Born in Torre Annunziata, Italy; educated at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Rome. Produced several prestigious Italian films in collaboration with Carlo Ponti in the 1950s, before turning to grandiose international productions. After the failure of his massive Dinocittà studio De Laurentiis moved to the US. His taste for overblown spectacle led to some expensive failures (HURRICANE, 1979, TAI-PAN, 1986), though he was also behind such critically lauded productions as RAGTIME (1981) and BLUE VELVET (1986). In 1984 De Laurentiis unveiled the DEG (DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group) Film Studios in Wilmington, NC, but the venture was a failure and its founder bowed out in 1988. Rafaella De Laurentiis, the second of his four children with actress Silvana Mangano (married 1949 - 1969), is a Hollywood-based producer who formed her own company in 1987. In 1990, he married Martha Schmacher, who has been a producer of films for De Laurentiis since the mid-1980s. In Italy, De Laurentiis has won five "Davids" for Best Production and the 2000 Cinecittà Award: LE NOTTI DI CABIRIA / NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957), TUTTI A CASA / EVERYBODY GO HOME (1960), LA BIBLIA / THE BIBLE (1966), BANDITI A MILANO (1968) and WATERLOO (1970). Other notable De Laurentiis productions in over 150 films include ADAMO ED EVA / ADAM & EVE and RISO AMARO / BITTER RICE (both 1949), LA STRADA (1954), WAR AND PEACE (1956), BARABBAS (1962), MEANAGE ALL'ITALIANA / MENAGE ITALIAN STYLE (1965), BARBARELLA (1968), THE VALACHI PAPERS (1972), SERPICO (1973, exec. producer), DEATH WISH (1974), THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975, exec. producer), KING KONG (1976), ORCA (1977, exec. producer), KING OF THE GYPSIES and THE BRINK'S JOB (both 1978, both exec. producer), RAGTIME (1981), CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982), THE DEAD ZONE (1983), YEAR OF THE DRAGON (1985), MANHUNTER (1986), ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992), BODY OF EVIDENCE (1993), ASSASSINS (1995), UNGORGETTABLE (1996), BREAKDOWN (1997), U-571 (2000), HANNIBAL (2001), RED DRAGON (2002), and HANNIBAL RISING, THE LAST LEGION and VIRGIN TERRITORY (all 2007).  Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award 2000, 1 Honorary Award