Roger Corman, the Oscar-winning 바카라King of the Bs바카라 who helped turn out such low-budget classics as 바카라Little Shop of Horrors바카라 and 바카라Attack of the Crab Monsters바카라 and gave many of Hollywood's most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died. He was 98.
Corman died on Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, his daughter Catherine Corman said on Saturday in a statement.
바카라He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,바카라 the statement said. 바카라When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, I was a filmmaker, just that.'바카라
Starting in 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of films as a producer and director, among them 바카라Black Scorpion바카라, 바카라Bucket of Blood바카라, and 바카라Bloody Mama바카라.
A remarkable judge of talent, he hired such aspiring filmmakers as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese. In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award.
바카라There are many constraints connected with working on a low budget, but at the same time there are certain opportunities,바카라 Corman said in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s director of 바카라Cat People바카라 and other underground classics.
바카라You can gamble a little bit more. You can experiment. You have to find a more creative way to solve a problem or to present a concept.바카라
The roots of Hollywood's golden age in the 1970s can be found in Corman's films. Jack Nicholson made his film debut as the title character in a 1958 Corman quickie, 바카라The Cry Baby Killer바카라, and stayed with the company for biker, horror and action films, writing and producing some of them.
Other actors whose careers began in Corman movies included Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn. Peter Fonda's appearance in 바카라The Wild Angels바카라 was a precursor to his own landmark biker movie 바카라Easy Rider바카라, co-starring Nicholson and fellow Corman alumnus Dennis Hopper.
바카라Boxcar Bertha바카라, starring Barbara Hershey and David Carradine, was an early film by Scorsese.
Corman's directors were given minuscule budgets and often told to finish their films in as little as five days. When Howard, who would go on to win a best director Oscar for 바카라A Beautiful Mind바카라, pleaded for an extra half day to reshoot a scene in 1977 for 바카라Grand Theft Auto바카라, Corman told him, 바카라Ron, you can come back if you want, but nobody else will be there바카라.
Initially only drive-ins and specialty theatres would book Corman films, but as teenagers began turning out, national chains gave in. Corman's pictures were open for their time about sex and drugs, such as his 1967 release 바카라The Trip바카라, an explicit story about LSD written by Nicholson and starring Fonda and Hopper.
Meanwhile, he discovered a lucrative sideline releasing prestige foreign films in the United States, among them Ingmar Bergman's 바카라Cries and Whispers바카라, Federico Fellini's 바카라Amarcord바카라 and Volker Schlondorff's 바카라The Tin Drum바카라. The latter two won Oscars for best foreign language film.
Corman got his start as a messenger boy for Twentieth Century-Fox, eventually graduating to story analyst. After quitting the business briefly to study English literature for a term at Oxford, he returned to Hollywood and launched his career as a movie producer and director.
Despite his penny-pinching ways, Corman retained good relations with his directors, boasting that he never fired one because, 바카라I wouldn't want to inflict that humiliation.바카라
Some of his former underlings repaid his kindness years later. Coppola cast him in 바카라The Godfather, Part II바카라, Jonathan Demme included him in 바카라The Silence of the Lambs바카라 and 바카라Philadelphia바카라 and Howard gave him a part in 바카라Apollo 13바카라.
Most of Corman's movies were quickly forgotten by all but die-hard fans. A rare exception was 1960's 바카라Little Shop of Horrors바카라, which starred a bloodthirsty plant that feasted on humans and featured Nicholson in a small but memorable role as a pain-loving dental patient. It inspired a long-lasting stage musical and a 1986 musical adaptation starring Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy.
In 1963, Corman initiated a series of films based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The most notable was 바카라The Raven바카라, which teamed Nicholson with veteran horror stars Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone. Directed by Corman on a rare three-week schedule, the horror spoof won good reviews, a rarity for his films. Another Poe adaptation, 바카라House of Usher바카라, was deemed worthy of preservation by the Library of Congress.
Near the end of his life, Karloff starred in another Corman-backed effort, the 1968 thriller 바카라Targets바카라, which marked Peter Bogdanovich's directorial debut.
Corman's success prompted offers from major studios, and he directed 바카라The St. Valentine's Day Massacre바카라 and 바카라Von Richthofen and Brown바카라 on normal budgets. Both were disappointments, however, and he blamed their failure on front-office interference.
Roger William Corman was born in Detroit and raised in Beverly Hills, but 바카라not in the affluent section바카라, he once said. He attended Stanford University, earning a degree in engineering, and arrived in Hollywood after three years in the Navy.
After his stint at Oxford, he worked as a television stagehand and literary agent before finding his life's work.
In 1964 he married Julie Halloran, a UCLA graduate who also became a producer. They had three children: Catherine, Roger and Brian.
He is survived by Julie, Catherine and Mary, his daughter said in the statement.
