Dillon, a Greek American (his grandfather's family name was Anglicized from Deligianis), was born in Norwich, Connecticut, to parents who were second-generation Greeks. There is a street in Norwich named after his grandfather who was a carpenter and who built houses there. His father, a career U.S. Marine, moved about the country and Dillon eventually ended up in San Diego
Film Career and Killer Tomatoesedit
Dillon began making films in high school with his friends John DeBello, Steve Peace, and Mike Grant. The group took 3rd place in the 1971 National Kodak Teenage Film Festival and won the 1972 Shasta Film Festival. They then established Four Square Productions, a film company in San Diego and began making sports films. The group later formed Killer Tomato Entertainment, Inc. which produced the four Killer Tomato films as well as Happy Hour.[2]
Dillon created the concept of Killer Tomatoes as a short film in college. It was later made as a feature film, now famous, at a cost of less than $100,000.[3] Finding a new audience as one of the first films to be available on VHS, the movie developed a cult following that led to three sequels, including Return of the Killer Tomatoes starring George Clooney. A cartoon show was aired on Fox 1990–1992 Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. The term "killer tomato" has often been used as shorthand for the fear of genetically engineered food[4] and was used by the media extensively during the tomato salmonella outbreak in spring 2008.
Jeff Strand's novelization of the film was published in April 2023 [5]
National Park Service Careeredit
Dillon spent 35 years with the National Park Service, retiring in 2013.[6][7] Dillon had a parallel career with his motion picture work and has worked in numerous national parks, including Gettysburg National Military Park, Eisenhower National Historic Site, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Independence National Historical Park, and Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. He was the superintendent of the National Park Service Horace M. Albright Training Center and the interim Chief of Learning and Development for the National Park Service in 2006–2007.[8] He formerly served as Superintendent of Homestead National Historical Park, Fire Island National Seashore,[9] and Indiana Dunes National Park.[10][11] He is a recipient of the National Parks Conservation Association's Stephen T. Mather award,[12] the National Park Service Sequoia Award for outstanding contributions to park interpretation, the Secretary of the Interior's Award for Long-Term achievement in Diversity, and the Department of the Interior's Meritorious Service Award[13][14]
While at Fire Island, he also received commendations from the New York State Legislature and the Suffolk County Legislature for his accomplishments there. He is a recipient of two awards from the Urban League for achievements in diversity.[15] He is an admiral in the Nebraska Navy.[16]
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Constantine Dillon born 1953 usually known as Costa is a retired U S National Park Service Superintendent and a writer and actor of Greek ancestry He is most famous as the creator of the film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and its sequels Return of the Killer Tomatoes Killer Tomatoes Strike Back and Killer Tomatoes Eat France he also wrote the film Happy Hour 1 Costa DillonDillon with George Clooney in a scene from Return of the Killer TomatoesBornNorwich Connecticut U S Occupation s Writer Actor National Park SuperintendentYears active1977 present Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1 2 Film Career and Killer Tomatoes 1 3 National Park Service Career 2 References 3 External linksBiography editEarly life edit Dillon a Greek American his grandfather s family name was Anglicized from Deligianis was born in Norwich Connecticut to parents who were second generation Greeks There is a street in Norwich named after his grandfather who was a carpenter and who built houses there His father a career U S Marine moved about the country and Dillon eventually ended up in San Diego Film Career and Killer Tomatoes edit Dillon began making films in high school with his friends John DeBello Steve Peace and Mike Grant The group took 3rd place in the 1971 National Kodak Teenage Film Festival and won the 1972 Shasta Film Festival They then established Four Square Productions a film company in San Diego and began making sports films The group later formed Killer Tomato Entertainment Inc which produced the four Killer Tomato films as well as Happy Hour 2 Dillon created the concept of Killer Tomatoes as a short film in college It was later made as a feature film now famous at a cost of less than 100 000 3 Finding a new audience as one of the first films to be available on VHS the movie developed a cult following that led to three sequels including Return of the Killer Tomatoes starring George Clooney A cartoon show was aired on Fox 1990 1992 Attack of the Killer Tomatoes The term killer tomato has often been used as shorthand for the fear of genetically engineered food 4 and was used by the media extensively during the tomato salmonella outbreak in spring 2008 Other feature films include Killer Tomatoes Strike Back writer actor Killer Tomatoes Eat France writer actor and Happy Hour writer actor production design Jeff Strand s novelization of the film was published in April 2023 5 National Park Service Career edit Dillon spent 35 years with the National Park Service retiring in 2013 6 7 Dillon had a parallel career with his motion picture work and has worked in numerous national parks including Gettysburg National Military Park Eisenhower National Historic Site Great Smoky Mountains National Park Independence National Historical Park and Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site He was the superintendent of the National Park Service Horace M Albright Training Center and the interim Chief of Learning and Development for the National Park Service in 2006 2007 8 He formerly served as Superintendent of Homestead National Historical Park Fire Island National Seashore 9 and Indiana Dunes National Park 10 11 He is a recipient of the National Parks Conservation Association s Stephen T Mather award 12 the National Park Service Sequoia Award for outstanding contributions to park interpretation the Secretary of the Interior s Award for Long Term achievement in Diversity and the Department of the Interior s Meritorious Service Award 13 14 While at Fire Island he also received commendations from the New York State Legislature and the Suffolk County Legislature for his accomplishments there He is a recipient of two awards from the Urban League for achievements in diversity 15 He is an admiral in the Nebraska Navy 16 Dillon is a graduate of the University of California Davis 17 and the University of Colorado He is currently an Instructor for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Diego State University References edit Happy Hour 1986 IMDb IMDb Vicious Veggies A Killer Tomatoes Franchise Retrospective Archived from the original on 2016 06 14 Retrieved 2014 03 27 Attack of the Killer Tomatoes An Oral History of the 1978 Film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Novel Costa Dillon takes on a new adventure Lakeshore Superintendent Retires Dillon Named Superintendent of Albright Training Center COVER EDITORIAL A Line In The Sand It s a National Seashore Fire Island Should Belong to All Park heroes National Park Service workers were first on the scene in Nathan Woessner s rescue Dunes Trails Touted For Healthy Exercise Archived from the original on 2012 03 09 Retrieved 2011 05 15 Dillon Receives Mather Award 68th Honor Awards Convocation U S Department of the Interior Archived 2012 09 26 at the Wayback Machine Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Receives Meritorious Service Award Urban League Lauds Diversity Achievements Association Nebraska Admirals Nebraska Admirals Association www nebraskaadmirals org Retrieved 2016 08 17 Outlook PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2015 06 04 External links editCosta Dillon at IMDb Bioblitz on YouTube National Parks Traveler Podcast KillerTomatoes Retrospective on YouTube Python s Paradise on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Costa Dillon amp oldid 1193256909, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
