the greatest American films of all time.[6]
Cimino made only four subsequent films and grew infamous for the number of projects left unfinished due to his uncompromising artistry.[7] In 2002, Cimino claimed he had written at least 50 scripts overall.[8] Several of his ambitious "dream projects" included adaptations of the novels Conquering Horse, The Fountainhead and Man's Fate as well as biopics on crime boss Frank Costello and Irish rebel Michael Collins.[9]
- ^ Sklar, Debbie L. (October 13, 2016). "'Deer Hunter' Oscar director's widow named to oversee multi-million dollar estate". My News LA. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ Cimino, Michael (director); Feeney, F. X. (critic). DVD commentary by director Michael Cimino and film critic F. X. Feeney. Included on The Deer Hunter UK region 2 DVD release and the StudioCanal Blu-ray.
- ^ Elton 2022, p. 223.
- ^ Say How? A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures. Library of Congress. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
- ^ "Top Grossing Films of 1974". www.listal.com. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
- ^ "The 100 greatest American films". www.bbc.com. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
- ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (December 6, 2001). "Michael Cimino: war stories". The Guardian. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Garbarino, Steve (March 1, 2002). "Michael Cimino's Final Cut". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Elton, Charles (2022). Cimino: The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate, and the Price of a Vision. Abrams Press. ISBN 9781419747113.