Roger Corman, the innovative independent film producer who helped start the careers of many filmmaking greats and was celebrated as “The King of Cult,” passed away on May 9 at his residence in Santa Monica. He was 98.
His daughter Catherine Corman confirmed his death in a statement to the Associated Press. “He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” the statement said. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”
Corman began his filmmaking career in the 1950s, making a series of low-budget movies that included “The Fast and the Furious,” “Swamp Women,” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters.”
In 1959, Corman entered the distribution business with the establishment of The Filmgroup. Then in the 1960s, he took on a number of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations such as 1960’s “House of Usher.”
Throughout his career, Corman directed 55 films and produced 385, spanning from 1954 to 2008. During that time, he mentored Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, John Sayles and Ron Howard. He also helped kickstart the careers of actors like Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern and William Shatner.
At times, filmmakers whom Corman mentored cast him in their films — he appeared in Demme’s “Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II” and Howard’s “Apollo 13.”
In 2006, he received the David O. Selznick award from the Producers Guild of America and in 2009 he received an honorary Academy Award.
As news of Corman’s death hit on Saturday night, filmmakers and actors took to X to pay tribute to the enormous impact he had on film.
“A wonderful and brilliant producer,” said “Jurassic Park” producer Frank Marshall. “He launched [my career] with TARGETS.”
“Halloween” and “The Thing” director John Carpenter called Corman “one of the most influential movie directors in my life,” adding, “It was my privilege to know him. He was a great friend. He shaped my childhood with science fiction movies and Edgar Allen Poe epics. I’ll miss you, Roger.”
