That's a classroom on how you do these things.' 'I don't care whatever film class you take, experience helps, but if you want to make movies, all you have to do is watch John Ford films or Orson Welles films. 'I was weaned on James Cagney and John Wayne,' he says, remembering childhood days watching movies on TV.

(Cooking is another of Amoruso's loves.) Also key to his upbringing were his father's love of baseball and classic movies, and Amoruso embraced both.

His European grandparents regularly spoke Italian Sunday dinners were a time to celebrate family and heritage. Born in Brooklyn, he moved to Smithtown when he was 10. It's no wonder that a big part of his work has centered on his Italian heritage, both in his film work (the 1999 documentary 'Our Contribution: Italians in America') and his books (his 2011 memoir 'Being Italian' and his novels 'Across 7th Street' and 'The Sixth Family'). Key to Amoruso's success has been to make films and write about what he knows. The face-to-face with Hodges fueled a lifelong love affair with baseball for writer-filmmaker Amoruso, who poured that passion into a 2000 documentary called ' Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man.' The film was based on Amoruso's 1991 biography of the same name.īy clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. I don't think I've had that moment since.' So I just screamed out, 'Gil, you're my favorite player,' and he turned around and said, 'And you're my favorite fan.' At that moment, all was right in the world. Listen to your parents.' When he started to walk away, I suddenly realized I had fantasized about this moment and had said nothing.

'Finally, he said 'I have to go now' then said to me: 'Keep practicing. My father kept answering for me,' Amoruso says. 14 must be Gil Hodges.' He spent about 10 minutes with me, signed my yearbook and told me what a good guy I was. 'My father knew the usher, and he got us a spot right by the railing by the Mets dugout,' recalls Amoruso, now 56, of Oakdale. He was only 6, the Mets were the new team in town, and his father even made sure Marino was decked out in a Mets shirt with a big 14 on the back, the number of the boy's favorite player, Gil Hodges. Marino Amoruso remembers in detail the first ballgame his father took him to a half-century ago.

Being Italian by Marino Amoruso