Carlo Ponti

Worked for Lux Films in Rome from 1945 to 1949, where he oversaw several features by directors including Mario Camerini and Alberto Lattuada. In 1950 Ponti began a successful partnership with Dino De Laurentiis, producing a number of noted films such as Federico Fellini's "La Strada" (1954). He then branched out on his own in the mid-1950s, scoring critical and popular success with international productions by directors such as Vittorio De Sica, Jean-Luc Godard and David Lean.

Ponti's 1957 marriage to Sophia Loren sparked off a string of Italian legal complications (a previous divorce was still being contested) which resulted in his taking French citizenship in 1964. In 1979, he was sentenced, in absentia, to a jail term and a multi-million dollar fine, for charges involving the smuggling of currency and art.

• Born:
  December 11, 1910 in Milan, Italy
• Died:
  January 9, 2007.
• Job Titles:
  Producer, Production manager

Education

• University of Milan, Milan, Italy, law

Milestones

• 1942 First feature producing credit, "Piccolo Mondo Antico/Old-Fashioned World"
• 1950 Begins producing partnership with Dino De Laurentiis
• 1954 Produces Fellini's "La Strada"
• 1957 Dissolves partneship with De Laurentiis and marries Sophia Loren
• 1958 First American producing credit, "The Black Orchid"
• 1964 Obtains French citizenship
• 1965 Produces epic film "Dr. Zhivago"
• 1979 Fined by Italian court the equivelent of 25 million dollars and sentenced to a four year term in absentia for muggling art and currency
• 1989 First film produced after legal difficulties, "Running Away'