LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Roger Corman, the 鈥淜ing of the Bs鈥 who helped turn out such low-budget classics as 鈥淟ittle Shop of Horrors鈥 and 鈥淎ttack of the Crab Monsters鈥 and gave many of Hollywood's most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died. He was 98.
Corman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, according to a statement released Saturday by his wife and daughters.
鈥淗e was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,鈥 the statement said. 鈥淲hen asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, 鈥業 was a filmmaker, just that.鈥欌
Starting in 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of B-movies as a producer and director, among them 鈥淏lack Scorpion,鈥 鈥淏ucket of Blood鈥 and 鈥淏loody Mama.鈥 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.
鈥淭here are many constraints connected with working on a low budget, but at the same time there are certain opportunities,鈥 Corman said in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s director of 鈥淐at People鈥 and other underground classics.
鈥淵ou 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," he said.
The roots of Hollywood鈥檚 golden age in the 1970s can be found in Corman鈥檚 films.
Jack Nicholson made his film debut as the title character in a 1958 Corman quickie, 鈥淭he Cry Baby Killer,鈥 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鈥檚 appearance in 鈥淭he Wild Angels鈥 was a precursor to his own landmark biker movie, 鈥淓asy Rider,鈥 co-starring Nicholson and fellow Corman alumnus Dennis Hopper. 鈥淏oxcar Bertha,鈥 starring Barbara Hershey and David Carradine, was an early film by Scorsese.
Corman's B-movie 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 鈥淎 Beautiful Mind,鈥 pleaded for an extra half day to reshoot a scene in 1977 for 鈥淕rand Theft Auto,鈥 Corman told him, 鈥淩on, you can come back if you want, but nobody else will be there.鈥
鈥淩oger Corman was my very first boss, my lifetime mentor and my hero. Roger was one of the greatest visionaries in the history of cinema,鈥 Gale Anne Hurd, whose notable producing credits include the 鈥淭erminator鈥 film franchise, 鈥淭he Abyss鈥 and 鈥淭he Walking Dead鈥 television series, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Initially only drive-ins and specialty theaters would book Corman films, but as teenagers began turning out, national chains gave in. Corman鈥檚 pictures were open for their time about sex and drugs, such as his 1967 release 鈥淭he Trip,鈥 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 鈥淐ries and Whispers,鈥 Federico Fellini's 鈥淎marcord鈥 and Volker Schlondorff's 鈥淭he Tin Drum.鈥 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 University, 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 鈥淚 wouldn't want to inflict that humiliation.鈥
Some of his former underlings repaid his kindness years later. Coppola cast him in 鈥淭he Godfather, Part II,鈥 Jonathan Demme included him in 鈥淭he Silence of the Lambs鈥 and 鈥淧hiladelphia鈥 and Howard gave him a part in 鈥淎pollo 13.鈥
Most of Corman's movies were quickly forgotten by all but die-hard fans. A rare exception was 1960's 鈥淟ittle Shop of Horrors,鈥 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 鈥淭he Raven,鈥 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, 鈥淗ouse of Usher,鈥 was deemed worthy of preservation by the Library of Congress.
鈥淚t was my privilege to know him. He was a great friend. He shaped my childhood with science fiction movies and Edgar Allen Poe epics,鈥 John Carpenter, director of 鈥淗alloween,鈥 鈥淭he Thing鈥 and other classic horror and action films, said on X. 鈥淚鈥檒l miss you, Roger.鈥
Near the end of his life, Karloff starred in another Corman-backed effort, the 1968 thriller 鈥淭argets,鈥 which marked Peter Bogdanovich's directorial debut.
Corman's success prompted offers from major studios, and he directed 鈥淭he St. Valentine's Day Massacre鈥 and 鈥淰on Richthofen and Brown鈥 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 鈥渘ot in the affluent section,鈥 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.
He is survived by his wife, Julie, and children Catherine, Roger, Brian and Mary.
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This obituary was written by the late Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas, who .
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The story was first published on May 11, 2024. It was updated on May 13, 2024, to correct the middle name of producer Gale Anne Hurd.
