May 12th 2024.
Roger Corman, the renowned "King of the Bs," passed away at the age of 98. Corman was a pioneer in the film industry, known for his ability to create exceptional low-budget classics such as Little Shop of Horrors and Attack of the Crab Monsters. He was also responsible for launching the careers of many famous actors and directors in Hollywood.
According to a statement from his daughter Catherine, Corman passed away on Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California. She described her father as a generous and kind individual who was loved by all who knew him. When asked how he wanted to be remembered, Corman simply replied, "As a filmmaker, nothing more."
Corman began his career in 1955 and went on to produce and direct hundreds of films. Some of his notable works include Black Scorpion, Bucket of Blood, and Bloody Mama. He had a keen eye for talent and gave opportunities to aspiring filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron, and Martin Scorsese.
In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award for his contributions to the film industry. In a 2007 documentary, he spoke about the challenges of working on a low budget and how it allowed for more creativity and experimentation in filmmaking.
Corman's films were revolutionary and paved the way for the golden age of Hollywood in the 1970s. Many famous actors got their start in his movies, including Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern, and Ellen Burstyn. Some of his films, like The Wild Angels and Boxcar Bertha, were a precursor to iconic works like Easy Rider and Taxi Driver.
Known for his ability to work with minuscule budgets, Corman often pushed his directors to finish their films in record time. Ron Howard, who worked with Corman in his early days, once asked for an extra half day to reshoot a scene, to which Corman replied, "You can come back, but no one else will be there."
Initially, Corman's films were only shown in drive-ins and specialty theaters. However, as his popularity grew, national chains began to screen his movies, thanks to the growing teenage audience. His films were often ahead of their time, tackling taboo subjects like sex and drugs, as seen in his 1967 release The Trip.
In addition to producing and directing, Corman also had a successful side business of releasing foreign films in the United States. Some of his notable releases include Cries and Whispers by Ingmar Bergman, Amarcord by Federico Fellini, and The Tin Drum by Volker Schlondorff. The latter two won Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.
Corman got his start in Hollywood as a messenger boy for Twentieth Century-Fox and eventually worked his way up to story analyst. He briefly left the industry to study English literature at Oxford but returned to launch his career as a producer and director. Despite his reputation for being frugal, Corman had a good relationship with his directors, and many of them returned the favor by casting him in their films, including The Godfather, Part II, The Silence of the Lambs, and Apollo 13.
Although most of his films were not critically acclaimed, Corman had a few exceptions, such as Little Shop of Horrors, which inspired a long-running stage musical and a 1986 film adaptation. He also initiated a series of films based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, with The Raven being one of the most notable, starring Jack Nicholson alongside horror legends Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone.
Corman's success in the film industry led to offers from major studios, and he directed films with normal budgets, such as The St. Valentine's Day Massacre and Von Richthofen and Brown. However, both films were considered disappointments, and Corman blamed it on studio interference.
Born in Detroit and raised in Beverly Hills, Corman attended Stanford University and served in the Navy for three years before pursuing a career in Hollywood. He married Julie Halloran in 1964, and they had three children together. Corman is survived by Julie, Catherine, and Mary, as confirmed by his daughter in the statement.
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