BIO

Michael Cimino was born in New York City, in 1939, and grew up in Old Westbury, New York.   His father published sheet music.   Cimino received a degree in graphic design from Michigan State University and graduated from Yale University with a master’s degree in painting.

He began his career in advertising and became a well-regarded director of television commercials, but his dream was to direct Hollywood films.

Cimino began by writing screenplays.   His first to be produced was in 1972, when he was 33, for Universal Studios.

Cimino received two Academy Awards for co-producing and directing The Deer Hunter which was also one of the 10 highest-grossing films of 1978.   He also received a Best Writing Oscar nomination for developing the story.

His next film, for which he was again both writer and director, was Heaven’s Gate (1980) which is infamous for massive cost overruns and failure at the box office.   TransAmerica, the studio's owner, quickly sold United Artists and exited the movie-making business.

Although Heaven's Gate did not curtail his film-making, Cimino's project choices became limited.   His last full-length directorial effort in 1996, which lost close to $30 million, effectively ended his career.

Cimino has directed or produced 8 films through 2007.   Another 3 of his screenplays have been turned into movies.

He died in 2016, at the age of 77, in Los Angeles.

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS