Roger Corman, the legendary filmmaker best known for producing and directing hundreds of low-budget cult-classic films, has died at the age of 98. According to Variety, Corman died surrounded by family at his home in Santa Monica on May 9. “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,’†his family said in a statement shared with Variety.
Famously prolific, Corman was behind hundreds of films as both a director and producer, including It Conquered the World (1956), A Bucket of Blood (1959), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963), and The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967). He also famously directed a string of adaptations of the work of Edgar Allen Poe starring Vincent Price, including House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Tales of Terror (1962), and The Raven (1963) — all of which earned Corman a reputation as a trailblazer in the world of independent film.
Dozens of notable filmmakers began their careers working with and learning from Corman, with James Cameron once quipping, “I trained at the Roger Corman Film School.†The impressive roster of filmmakers who cut their teeth on Corman’s sets include Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Polly Platt, and Jonathan Demme. Additionally, his films gave big breaks to actors like Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Charles Bronson, Tommy Lee Jones, Talia Shire, Sandra Bullock, and Robert De Niro. Many went on to honor Corman with cameos in their own films, hence the director’s appearances in The Godfather Part II, The Silence of the Lambs, Apollo 13, and Rachel Getting Married. In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Academy Award.