Michael Cimino

Michael Antonio Cimino ( chim-EE-noh 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 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 '70s 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), which became his directorial debut, and one of the highest-grossing films of its year. The critical accolades for co-writing, directing, and producing The Deer Hu..."> ()