Dr. Mary Reid Gaudio & Gino Gaudio. Filmmakers & Founders of the Tony Gaudio Foundation

Little Italy Podcast

Please join me in welcoming my friends, Dr. Mary Reid Gaudio and Gino Gaudio, filmmakers and founders of the Tony Gaudio Foundation, who joined us today to discuss the magnificent film they will soon debut about Oscar-winning cinematographer, Gaetano Gaudio, the first Italian-born filmmaker from Italy to win an Academy Award. And his story is fascinating.

In 1906, Gaetano “Tony” Gaudio, a young man from Calabria, set out for the American Dream, arriving in the United States with a passion for cinematography, which was just developing in the motion picture industry. His family ran a successful photography studio in Cosenza, Italy, so making pictures was in his DNA. Tony eventually made his way from New York to Hollywood, where he quickly grew to be one of the most prized cinematographers in the industry, working with Hollywood’s elite such as Betty Davis, Errol Flynn, and dozens of others. He won an Academy Award for his work in 1937 for Anthony Adverse. His statuette is missing, just like his story was for decades, until Gino, Mary, and other descendants of the Gaudio family brought his story to life in this documentary, with the hope of also finding his prized Oscar.

Please join my interview with Gino and Mary on all video and audio platforms of #littleItalyPodcast, #DeborahKobyltLIVE and the #LittleItalyOfLAPodcast. I’m your host, #DeborahZaraKobylt, and it’s my pleasure to welcome you here.