Little Shop of Horrors director and Oscar winner Roger Corman dies aged 98
12 May 2024, 08:12 | Updated: 12 May 2024, 08:33
Little Shop of Horrors director and Oscar winner Roger Corman has died aged 98.
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The so-called "King of the Bs" was known for turning out low-budget classics and gave many of Hollywood's most famous actors and directors early breaks.
He died on Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, his daughter Catherine Corman said in a statement.
"He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him," she said.
"When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, 'I was a filmmaker, just that.'"
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Starting in 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of films as a producer and director, among them Black Scorpion, Bucket of Blood and Bloody Mama.
He hired aspiring filmmakers including Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese, with some of his former underlings repaying his kindness years later.
Coppola cast him in The Godfather Part II, Jonathan Demme included him in The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia and Howard gave him a part in Apollo 13.
Actors whose careers began in Corman movies included Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn.
He produced his first feature film, Monster From The Ocean Floor, in 1954 and then went on to produce The Fast And The Furious in 1955.
In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award.
He is survived by his daughter and three other children.
