Philip D'Antoni (February 19, 1929 – April 15, 2018) was an American film and television producer.
He was best known for producing the Academy Award-winning 1971 film The French Connection.
D'Antoni attended Evander Childs High School in the Bronx.
He then served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1948 during the occupation of Japan after World War II.
He was eventually assigned to Special Services where he entertained troops by participating in theatrical productions.
After army service, he attended Fordham University from 1948 to 1950, where he worked during the day attended school at night, and graduated with a degree in business administration.
D'Antoni began his career on television with the production of the specials Sophia Loren in Rome, Elizabeth Taylor in London, and Melina Mercouri in Greece.
He produced Bullitt in 1968.
In 1971, he produced The French Connection, which won the Best Picture award, among other wins at the Oscars.
In 1973, he produced and directed The Seven-Ups.
After The Seven-Ups, D'Antoni, who held the rights to French Connection II and Gerald Walker's novel Cruising, eschewed feature filmmaking and turned his attention to television production where he enjoyed a lucrative contract with NBC.
D'Antoni's crime dramas are characterized by a cold, gritty, "street" perspective with documentary style, often filmed during the bleak New York winter months, and offer the viewer a realistic and often dangerous sense of being an insider, as opposed to using glamorous locations or produced sets.
D'Antoni won the Academy Award in 1972 for Best Picture and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Drama for The French Connection.
Thirty-five years after it was made, the climatic car chase scene in The French Connection is still jaw-dropping in its suspense and execution. Director William Friedkin recounts how he created one of the greatest action sequences ever.
Part one of the making of William Friedkin’s 1980 thriller "Cruising" and the controversies it created.
The exciting story of the making of William Friedkin's The French Connection (1971), hosted by former NYPD detective Sony Grosso, who inspired the character of Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo, played in the film by actor Roy Scheider.
A documentary on the production of The French Connection (1971).
Two adventurers set sail to find a giant man-eating great white shark.
Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.
Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.