Gino Corrado

Gino Corrado Liserani was born in Pisa, Italy in 1893, the son of Carlo Liserani, a marble and art dealer. Corrado grew up in Florence. In 1895, Carlo Liserani, brother Cyrus, and their families emigrated to the United States, settling near Coney Island in New York, where the men took up jobs in construction and masonry as artisan craftsmen. In 1904 the families moved to Chicago, but Gino and a brother were returned to Italy to study for the priesthood at a Jesuit monastery. It was here that he received his classical training in the arts. In 1908 he rejoined his family in Chicago and was sent to a seminary to continue his Jesuit studies. He dropped out later due to family financial reasons, and his family moved to California, eventually settling in San Diego in 1912, where the young Corrado worked as a waiter and artisan, building many sets for the then-thriving San Diego film industry. At a chance meeting with actor-director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in 1916, Corrado was convinced to g