Roger William Corman (born April 5 1926) is an American producer, director of low-budget films, and actor. As such, he has apprenticed many now-famous directors, stressing the importance of budgeting and resourcefulness.

Career

Corman is probably best known for his filmings of various Edgar Allan Poe stories at American International Pictures, including House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Premature Burial (1962), Tales of Terror (1962) The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), and The Trip (1967). All but Premature Burial and The Trip starred Vincent Price.

He also directed one of William Shatner's early films, The Intruder. Based on a short story by Charles Beaumont, the film, made for approximately USD$80,000, has become famous for its treatment of segregation and civil rights. He has produced over 300 movies and directed over 50.

Corman was born in Detroit, Michigan and received an industrial engineering degree from Stanford University. He began his career in 1953 as a producer and screenwriter, and began directing in 1955. Until his so-called "retirement" as a director in 1971 (he continued to produce films even after this date) he would produce up to seven movies a year; his fastest film was perhaps The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), which was reputedly shot in two days and one night (he had made a bet that he could shoot an entire feature film in less than three days). This claim is disputed by others who worked on the film, who have called it part of Corman's own myth-building. Quite a number of his films, such as Last Woman on Earth (1960), contain elements of science fiction.

Corman did return to the director's chair once after 1971 with Frankenstein Unbound (1990), although this was poorly received.

A number of noted film directors have worked with Corman, including Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Donald G. Jackson, James Cameron, and John Sayles. Many have cited that Corman's influence taught them some of the ins and outs of filmmaking. In the extras for the DVD of The Terminator, director James Cameron refers to his work for Corman as, "I trained at the Roger Corman Film School." The British director Nicolas Roeg served as the cinematographer on The Masque of the Red Death. Actors who obtained their career breaks working for Corman are Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Michael McDonald, Dennis Hopper and Robert De Niro.

His autobiography, titled How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime (ISBN 0306808749), documents his experiences in the film industry.

Bibliography

• Roger Corman bibliography (via UC Berkeley)

See also

• The Wild Angels

External links

1926 births | Living people | American film producers | American film directors | B-movie directors | People from Michigan | Roman Catholics | Stanford University alumni | English-language film directors

Roger Corman | Roger Corman | Roger Corman | Roger Corman | ロジャー・コーマン | Roger Corman | Roger Corman | Roger Corman