Roger Corman, a pioneering producer, actor, and King of B Movies, passed away at 98. Few people in the entertainment industry leave a mark as lasting and essential as Mr. Corman’s. With 493 producer credits, Roger Corman championed the B movie tier, giving horror fanatics, science-fiction enthusiasts, and action addicts reasons to holler at screens while pumping their fists. With a sharp eye for talent, Corman discovered industry heavyweights like Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, and more. Mr. Corman died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on May 9, while surrounded by family.
“His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that,'” the family said in a statement.
Through New World Pictures and Concorde/New Horizons, Corman wore many hats. When he wasn’t producing, he wrote; when he wasn’t writing, he acted in various films across several genres. As a producer, Corman advocated for women to be essential to the film industry by casting them in significant roles and hiring them for high-level positions. Corman saw his fellow filmmakers as equals and strived to meet them on common ground or raise them to his level.
Roger Corman’s directorial debut was for the Western drama Five Guns West, starring John Lund, Dorothy Malone, and Mike Conners. With his foot firmly in the door, Corman continued to shoot films like Not of This Earth, Teenage Doll, Machine Gun-Kelly, his famous horror film A Bucket of Blood, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound, and more.
As a writer, Corman penned The Fast and the Furious (1954), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Roger Corman Presents Black Scorpion, and more. He also co-wrote the 1986 remake of The Little Shop of Horrors, starring Rick Morranis, Steve Martin, Ellen Greene, and Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II, the killer plant.
We here at JoBlo wish Mr. Corman’s family, friends, and fans peace and healing during this difficult time. Many of us at the site have admired Mr. Corman’s work since our love of film first blossomed. We wish him safe passage to the hereafter and thank him for his incredible contributions to the art form.