Damien Conrad Bona (March 18, 1955 – January 29, 2012) was an American

film historian The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art, visual art form created using history of film technology, film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. Th ...

, writer, film critic and journalist. Bona co-authored the 1986

reference book A reference work is a document, such as a Academic publishing#Scholarly paper, paper, book or periodical literature, periodical (or their electronic publishing, electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information ...

, "Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards," a definitive history of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

with Mason Wiley, a former classmate at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 1982, Bona quit his job as a Manhattan lawyer and moved to Los Angeles, where he and Wiley embarked on extensive research to write a reference guide to Oscar history from the first ceremony in 1929. Much of the research was conducted at the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

library in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

. The two missed their original publication deadline of November 1982. They submitted the final copy two years later with updates on the 1985 Academy Awards. Co-author Wiley died of Aids in 1994. Bona was the sole author of the book's sequel, "Inside Oscar 2," which was released in 2002 and covered the Academy Awards from 1995 through 2000. Bona was born March 18, 1955 during a heavy snow storm in

Sharon, Connecticut Sharon is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, in the northwest corner of the state. At the time of the United States 2020 Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population ...

, and raised in New Milford. He graduated from the Portsmouth Abbey School in 1973. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in English in 1977 from

, where he worked as a film critic for the university newspaper, the ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the second-oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after '' The Harvard Crimson'', a ...

''. He earned a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

from the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1980. He worked as a lawyer in Manhattan for two years before resigning and temporarily moving to Los Angeles where he and Mason Wiley began researching their book on the Academy Awards. After their research in Los Angeles, both Bona and Wiley moved back to New York City. Bona is the author of two other books, "Opening Shots: The Unusual, Unexpected, Potentially Career Threatening First Roles That Launched the Careers of 70 Hollywood Stars" (1994) and "Starring John Wayne as Genghis Kahn: Hollywood's All-Time Worst Casting Blunders" (1996). After suffering sudden cardiac arrest on January 14, 2012, Bona died from its complications in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on January 29, 2012, at the age of 56.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bona, Damien 1955 births 2012 deaths American film historians American male non-fiction writers American film critics Academy Awards American LGBTQ journalists American LGBTQ historians Columbia College (New York) alumni New York University School of Law alumni People from New Milford, Connecticut Journalists from New York City Historians from New York City Historians from Connecticut 21st-century American LGBTQ people LGBTQ media critics